Niki Agenda
Review, Appy Chat & Giveaway
Developer: Alessandro La Rocca
Description:
Niki Agenda is a daily/weekly calendar for children, teen-agers and adults needing visual organization of their days. Especially this helps people with communication difficulties and behavior problems to increase their levels of autonomy and participation.
Niki Agenda can be very helpful for subjects with autism, mental retardation, behavior disorders, language disorders, pervasive developmental disorder, aphasia, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, brain trauma, …
Niki Agenda is a valued tool for parents and therapists, and has been designed to be easily managed by the end user as well.
Niki Agenda provides two modes for scheduling activities (daily or weekly), and the day is divided into three times (morning, afternoon and evening). Each activity can be easily marked with a comprehensible symbol indicating its state (completed, canceled, next) or type (preferred, timed, rewarded).
The application includes a basic library of pictograms that can be completed or replaced with own pictures and photos, and is widely customizable.
Niki Agenda provides also a token economy feature. This shows the reward (a picture chosen from the library) and a set of stars to be lit, one for each completed activity.
You Tube:
Specifications:
Category: Life Skills
Updated: 10 January 2013
Version: 1.1.0
Language: English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Links:
Website: http://www.nikitalk.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/nikitalkaac
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NikiTalkAAC?feature=watch
App: Niki Agenda
Review:
Editing within the schedule is very easy too. To edit, tap and hold the lock symbol first, then the address book symbol, to reveal the main settings. You may want to not press the lock in front of your kiddo as he/she too will have access to the settings! This hasn’t been an issue for us, but we all know how clever our kiddos can be! Adding my own pictures from the iPad’s photo album was easy, although I should note there is no option for taking a picture from within the app.
Token board! You can easily add an image of a reward the child is working for, and assign a number of stars to be earned to show below. This can be used independently of the schedule feature- tap the star on the main screen to access it. This has recently been adapted to include up to 10 stars!- Thank you! That is another thing- the developer of Niki Agenda has been very responsive to user feedback. When each star is touched a soft chime will sound, and when all are filled in there is clapping along with the verbal praise “Yay!”. There are also two options for “rewards” when the number of tokens set has been reached -either fireworks (my kids’ favorite) or pulsing- the image will change from small to big and so on for a few seconds. (Reviewed by Amy T)
Appy Chat:
Why did you decide to develop this app?
Niki Agenda is a natural consequence of my first app, Niki Talk. Two years ago I was looking for a solution to allow my daughter Niki, 8 years old autistic and non verbal, to communicate effectively.
In collaboration with her therapist, specialized in AAC and assistive technologies, we started to purchase and try some of the best selling applications available on the market. But after the initial enthusiasm, we realized that most of these applications were not easy to use as they should be, and some key characteristics were not present.
When did you first release this app?
So I created Niki Talk, an easy to use AAC application with a familiar PECS look to make the change from the book easier. Then, many enthusiastic parents and therapists asked for an agenda with the same level of usability. Niki Agenda is the result of their demands.
This app was first released January, 2013.
How long did it take you to develop this app?
It took me 2 months. Fully involved.
What is your favorite feature?
My favorite feature is the usability. Niki Agenda is a value tool for parents and therapists, and was designed to be easily managed by the end user as well.
What is your favorite page in the app?
Certainly my favorite page is the Token Economy page. Not so much for the technical content, but just because it makes users happy.
What skill were you hoping to help the end user to develop?
Niki Agenda helps people with communication difficulties and behavior problems to increase their levels of autonomy and participation. It can be very helpful for children or adults with eg. autism, behavior disorders, language disorders, pervasive developmental disorder, aphasia, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, brain trauma
What age range would this app most suit?
Niki Agenda is for children, teen-agers and adults needing visual organization of their days.
Are any new updates coming soon?
An update came through just after the first release, which included a lot of new features
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Giveaway:
We have a Rafflecopter giveaway until January 21, 2012
Niki agenda looks great.