Games/Apps

Recommended Games

Apples to Apples – This classic game develops verbal organization, semantic knowledge, and can even help some students become more aware of popular culture to help with small talk (depending on the version of the game that is bought.

Awkward Moment:  A relatively new game that works like Apples to Apples, but offers awkward situations that too many middle schoolers and teenagers are quite familiar.  It develops flexible thinking, perspective taking, and conversational skills.

Blokus – This game is great to play with the client that is reticent to talk while developing visual-spatial, visual working memory, and problem-solving skills.

Break the Safe – Unfortunately, this game is no longer sold in stores but can be found through an internet search for sale.  It is a wonderful way to develop collaborative social skills.

Bubble Talk – Very fun very silly way to help develop big-picture thinking, noticing details, and perspective taking.

Charades for Kids – To facilitate the ability to “read” and engage in effective nonverbal expression and gestural communication

Headbandz –  A game that even teenagers enjoy although meant for younger kids.  Can support growth in organization, semantic feature analysis, and developing imagery.

Guesstures – Great game for developing the awareness, understanding, and use of gestures.  The use of gestures is tightly woven to how we express emotions.  This game can, therefore, help students to better read nonverbal cues.

Imaginiff Jr. – A fine and engaging game to foster abstract and inferential thinking skills, conversation skills, as well as building a memory of other people.

Outburst Junior – A favorite of our kids and supports growth in vocabulary, schematic thinking, and expressive language

Pictionary  – This game can help develop visual-motor construction and formulation and practice of creating future imagery.

Stare Junior – Can support practice and growth in episodic memory and attention

Telestrations – The game is a combination is a combination of Pictionary and Telephone.  Supports development of visual skills, flexible thinking, and frustration tolerance.

Whoonu – Great game for developing “people files,”  making intelligent guesses as to the likes and dislikes of others.

Recommended APPS

AtEase – An app to address Anxiety by teaching guided breathing and journaling.

BeFocused –  This app helps to get things done by breaking up individual tasks among discrete intervals, separated by short breaks. It’s a surprisingly effective way to build internal motivation for those who struggle with working memory.

Between the Lines ( Level 1, Level 2, and Advanced) – A wonderful app for teaching situational awareness, reading nonverbal clues, and understanding figurative language.

CanPlan – Supports planning and prioritizing skills using a combination of visuals and language that could be helpful to teenagers and adults for planning and caring through tasks, chores, and academic assignments.

Idea Sketch – This is another app for older students.  It allows you to create concept maps, flow charts and then converts it to a text outline.  It a fabulous resource for planning projects, making lists, developing outlines or creating charts.  You can import content from other apps, documents or emails and share “sketches” with others through email, or the cloud.

Kaleidoscope Drawing Pad – All you do is tap the screen and it creates something beautiful and soothes the stressed mind.  An easy go-to for emotional regulation.

Lemonade Stand – Plan and organize the management of a lemonade stand based on weather forecasts.

Scribblenauts Remix Universal –  This is a good game to work on categorization/associations, adjectives and problem-solving.

Social Express – Great (although expensive) app for teaching some of the nonverbal behaviors and what they mean including the importance of eye gaze.

Social Detective –    Available at socialthinking.com, this app uses short video clips and asks the upper elementary student to identify what people are thinking and feeling, introducing the concept vocabulary used in the Social Thinking®  paradigm.

360Thinking Get Ready, Do, Done – a great app developed by Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen to developing future thinking, planning and time sense.

Tellegami edu – an app that allows you to create an avatar (Gami) and narrate animations.  Helpful for episodic forethought and verbal working memory as well as sequencing a task.  Toontastic and Chatterpix are apps that function similarly and can be shared with other people.

Voice Cards – “NOT flashcards”- record question/answer sets to test oneself- good for developing vocabulary and concepts as well as reviewing academic material.

This is by no means an exhaustive list!