Newtownards Mum Creates Life-Changing Autism App
Newtownards mum Alexandra Mooney has created a pioneering new app designed to support children with autism and transform daily life for families navigating neurodiversity.
Mandi Millar reports
As Newtownards mum Alexandra Mooney wrestled with the ream of laminated charts she used to help her neurodiverse son navigate everyday life, she knew there had to be a better way.
Now there is, thanks to the ground-breaking app NDNook she’s developing, which is set to revolutionise the experience of children with autism.
“You don’t see other parents in the park whipping out visual aids – it draws attention to your child being different too!” says the data analyst, whose son Joe (7) was diagnosed with autism three years ago.
Like many other parents of children with ASD, she uses the charts, which include schedules, timers, what’s happening now and what’s happening next stickers, for instance, to help make communication easier with her little boy.
“With autism it’s about using visual tools rather than the child having to listen to verbal instructions so they can better manage their emotions,” continues Alexandra, who admits she was shocked when Joe received his diagnosis.
“Initially we’d no idea there was anything underlying. He missed a lot of socialisation due to Covid lockdowns at a vital time when he would have maybe developed early coping mechanisms. I feel that’s played a part in the lives of many children of Joe’s generation who have been subsequently diagnosed.
“He settled in nursery and things only started coming to light in P1. This was a very stressful time for Joe and for myself. Ultimately, it was decided Joe would do better in a smaller, more specialised unit and that’s indeed been the case.
“He is a very social child, very independent, interesting and interested in the world around him. He’s very intelligent, funny, always on the go, loves gymnastics, gaming and his K-pop, just a great wee person!” continues Alexandra.
“I suppose that’s why we didn’t think there were any issues initially. I didn’t know much about autism and had this stereotype of children with autism having difficulty with socialisation.
“But autism is a spectrum and every child is different. Joe does have sensory struggles in loud, busy environments,” says single mum Alexandra, who sought out support as soon as her son was diagnosed.
“We’re fortunate Joe’s dad Brian is very involved, but we needed to connect with other families like ours.
“I’ve leaned heavily on Bangor support group In Touch With Autism, which is parent-centred with lots of advice on financial and resource issues – very knowledgeable.
“Then there’s Tribe, which focuses on the children and runs youth clubs, cinema nights, gaming groups and holidays,” continues Alexandra, who, by engaging with other parents, teachers and health professionals, quickly learned the laminated charts were one of the main tools in supporting children with autism.
“They do work, but you end up with endless charts for every situation your child might face. Then various options within those situations are written on laminated notelets, attached to the main chart by Velcro.
“I’ve lost count of the number of nights I’ve spent printing off charts, laminating them and attaching Velcro!
“They’re bulky, time-consuming to make, hard to edit and not very portable,” says Alexandra, who knew there had to be an alternative.
“I couldn’t believe no one had developed an app with this information all at your fingertips, easily edited in a few clicks on your device.
“That said, parents of children at this stage, when they’re using the charts, have little time to develop technology. A study has shown many can have cortisol levels similar to combat veterans.
“It was only after things settled down for us that I started thinking about it. An app would mean I could show Joe his schedule on my phone. We could have choice cards there so he could choose a calming activity if he was overwhelmed, for instance.
“We could have a tracker monitoring meltdowns so we could identify trigger patterns and avoid them.
“There’d be personalisation too, so if Joe was going to an after-school club I could put on a picture of the actual club on the app rather than a generic image.
“I learned that gamification would also be important in changing long-term behaviours, so by letting the child build up points through engaging with the app, for example, they could then use these towards upgrading their avatar or changing colours.
“As a tool, it’d be easy to edit, discreet and extremely portable.”
Buoyed by positive feedback from other parents, Alexandra approached business support organisation Go Succeed, taking her first steps towards developing the app with the help of Ards Business Hub’s Anne Murphy as mentor.
She went on to win Go Succeed’s Ultimate Pitch business development bursary of £1,000 and, thanks to publicity from that, was approached by a software development company in Canada who loved her idea so much they agreed to donate some of their time to developing the app prototype.
“Right now we’re looking for families to test the prototype and ultimately we hope this will become a viable business with users paying a small monthly subscription. We also have plans for subsidised subscriptions and free devices for children in areas of deprivation,” says Alexandra, who’s completely self-taught.
“App development is not an area I have ever had any experience of, but the more I read the more there was to read – like when you buy a white car then all you see are white cars!
“I’ve learned so much though and it’s been an incredible experience for me. What’s really exciting is that this could be really life-changing for other families too.”
