Enabling parents of autistic kids to leverage AI

Earlier this summer, I was about to leave my sister's home after a two-week visit. She was busy working on a social story deck for my 5-year-old nephew Zayne, who is on the spectrum. Although she is a physician, this task proved to be quite challenging for her—it's not her area of expertise! I understood her struggle.

So, I seized the moment, activated my trusty ChatGPT, and a few clever messages later, here’s what I created:

Not only was my sister now about to be hooked to GPT, but she also messaged a WhatsApp group that included other parents with kids on the spectrum. Because she was kind enough to give me credit, I could gauge how people in different occupations can have, on a general level, super low tech efficiency, let alone AI.

I chose to provide these parents with a “pay what you can” option. Here are some of the ways I started working with them and followed the below approach -

Major leap in their tech-savvy skills! They’re practically digital ninjas now.

Routines have transformed into smooth, automated workflows with nifty tricks like “lists, social stories, labels/flyers,” plus bite-sized summaries to keep parents in the loop about autism and all the cool resources out there!

Recorded walkthroughs of using some technology—some of the most common activities (templates, scheduling, etc.) from the daily routines at home, school, and kids’ therapies.

Assisting the parents in utilizing other AI tools like Claude.ai and Grok to inquire about specific behavioral traits their children might exhibit. Many of them expressed that this was truly a godsend.

Much more acquainted with what autism is and how it can manifest completely differently in different individuals. Now, I know more ways to bond with Zayne! I feel like an inherent part of his journey.