ImagiRation redesigns the app “Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism” (MITA), with new brain-training exercises for children with autism
Boston, MA (PRWEB) February 10, 2016 -- ImagiRation announced a major update to Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA), an early-intervention application for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The new version of the app uses adaptive-learning technologies, with fun, educational exercises that adapt to a child’s abilities, resulting in a highly-customized learning experience. The MITA application is available for free in the Apple Store, Google Play, and Amazon App Store.
MITA is designed for early childhood and intended for long-term, daily use. The app’s bright, interactive puzzles are based on therapeutic techniques that have been shown to be effective for individuals with ASD. Many parents whose children are diagnosed with ASD struggle to find ways to maximize their child’s cognitive abilities. MITA allows parents to administer early-intervention therapy in the comfort of their homes.
Mrs. Amber Bonasse started administering MITA to her son who was diagnosed with ASD before the age of 3. “I have tried many things for my son, even before the diagnosis to no avail… One of the most profound changes came after he started the MITA program… I was able to definitively see a major difference in him and his ability to problem solve and process,” she writes.
SCIENCE BEHIND THE PROJECT
MITA is based on Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), one of the best-supported therapies for children diagnosed with ASD. A peer-reviewed article describing MITA can be found at http://goo.gl/lyHw95. In short, MITA aims to develop one of four pivotal skills targeted by PRT: a child's ability to notice and to respond to multiple features of an object. This ability comes naturally to most children but is typically impaired in individuals with ASD, leading to what is commonly described as stimulus overselectivity, or "tunnel vision." Improving this skill has been shown to lead to vast improvements in general learning.
As a child progresses through MITA's systematic exercises all while playing with cars, bugs, toys and animals, he or she is developing the ability to simultaneously attend to a greater number of features, reducing the propensity towards tunnel vision, and thus developing an essential component of language. The ability to mentally build an image based on a combination of multiple features is absolutely necessary for understanding syntax, spatial prepositions and verb tenses.
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
MITA is developed by Dr. Andrey Vyshedskiy, a neuroscientist from Boston University; Rita Dunn, a Harvard University-educated early-childhood specialist; MIT-educated Jonah Elgart and a group of award-winning artists and developers working alongside experienced therapists.
For more information, please visit http://www.imagiration.com or contact us at imagiration(at)gmail(dot)com.
Dr. Andrey Vyshedsky, IMAGIRATION, LLC, http://www.imagiration.com, +1 6178171916, [email protected]
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