Categories Lite Switch Access app for iPhone and iPad

The ability to categorize objects with similar characteristics is an essential building block for language development. Without the use of categorization, you may hear a sentence like “I’m going to the supermarket to buy milk, eggs, orange juice, cheese, butter, cereal, bread….” Instead of “I’m going to the supermarket to buy food”. Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cognitively process information differently and find it more difficult to categorize objects.

This app breaks down categorization into its simplest form. Many other apps present the student with 2 or 3 categories and the student has to choose which category the object belongs to. We feel that presenting more than one category at a time can be overwhelming. Our approach is to concentrate on only one category at a time. It first explains what the category is, and then ask the student if the object belongs to that category or not.

The app contains vibrant pictures, music, and motivating rewards. The app is also switch accessible and supports both step scanning and auto-scanning.. Student data is recorded for each session to monitor progress. Settings are saved individually for each student.

The “Full” version contains 298 items divided into the following 15 categories:

Animals – 35 items
Clothing – 25 items
Food - 26 items
Furniture – 29 items
Money – 22 items
Musical Instruments – 18 items
Signs – 15 items
Sports Items – 14 items
Transportation – 14 items
Numbers – 20 items
Letters – 23 items
Body Parts – 16 items
Writing Instruments – 10 items
Tools – 15 items
Kitchen Items -16 items

The “Lite (free)” version contains 35 items and only the “Animals” category.