UAE: Son's autism diagnosis spurs mother to create unique app

Dubai - Fabulaa contains various features like the use of picture cards, speech phrases or simply scribbling to communicate

Anila Gonsalves’ early journey when she initially discovered that her first born was autistic was nothing short of ‘rocky’. The news hit her hard.

“What the doctor told me did send me into an intense feeling of denial and grief initially. It was intimidating and I didn’t have all the answers. ”, says the mother of the now six-year old.

But that personal struggle led to the birth of an assistive tool named Fabulaa, an app that Anila has ideated and designed bearing in mind the challenges that she faced at a personal level.

“My child, like a lot of other autistic children lacked natural speech and the ability to express his feelings, making understanding between each other and communication very difficult. Learning also does not come easily to such children,” she explains.

Anila says she chanced upon the idea when she was out to watch a play. “I saw a mother and a child sitting in front of me communicating with the help of a digital device. That’s when the idea really struck me”, says the Indian expat.

nandini@khaleejtimes.com