Does your older child or teenager face communication challenges due to being on the autism-spectrum? Many children on the autism-spectrum face challenges in communicating, whether it is with therapists, other children, or even their own parents. But many parents find that this challenge is improved with a communication platform that resonates with their son or daughter. Squag provides such a communication platform. It was developed by the caregiver of an autism spectrum child to build self-esteem and communication skills in a safe and secure manner on the Internet.
Squag is an innovative social networking platform designed specifically for older children and teenagers on the autism-spectrum. Squag allows the creation of organic relationships based on the individual child or teenager's communication style. It can be used to facilitate communication between these autism children and their parents, their teachers, their therapists, and their peers. Parents can have confidence in Squag's privacy features, as all account content is controlled by parents for their children.
What features make Squag secure for children on the autism-spectrum? What features alleviate parents' worry about their autism child's Squag account? The Squag experience begins with and is personally developed by parents to fit their son's or daughter's needs and likes. Squag provides a parents' website that is a critical component of the security and safety built into the platform. First, parents set up their son's or daughter's Squagpad. The Squagpad allows parents to build the platform specifically for their own child by adding positive notes and messages, favorite songs, videos, and photos, and setting up a personal journal. Then, parents can monitor and track all of their child's Squag activity through the convenient and easy-to-use dashboard.
What is the Squag experience like for children? Once the Squagpad is set-up by parents, their children can access their own personal platform. First, they are greeted by positive notes and messages from their parents. All the content added by their parents, from songs to photos to journal space, is presented to the child. The biggest benefit of Squag comes when the child is shown positive messaging from his or her parents. This helps the child to cultivate a positive self-image, which in turn helps the child to create and develop original positive thoughts about him- or herself. These original and positive thoughts assist the child in developing and keeping a positive self-image that is evident when the child communicates through Squag and outside of the Squag experience.
And Squag offers even more. Children can connect with other Squag users through a proprietary matching system that is completely controlled and monitored by parents, who set the criterion for possible matches. When Squag offers a selected matching user, parents can decide to accept the match or not. When a match is accepted, the two Squag-using children are connected and offered the opportunity to interact based on the positive notes and thoughts that they have created about themselves. Squag communication is always one-to-one and conversations are sparked from the content created by the children themselves.
Parents, therapists, and teachers will see the benefits of autism-spectrum children using Squag to organically develop relationships through a communication platform specifically designed to alleviate communication challenges in a secured environment. Squag assists autism-spectrum children develop communication skills, develop positive self-image, learn about creating friendships based on shared experience, and ultimately, gives these children the self-confidence and communication skills to go out into the world as themselves and be successful.
Chad Beacham,
and
Hulet Smith, OT
