University of Utah and Google Team Up to Help Families with Children on the
   Autism Spectrum
From: University of Utah News - 01/10/2012
By: Valoree Dowell 

Researchers at the University of Utah and Google have developed software that
helps children with autism focus on building their skills and developing an
aptitude for visual-spatial thinking, computers, and other electronic media.
Part of the program uses SketchUp, three-dimensional modeling software that
is applied in workshop settings to teach job skills to children with autism.
"One of the most compelling parts of this program came from when the boys
presented their findings to their classmates," says Utah professor Cheryl
Wright. The researchers used the workshops to study intergenerational
relationships between children with autism and their family members. "Cheryl
and her team have brought an amazing amount of professionalism, data,
credibility, and excitement to the SketchUp/autism connection and, because of
it, people in the larger [autism spectrum disorder] community are taking note
and wanting to learn more," says Google's Tom Wyman. In the future, the
researchers plan to replicate the program with larger samples of children and
incorporate more types of technology and software, aiming to create a virtual
community that will provide resources through learning tools and a support
system for families with autistic children. 

Read the entire article at:
http://unews.utah.edu/news_releases/university-of-utah-and-google-team-up-to-help-families-with-children-on-the-autism-spectrum/

Links:
iSTAR - Workshops and resources for parents and teachers of kids with ASD
http://istar.utah.edu/

Project Spectrum
http://sketchup.google.com/spectrum

SketchUp: A Technology Tool to Facilitate Intergenerational Family
Relationships for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1552-3934.2011.02100.x/pdf

Cheryl Wright
http://faculty.utah.edu/u0030102-CHERYL_WRIGHT/research/index.hml

Google SketchUp Blog
http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/