Let’s be Social! is an iPad application focused on developing social skills in children with autism and other developmental delays. The content is organized into”Skill sets”, which are high level content, and then within each skill set, are organized into “Lessons”.  Lessons are specific use cases of a given skill set.  So within the “School Behavior” skill set, there are lessons on “Respecting Teachers” and Eating in the Cafeteria:.

The app also puts power in your hands, allowing you to completely customize lessons to your specific needs by providing the ability to create custom questions complete with your own text and pictures. The ability to break out of the “one-size-fits-all” mold in apps targeted for developing social skills is unparalleled in the app market.

Where did Let’s be Social come from?

The idea for Let’s be Social! came from the scarcity of intuitive and enjoyable therapy materials to teach social skills. Our resident Speech Language Pathologist, Brittany Lehane, works with students ranging from elementary school to high school age who have developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders. Throughout the school year, Brittany was having a hard time coming up with materials and structured lessons to teach social skills without spending hours planning them. She was also frustrated with apps that did not allow any changes to be made to their content. She often found herself thinking, “This app would be perfect if I could switch the questions around or change the answer choices.”

Who is the app for?

Let’s be Social is intended for parents, teachers, educators, and Speech-Language Pathologists to use with children and teens. Multiple age groups of various cognitive levels can utilize the app with individually-tailored lesson plans — because this app is easily customized, whoever is using it can fit it to their child’s/student’s needs and learning style.

How to use Let’s be Social!

Once you’ve chosen your lesson, you’re brought to the Lesson Summary.  The Lesson Summary is a short paragraph that encapsulates the entire lesson, the actions taken, the emotions felt, and the consequences of certain actions.  Once you’ve summarized the lesson with your child, you can move on to the Q&A portion of the lesson.  Here, children are presented with several questions, which include: a description of an event, a prompt, and 2-3 multiple choice answers.  After selecting an answer, the child is given feedback on their selection and the question can be reviewed, or the user can move on to the next question.

For customized content, users can create their own lessons or add additional scenarios to the standard lessons provided. When creating questions, users can type out question content and answer choices, and add pictures.

If you’re interested in learning more about Let’s be Social, drop us a line at [email protected].  Be sure to sign up for our mailing list here to stay updated with our latest therapy tips, app announcements, and blog posts.  Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and like us on Facebook.