About BridgingApps®
BridgingApps© is a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston that provides resources, education, and information on apps and mobile devices to help caregivers and people with disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome target and improve skills and reach their highest levels of physical, social, and cognitive development.
BridgingApps includes a directory of apps along with app reviews by therapists and special education teachers, a custom app search engine, assistive technology labs, and training options for parents, organizations and schools.
Purpose
The available research and the success stories we have captured reflect the potential power of using mobile touch-based technology, such as smartphone apps, and proper training to significantly impact the lives of people with disabilities. Caregivers of children and adults with disabilities benefit from our database of apps for living with disabilities like autism or Down syndrome.
Who We Serve
We provide resources for parents, teachers and individuals who may have been previously disengaged from the world as a result of challenging language, motor, or other developmental delays.
BridgingApps is a community of parents, teachers, therapists, doctors, and people with disabilities who share information on how they are using touch-based, mobile devices such as the iPad®, iPhone®, iPodTouch® and Android® devices and apps with people who have special needs. We created this community to discuss technology in respectful, creative ways focusing on people of all ages who have disabilities.
Given the rising number of apps on the market and the diverse skills of children and adults with disabilities, our goal is to provide caregivers, professionals, and people with disabilities with the best resources for choosing apps to enhance everyday life and to share their successes with others. In collaboration with speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, we have created an app review system that focuses on skills - rather than age, diagnosis or developmental level to help improve outcomes for a person with a disability.
Assistive Technology Services
Assistive Technology is any item, piece of equipment, software, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Assistive Technology can be anything from low-tech communication boards and switches to high-tech communication devices like eye gaze technology and iPads.
Digital Navigator Services
Easter Seals of Greater Houston is a National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) National Digital Navigator Corps grantee supported by Google.org! Expanding the capacity of BridgingApps with a rural digital navigator will enable Easter Seals of Greater Houston to bring much-needed digital inclusion to some of the hardest-to-reach groups that could most benefit from support with broadband connectivity, device ownership, and digital skills to participate more fully in educational, economic, social, and civic opportunities.
Open Labs and Open House Events
The Easter Seals Greater Houston AT&T Assistive Technology Lab offers open labs on Tuesday evenings and open houses quarterly.
Full Augmentative and Alternative Communication Evaluation
Easter Seals Greater Houston’s Children’s Therapy and BridgingApps programs offer comprehensive Augmentative and Alternative Communication Evaluations (AAC).
Online Transition Tool - TexasYouth2Adult
Transition planning requires addressing many areas of need for a child with chronic health conditions, yet there is currently no simple method that tackles areas as wide-ranging as health care to age-appropriate social activities, independent living, or employment in any meaningful way. This process can be overwhelming for parents and often medical providers and educators do not address transition issues until young adulthood, resulting in missed opportunities to transition successfully.
To this end, BridgingApps created an innovative, easy-to-use, and sustainable online tool that will empower families to plan early, obtain assistance with the right questions to ask, and access current information to allow their children to live as fully participating members of our community.
This program is made possible by CareSource Bayou Health, The Comcast Foundation, Comcast Houston Region, Consumer Action, Consumer Technology Association Foundation, CVS Health Foundation, The George Foundation, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Next50 Foundation, Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation, Texas Children's Hospital, United Way of Greater Houston and the Whalley Foundation.