Children with autism usually have problems with communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) tools are used to
support these children. While several AAC apps are available in English,
there are just two AAC apps in Chinese with culturally relevant content.
Through this project, I created a prototype mobile AAC app for preschool children in China with text and audio in Mandarin and images relevant to Chinese culture (hosted at http://58.213.134.155:8888). I had the prototype evaluated by parents and caregivers of children with autism in a recovery centre in Nanjing, China. A number of suggestions for refinement were received, of which one has been implemented. I also studied the use of iPads by Chinese children with autism in Canada and China and found it to be less popular in China than in Canada. Future work plans include: (1) refinement of the app to make it usable by
recovery centres and parents; (2) development of a paper PECS system for Chinese children based on the illustrations created for the app.

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