Congratulations to our Hacking Autism App Contest Winners 

During the past month and a half, we have been working with AT&T to crowdsource the most empowering and helpful app ideas for the autism community.  More than 230 community members submitted their ideas through the Autism Speaks Facebook page.  After nearly 1,200 votes, a total of 12 winners were selected, three in each of four categories: verbal, non-verbal, school-aged and adult.  Today, we're excited to announce our winners, each of which are receiving a waterproof Pantech Element tablet from AT&T while the ideas have the chance to become a reality at an upcoming AT&T hackathon.

Verbal
• Always with Me! by Livivua C. from - Sends an automated voice message from a loved one.
• Bi-lingual Autism Feelings App by  Tracy I. – Helps children on the spectrum associate an emotion with a picture in both English and Spanish
• Family Member Picture Flashcards App by  Liz M. - A memory game that helps those on the spectrum associate familial relations with pictures of that family member

Non-Verbal
• Noun Identification for Nonverbal Toddlers by Allison D. – A flashcard memory game that can be personalized with the users’ own pictures and voice
• A Trip to the Dentist by  Jan W. – An interactive app that shows step-by-step everything that will happen at the dentist
• Photo-Emotion by  Tracey C. – Individuals on the spectrum match facial expressions with the emotions that they indicate

School Aged (K-12)
• Good Things by  Kathleen V.  – Encourages school aged children on the autism spectrum to identify and focus on three positive things that happened during their day
• Calming Scenes Reduce Sensory Overload by  Mandy R. - Provides calming scenes for a child in sensory overload to look at and interact with

• Picture Scheduler/Daily Organizer by Julie W. – A schedule that can be personalized with pictures to indicate the activity that it is time for

Adult
• Independence Maker by  Scott M. – A reminder app that allows you to tie pictures, notes or contact information to each task.
• DARE 2 BE DIFFERENT by Charmin Ta. – Provides information on organizations and services available to individuals on the spectrum in a given geographic location
• Autism United by Michael M. - Allows users to easily search for Autism Friendly events in their local area

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted ideas and voted, and congratulations again to our winners!  AT&T and Autism Speaks will be challenging developers to create the winning apps at a hackathon on April 12 – 13, 2013 in San Francisco, California.