Does anyone know about Software used with the Ipod to help autistic people speak?

The only one I know of personally is this one.

Proloquo2Go

My cousin is severely disabled with cerebral palsy and I downloaded it when she got her iPad but I don’t know if it would be appropriate for your son.

There are also some here:

40 Amazing iPad Apps for the Learning Disabled

I don’t know any of those can be used on both the iPad, and iPod, they may have applications for both.

And you might want to go to the Apple store. When my aunt and my cousin and I when there to get her iPad, and maybe we were just lucky, but we found a clerk who had an autistic brother and she was extremely knowledgeable about apps for the disabled.

On the Steve Jobs episode of 60 minutes a few weeks ago it talked about autistic children and how the iPad has helped them. Here is the video. The autistic part is about 40 minutes in.

@johnpowell
I saw it too and so did the Director of my sons adult program.
I am unsure what to buy.
I am accustomed to having a school full of experts to ask.
I would buy my son anything that would help. If I new what to buy. Ipods are expensive and before I buy one I need to know they can help him.

Slight correction here. It’s the Ipad you want, not the Ipod (which is probably too small to engage an autistic child’s attention)

In that same segment, they also interviewed several teachers who work specifically with autistic children and it wasn’t a 100% response.

But there were certainly a significantly high enough amount of kids for whom it was miraculous so it’s hard to know for sure who will be helped by it.

Granted, it is expensive, but if you gave it a fair tryout, I’m pretty sure you could resell it without much difficulty on Craigslist or something.

I had heard about the Hollyrod Foundation providing free ipads for some families with autistic children. Here is their website. It looks like they are not currently doing the program but are planning to offer it again soon. I hope that might help.

Edit: On that site, there is a link to this comprehensive list of the ipad apps and what they do.

Yes, I would also going to suggest the iPad as @Buttonstc. I don’t know your son, but it is something to consider. The cheapest iPod Touch is $199 but I would be a little concerned about it only having 8GB of memory. The next one up, with 32GB is $299. The cheapest iPad is $499 with 16GB but that’s probably enough, at least it’s twice what the cheapest Touch has. All a lot of money, yes, But the iPad Touch screen is pretty small. You’re son may be fine with it, I don’t know. But the iPad has a nice big screen. I would be concerned about the memory because after you get it you may find all sorts of things your son might like and fine helpful and enjoyable and you want to have enough data storage.

@Blueroses
This is interesting.
Thank you and everyone.
My son is a young man. He does speak. I just don’t know.
He tends to be hard on things.

They do have various good quality protective cases for ipads and some can also be used as holder stands.

There is also a clear plastic protective film for the front screen (for scratches, fingerprints and such) as well.

So unless someone would purposely throw it down on it’s face to crack the screen, they really aren’t as fragile as you might think.

Basically the ipad is just like a larger version of the iPhone. I’ve had my iPhone in a case with a clear screen face since the day I walked out of the store with it and there isn’t a scratch on it after three years.
This is in spite of the countless times that I’ve dropped it or the cat has knocked it off the nightstand :)

I would imagine that dropping something as large as the ipad to be more unlikely still. I think the little extra cost involved in getting a good protective case is more than worth it. That’s the secret to a long happy life, as far as I’m concerned.

And the companies who make these have had years of experience perfecting their products for both iPhone and iPod so you shouldn’t have that much trouble finding a good one for the ipad. There are also various sites and YouTube vids devoted to reviews of them all to help in the decision.

@Buttonstc
Thank you.
I meant Ipad.