SymTrend ADL Now Available!!

It is now available for download and trial on the iTunes app store and can also be used online or with an android or other touch-browser based phone.

Do you often ask why your child has trouble getting dressed, gets stressed about going to the bathroom, and won’t sleep through the night? Do you also ask why he hits himself when frustrated, screams when you put on some clothes, has a tantrum or stims during transitions to new activities?

Dressing, Grooming, Sleeping, Eating, and Toileting are ADLs – Activities of Daily Living. Tantrums, self-injury or stimming behaviors, and sensory sensitivities are often linked to ADLs.

SymTrend ADL lets you quickly record important information about ADLs and behaviors. Pick the ADL skill you want to focus on and track it. Once it’s mastered, move on to the next.

- Don’t try to keep the details in your head about what your child did or what was going on around you!

- Report about the ADLs and behaviors as things happen. A few taps is all it takes and your app accurately records the information for you.

- Enter therapies, medications, diets, supplements, and activities in our personal health record.

Recruitment for Research Project in Eastern MA

Participate in a voluntary research study on methods for home-based monitoring of behavior of children on the autism spectrum

The purpose of this research project is to understand how parents track behavior and the symptoms of autism of their children. If you choose to participate in this study, you will be interviewed for about one hour by one of the professionals involved in the research, either in your home or at your child’s school. You will be asked to show examples of whatever you currently use to organize and store information about your child’s behavior, development, treatments, and response to treatments. You may also be asked to try using a new piece of software on an iPod touch, a web-based monitoring system, and/or a new paper/digital pen system to do your recording.

To participate in this research, you must have a child on the autism spectrum between 3 and 10 years old. If you choose to participate in this study, we will pay you $20 for the initial interview. If you are asked to participate in follow-up usability testing sessions, we give you a choice of receiving an additional fee of $20/hour for your time, or receiving a free year-long subscription ($195 value) to the monitoring service being tested.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please send an email to research@symtrend.com with (1) your name, (2) contact information, (3) age/gender of your child, (4), school/programs/treatment your child currently attends/receives, so that we may get in touch with you to set up an interview.

Researchers from the University of Washington and SymTrend, Inc. (Belmont, MA) are conducting in-depth interviews about the types of recordkeeping, charting, and communications used by therapists who work with pre-schoolers and elementary school children who are on the lower end of the autism spectrum. They are interested in talking to OTs, Speech and Language Pathologists, Behavior Analysts, and Special Education teachers who use any of the following therapeutic methods: ABA, Sensory Integration, Floortime, SCERTS, TEACCH, or Pivotal Response therapy. They will be developing a new technology for easing the transcription and charting of observational data and are looking for assistance in the optimization of the design and functionality of their tool. You will be paid for your participation.

If you are interested, please contact Minna Levine to complete a brief questionnaire to see if you qualify for this research.

Phone: (866-796-8736)

Email: research@symtrend.com

SymTrend launched its new home page and tours today. The tours provide case studies about the use of SymTrend for each of the health challenges on the home page. If you are interested in learning more about how SymTrend would work with your health challenge, either post a question here, or contact SymTrend support at support@symtrend.com or 866-796-8736.

A new version of SymTrend is on the iTunes App Store. You can download it for a free 7-day free trial. Just sign up for a SymTrend account on the app and it will download sample Health Logs to your iPhone/iPod touch that match your age, gender, and "Health Challenge".

If the apps downloaded do not meet your needs, go to the symtrend.com website and login with the username and password you chose. Go to the "Select Health Log and Enter Data Online" link on the left side of the member home page to see if there are other logs there that are more appealing. If not, contact SymTrend support (866-796-8736) if you want to learn more about how you can adapt the logs to meet your needs.

We have removed the first version of SymTrend from the iTunes store. Version 1.2 will enable downloaders to create a SymTrend account and receive sample logs to use at no cost for a week. The logs will match the user's age, gender, and "health challenge". Those who already have an account will receive the logs to which they are subscribed. You will also have an opportunity to review other logs on the system during the week you are on the system. We expect the Apple review to be completed by October 10th.

SymTrend strongly recommends that you attend the Asperger Association of New England Asperger Syndrome Connections conference on October 2nd and 3rd, 2009. Dr. Tony Attwood and Kari Dunn Buron are speaking. It is being held at the John Hancock Hall in Boston, MA. SymTrend will have a display table at the conference both days and will be demonstrating its applications for teens and adults. To find out more about and register for the conference, go to: http://www.aane.org/upcoming_events/AS_Connections_2009.html.