Irish iPhone App for Autism to be honoured with United Nations World Summit – Mobile Award for e-Learning and Education

Irish iPhone app “Grace App”, conceived and created by Lisa Domican, a mother of two children with autism, and developed by Steve Troughton-Smith ; with the support of O2 Telefonica, will be awarded the United Nations World Summit – Mobile Award for e-Learning and Education. Grace App chosen was chosen by a jury from the best mobile contents and applications out of over 400 nominations from nearly 100 countries.

The World Summit Award Mobile (WSA-Mobile) is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best in mobile content and innovative applications within the frame work of the United Nations.

The Grand Jury of 20 internationally recognized experts selected the global winners from over 400 nominations from nearly 100 countries.

“The Jury members hail from all continents and they worked to award visible great m-content, no matter whether it originated from,” explains WSA Chairman Prof. Peter A.Bruck. “The World Summit Awards therefore represent what is top on the global plane.”

The App was designed to replicate the existing Picture Exchange Communication System used by parents and educators of children with autism – which allows them to build sentences using a book of laminated pictures attached to a board by Velcro. As the child learns new words through pictures, they are added to the book, reflecting the child’s growing vocabulary. However, while the existing system is very effective in the home or classroom, it is not very portable for everyday situations outside of these settings.

The Grace App which is available for iPad, iPhone or the iPod Touch is more discreet, portable and convenient in public situations. It supports Independence, Consistency in Communication and Social interaction for the user.

“This is an extremely important project to me, and I am honoured to have been recognised by the United Nations World Summit,” said Lisa Domican. “For many parents, this is a new opportunity to give their children a voice. I would like to thank O2 Telefonica for their support and Steven Troughton-Smith who developed the app for the iTunes App Store worldwide.

The App has already won an Irish Web Award 2010 for best mobile app.

Grace App was nominated by the National Expert for Ireland; Martin Casey of Arekibo Communications, a prominent Internet Consultancy.

Martin says "Grace is an extraordinary product created with passion and determination. It stands out as a brilliant combination of technology and innovation with real purpose. It's wonderful to see its success in the WSA awards and reiterates its brilliance."

Lisa will travel to be presented to the world at the United Nations WSA-mobile Winners’ Gala, Conference and Expo in Abu Dhabi from 5 to 8 December.

Grace App is available for download from the iTunes store.

For further information, contact Ger Kenny (My Publicist)– 087-2488393

By the way, I am flying to Abu Dhabi with Ethiad - Direct from Dublin. I am looking forward to checking out the service for future trips to Aus with Liam. And I am totally open to the idea of upgrade. Just sayin' xx