April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, on which Autism Speaks and other autism research supporters encourage the world to Light It Up Blue, a campaign in which blue lights are shown from skyscrapers, statues, apartments and front porches alike to encourage the world to “shine a light” on autism and encourage research. For a condition that affects 1 in 88 children, so little is still known about autism and so many prejudices remain. Misconceptions have arisen about the origins of autism-spectrum disorders and children affected by them are still treated with prejudice and bullying at school.

As educators and parents, we believe in the power of all children, on the autism spectrum or not, to grow, learn and succeed and want to do what we can to empower children who develop and process the world in all ways and at all paces. As game developers, we believe in the potential of the iPad to be a valuable educational tool for children on the autism spectrum. Educational tablet apps can cater to more visual and kinetic learners, and more importantly, they encourage self-directed learning, empowering the child to learn in a manner and at a pace that makes sense to them.

That’s why Mrs. Judd’s Games is proud to join the incredible effort of Jim McClafferty and the good people at Brain Parade as one of 43 developers donating their educational apps to fully stock the iPads Brain Parade is donating for Autism Speaks’ giveaway. The organization is giving iPads to families with a child on the autism spectrum who would benefit from iPad learning but are unable to afford the device. Each iPad given to a family as part of the giveaway will include a free copy of our app, Snowflake Station. We hope the families and children involve enjoy their new iPads and have hours of fun cutting snowflakes and experiencing the other great apps from our fellow developers.