Who are we?

    Jabuguín is a company formed by parents of an autistic child. We are offering software that we developed for our son, Javier, aka Jabuguín (hence the strange name of the company!). We know that it helped increase our son's vocabulary and we hope it will help your child as well.

What does this software do?

   The basic idea behind this software is quite simple. Children with autism learn basically through association and repetition. While most have problems learning how to speak and understanding spoken words, many have strong visual skills, or at the very least respond strongly to visual stimulii. They are fascinated by light switches, spinning objects, credits at the end of a movie, in short, anything visual that is changing in time. It is much easier to teach them something if it is interesting to them, just like anybody else! The idea is to engage them visually by presenting an image in a way that captures their attention and at the same time playing a sound associated with the image, for example the name of the object in the image.

   The Jabuguín Suite consists of programs that use a large database of high-quality images, sounds and text. It consists of four programs, Puzzler, Pix 'N' Text, Media Binder and the newest addition, Memory. To see samples of these images stored in the data base, click here.

   Many autistic children are good at and - more importantly - enjoy solving jig-saw puzzes. Puzzler is a program that makes jig-saw puzzles on the computer screen from the images stored in the database. The child must drag the pieces into place, either by using the mouse or using a touch-screen. Once all the puzzle pieces are dragged to their correct positions the computer plays the associated sound. In addition, the text can also be displayed as the sound is played.

Puzzler can be configured to the specific needs of the child. These are some of the many features that can be adjusted:

- Number of puzzle pieces
- Number of pieces initially in place
- Number of times the sound is played once the puzzle is completed
- Tolerance of positioning for a piece to snap into the correct position
- Special effects for the appearance and disappearance of the text (used to get the attention of the child).
- General appearance (background, font, font size, etc.)

You can look up images stored in the database using keywords such as "food," "object," or "emotion." For example, if you want to teach the child the meaning of the word "blue" you can search the database for images that have the keyword "blue" associated with them and then pick the image or images that best suit the child's needs. You can also make and store a sequence of images to be used again and again. For example, after searching the database using "fruit" as a keyword you can make a sequence of puzzles of an orange, an apple and a banana, store the sequence and then use it some other time without having to search for the images again.

Memory is a another game that uses the image and sound database. It is the traditional "Memory" or "Concentration" game where a few pairs of cards are placed face-down on the "table" (here the computer screen), and the child must find matching pairs by uncovering two cards at a time. Each time a pair is matched the computer plays the associated sound. In addition, the text can also be displayed as the sound is played.

Memory also can be configured to the specific needs of the child. These are some of the features that can be adjusted:

- Number of card pairs
- Number of times the sound is played once a pair is matched
- General appearance (background, font, font size, etc.)

Pix 'N' Text is used to make flash cards of the images stored in the database. These flash cards can be used in language acquisition therapies such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). The size, orientation and other settings of the flash cards can be adjusted to the specific needs of the child.

   No matter how many images we include in the database there will always be an image or sound that only you- the parent or therapist- can provide. Media Binder is used to add your own images and sounds to the database to satisfy the particular needs of the child. For example, you can store a picture of a parent or sibling of the child together with a recording of his or her name, a picture of the school the child attends, or a favorite toy.