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Visules


As a father of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I have learned that communicating visually with my son is often the most effective way.  As a professional application developer and avid iPhone user, I knew we needed to have "an app for that."   The result is Visules, which communicates checklists and individual cues using text, images, and colors.


The app has advantages over other visual support methods you may have used including notecards, flip-books, or photos...
  • With Visules, the visual cues you need are always available at your fingertips just when you need them.
  • Visules provides a compact way to store a large collection of visual supports, and keep them well organized 
  • Visules makes it easy to customize supports, and change the data over time as needs change.
  • The Visules interface is straightforward. It is easy for parents or other caregivers to use with their children, and many individuals with ASD can use it independently.
  • Visules is designed with ASD in mind, but can be used by anyone who thinks visually and would benefit from visual cues for daily tasks, decision-making, and other activities.
Visules is now available on the App Store. For inquiries, please mail appsbydash@googlegroups.com.

How the application works:

Visules has two collections, actions and flows.  

Actions are individual cues.  An action can be an objective ("quiet please!"), task ("brush teeth"), or event ("leaving for school").  Each action has a title and an image, and each can be assigned a color for greater reinforcement or to group actions together.  Familiar and straightforward images are best.  You can take a photo when you create the action or assign one from the iPhone's photo library.  Actions are grouped into one or more categories.

Flows are series of actions.  A flow can be any ordered sequence of actions.  A flow could be a daily schedule, a checklist, steps within an activity, even a recipe!   A flow is represented by a title, followed by a list of actions represented by name and image.  As the flow occurs, each action can be checked off.  Tapping the small image will display a large image for an action.

Visules comes with a few common actions and flows built in.  You can customize those, add more, replace the images, or start from scratch with actions and flows appropriate for you! 

List Mode is the main way that Visules operates.  Displaying Actions or Flows is done in List Mode.  Simply open the application and your flows and actions are available to display in just a couple of taps.  List mode is simple, and won't allow changes to the actions or flows.

Edit Mode  Is the way to add or remove actions or flows, change existing ones, re-order flows, add colors, change pictures, or put actions into categories.  Visules will operate in Edit Mode just as it does in List Mode, but edit buttons are displayed, allowing changes.    If you have no need to prevent changes, you can just leave Visules in Edit Mode at all times.

You can switch between modes in the Settings menu.

Current Features:
  • The Actions tab provides a customizable collection of actions. Actions are organized into categories to make them more accessible.
  • Each Action can belong to any number of categories.
  • Actions can be assigned a color to provide an additional visual cue.
  • Images for actions can be created either by taking a photo when the action is created or by assigning an existing image from the iPhone photo library directly from the Action edit interface.
  • All Flows, Categories, and Actions (within a category) are organized in alphabetical order.
  • Actions within a flow may be checked-off as they are accomplished, to provide a visual cue for progress through the flow. Checked actions may be cleared individually, or all at once to restart the flow.
  • Through the Settings tab, the Visules interface may be placed in Edit mode, to allow editing of Flows, Actions, and Categories. List mode hides all editing controls and functionality, providing a simpler interface for normal use.