Autism Management

In the 10th year of the surveillance program operated by the CDC, it was reported that about 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. This is up from 1 in 150 in 2000 when the first such figures were reported. As vigilance among parents and physicians increases the rate may continue to climb (it is as high as 1 in 45 in New Jersey).
This has created an environment in which the medical and education systems are straining to keep up with the rising demand for expert therapists and educators.
The ColorsKit is a platform developed through collaboration between WebTeam and scientific experts and clinical experts Dr. Atam Dhawan, Distingsuihed Professor and Executive Director of Research and Innovation, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Dr. Michael Lewis, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry; Director for the Study of Child Development Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Dr. Thomas McCool, PhD – past president of Eden Autism Services, and Dr. Sunanda Gaur, MD — Professor of Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the New Jersey Statewide Family Centered HIV Care Network to manage autism from screening, assessment, intervention, daily activity management through profile management and employment. The product utilizes state of the art technology via mobile, desktop and the cloud. It also offers full individualization and data collection through the lifetime of an individual from infancy to school age to adulthood which can be shared among modules of ColorsKit.
The utilization of ColorsKit using mobile technology with centralized data collation model will introduce cost effectiveness, improve quality, provide intense intervention and better coordination among the families and education/healthcare professionals. ColorsKit’s tele-intervention model can help the underserved population with autism globally. The collected data from the full lifecycle of autism management can open the doors of research in the area of cause and the cure for autism.
Since 2007, WTC has collaborated with research, education and health care experts to develop first generation of ColorsKit, an innovative integrated solution for autism management that 1) Unites stakeholders in a synchronized, holistic manner and delivers individualized, consistent, accessible and measurable evidence base intervention; 2) Provides school districts with a cost-effective method for meeting special education needs; 3) Extends classroom training into the home; 4) Offers autistic individuals a higher degree of independence; 5) Helps reduce the costs of lifelong care with early diagnosis, necessary assessment and intense intervention; and 6) Allows all stakeholder to collect data and share it among each other and researchers. As a pioneering business in the area of autism management the next generation of ColorsKit will evolve as the autism and research community revolves.
WTC’s synchronized holistic approach for autism management received global recognition in when it received Verizon’s Powerful Answer Award at the 2014 International CES. The first generation of ColorsKit is used by therapists and BCBAs, hospitals, school districts, private schools and parents across mobile and wireless platforms globally.
WTC leverages the use of apps and web-based portals across the target segments with three service options – 1) Personal 2) Enterprise and 3) SaaS (Software as a Service) – designed to scale with regards to infrastructure for each segment. These service options are available on Google Play, iTunes and Kindle stores and will also be offered exclusively through Verizon Wireless’ education portal to their 100+MM subscribers in July 2014.
As an expansion of the ColorsKit program New Jersey Institute of Technology and WTC have an agreement to collaboratively design and develop a customizable learning device that will help children with autism spectrum disorder master a range of skills-building lessons contained in the device’s embedded educational software.
For the initial project, an NJIT team, including students, will work with WebTeam to develop a tactile-friendly 3D device with embedded sensors to interface with the company’s iLearnNEarn2 program, which is a part of the ColorsKit package for autism management and a gaming model that uses touchscreen kiosks and mobile devices to deliver evidence-based learning sessions.
The sensor-embedded device would prompt the child through the sessions, monitor responsiveness, assess cognition, and adapt future learning sessions accordingly. The device would record the related data, allowing others involved in the child’s intervention to share and review it. The device’s outer form would vary; for young children, for example, it might be a toy with which they are familiar and include personalized images such as pictures of their rooms. The educational sessions are based on a curriculum developed by Eden Autism Services, a New Jersey-based not-for-profit organization that provides education and training to people with autism, as well as their families, teachers, and caregivers.
WTC’s mission is to become a leading provider of enterprise solutions for managing autism. Since January 2012, WTC’s autism apps have registered 1.2MM+ downloads across iTunes, Google Play, Nook and Kindle, while delivering 5,000 daily sessions (30,000 monthly) on average. Following more than 25 classroom-based student trials of WTC’s first generation products, the company is poised to deliver screening, intervention and assessment products on a broader scale.