May 29, 2009 - USA TODAY - Leslie Clark and her husband have been trying to communicate with their autistic 7-year-old son, JW, for years, but until last month, the closest they got was rudimentary sign language.

     He's "a little bit of a mini-genius," Clark says, but like many autistic children, JW does not speak at all.

     Desperate to communicate with him, she considered buying a specialized device like the ones at his elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraska. But the text-to-speech machines are huge, heavy and expensive. A few of them go for $8,000 to $10,000.

     Then a teacher told her about a new application a researcher had developed for, of all things, the iPhone and iPod. Clark drove to the local Best Buy and picked up a Touch, then downloaded the "app" from iTunes.

     A month later, JW goes everywhere with the slick touchscreen mp3 player strapped to his arm. It lets him touch icons that voice basic commands or questions, such as, "I want Grandma's cookies" or "I am angry - here's why." He uses his "talker" to communicate with everyone - including his service dog, Roscoe, who listens to voice commands through the tiny speakers.

     It's a largely untold story of Apple's popular audio device.

     It is not known how many specialized "apps" are out there, but Apple touts a handful on iTunes, among them ones that help users to American Sign Language and others like Proloquo2Go, which helps JW speak.

     The "app" also aids children and adults with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and Lou Gehrig's Disease, or ALS - even stroke patients who have lost the ability to speak, says its co-developer, Penn State doctoral student Samnuel Sennott. Sennott won't give out sales figures for the $149.99 "app" but says they're "extremely brisk."

     He also says that for an autistic child, the ability to whip out an iPhone and talk to friends brings "this very hard-to-quantify cool factor."

     Clark says the "app" has changed her son's life. "He's actually communicating," she says. "It's nice to see what's going on in her head." Among the revelationd of the past month: She now knows JW's favorite restaurant. "I get to spend at least every other day at the Chinese buffet."