TC Teacher Develops First-of-Its-Kind Autism Site
By Bob Lovik
A Traverse City special education teacher has developed what he says is the world’s first website to help autistic children learn vital social skills through conversation simulation.
Scott Jongekrijg, who has worked with students with autism spectrum disorder for nearly a decade, officially launches autismunlocked.com on September 1. But a Facebook page he created to promote the coming site suggests he’s on to something; within weeks of starting up, the page has garnered more than 3,000 views, plus dozens of emails from parents of autistic children as far away as Australia.
The draw? According to Jongekrijg, autismunlocked.com will be the first website that teaches by directly communicating with its users, filling a gap that real-life school can’t offer autistic students: the creation of an authentic social situation – without the pressure of it being real.
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