Dad creates an app to help his autistic son

When he was 3 years old, Isaac was diagnosed with non-verbal autism, which means he has difficulties articulating what he needs, as well as making associations between people and their voices or pictures. Likewise, he struggles to link everyday objects to their names. Because of this, his father, Andrew Clynes, created the Meet My Family app, which has helped him to learn such associations.

The inspiration for this solution came essentially from two places. Firstly, Isaac’s parents wanted him to start making associations between family members and their names. For example, he could not associate neither the word “mommy” nor the sound of his mother’s voice with her. The second source of inspiration was a TED talk in which Mr. Clynes learned that some people who were born blind gained their sight at a later age. They were typically “taught to see” through a series of photographs, and it was discovered that videos actually helped them to learn more quickly.

Additionally, Isaac’s parents could not find apps that were appropriate for his age and ability, and he was only attracted to games which were visually and audibly stimulating. Therefore, Mr. Clynes gradually developed Meet My Family, while regularly testing and enhancing the areas his son did not respond to.

The app, currently available on the App Store (iOS), can be personalised in such a way that users can upload pictures and voices of real family members, making it possible for other children like Isaac to learn associations between names, images and sounds of voices.

Adapted from:
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2020/02/26/tech-whizz-dad-invents-ipa...
https://meetmyfamily.co
https://appadvice.com/app/meet-my-family-photos-video/1361494594