Autism app launched to mark the World Autism Day

A bus driver shows the blue ribbon tied on the bus marking the World Autism Awareness Day in Shanghai, east China, April 2, 2014. Over 30,000 public transport vehicles were put on blue ribbons to call for public care for autistic children in Shanghai on Wednesday. [Photo: Xinhua/Ding Ting]

An app has been launched at Peking University to help autistic children better communicate with outside world.

Yuan Cong is the CEO of a mobile app developer in China. His team, together with some other researchers and volunteers, has developed an app tailored for autistic children. The name of the app is Xiaoyudi, or little rain drop. The design is very sleek and kid-friendly.

"Many autistic children have cognitive abilities, but they lack communication skills. Xiao Yudi has more than 400 basic pictures to help autistic children communicate. The app can also serve as a teaching tool."

It's easy to make people feel that autism may be a psychological disorder, rather than a physical one, but that's not true. Autism is a lifelong developmental disability. It is characterized by impairments in social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted, repetitive behavior, interests and activities.

Stars and Rain is the first NGO in China that has been committed to helping families with autistic children.

Sun Zhongkai, director of Stars and Rain, says the NGO has done a lot of substantial work, but he hopes that a long-term mechanism can be built.

"Autism is a lifelong disorder. I wonder if we can build a mechanism which can help them with education, employment and even elderly care in the future. As an NGO, we will advocate the idea and fulfill our part to promote awareness regarding autism. Our core mission is to focus on professional training for parents and teachers. I hope more social welfare policies can be made to help these children."

Sun Zhongkai adds, in America, about one in 88 children are autistic. Currently, there is not an accurate number in China due to the fact that the condition is often misdiagnosed, but according to a ratio widely accepted by the international community, it's estimated that there are 5.8 million autistic children in the country.

There is currently no cure for autism. The only way to help these children is to recognize a proper diagnosis and get them adequate education and treatment.