Exactly a week ago, we covered here on the website that Apple Brazil held a special session focused on autistic children at its Morumbi store, in So Paulo. Shortly after that, we were contacted by Gabriel Nunes Reynoso, who created with the team Amira Mayth Ruiz Y Guayabeiros Vsquez, Daniel da Cunha Lima, Gabriel Messias de Moura Ilha and Guilherme Maxwell Pereira da Silva recently a very cool app called Chups.
The main incentive to work on the app, says Gabriel, was his sister. Natlia is now 18 years old and has never learned to speak, so he built a means of communication for her through iPad.
Developed within the Apple Developer Academy (former BEPiD) of Universidade Catlica de Braslia (UCB), Chups was created by Gabriel with the support of three experts in the field of autism: Raquel Pacheco, a master student designer who is developing his thesis with the theme Design and Autism; Elvio Boato, professor at UCB and coordinator of the “Com Vivências” project, responsible for more than 80 autistic children; and Marcia Cristina Lima, a psychologist representing the Autistic Pride Movement of Brazil (MOAB).
Chups is an application that aims to help in the day-to-day life of the autistic person, giving those who are unable to speak the possibility of expressing themselves more easily, organizing day-to-day tasks, allowing efficient communication also for those who they do not write, besides helping in times of crisis.
Check out the demo video:
The main features of Chups are calendar, communication cards, keyboard with voice and help to understand what the autistic person is feeling. In other words, it uses text, image or sound in a basic and intuitive way, totally focused on communication.
Such initiatives deserve to be supported and applauded. 👏🏻
