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LOGAN — A Cache County family is using their experiences to help parents who have children with autism. The family of six is working together to help kids with autism learn math.
Brian and Bonnie Stewart know that children with autism see the world differently.
“It’s very much a riddle, trying to figure out what makes them tick,” said Brian.
A couple of years ago, he and his wife Bonnie started developing Tractor Math. On the surface it looks much like any other learning app, but there is a difference.
“I had noticed there’s one thing that really annoys autistic children; that is when things do not line up visually,” Bonnie said.
The Stewarts started focusing on those lines and visual cues. Then they noticed the concepts were getting through. Eleven-year-old Derrick and his brother were getting better at math.
With many math learning apps, a wrong answer generates a negative tone. Many autistic children like that, so they keep trying to get the wrong answer. There's no motivation to get it right.
Also, the Stewarts said it was important to keep the art two-dimensional and simple.
To finish the project, they reached out to their two adult children who also have autism. Paul designed the animations and the art. His sister, Laurel, helped with the sounds.
"My Asperger’s might be a little bit milder than theirs,” said Paul, “but I got to this point somehow. And I have faith that maybe through programs like this, they can maybe get to where I am now.”
The process took a couple of years to develop, but the Stewarts said the app helped bring them together while building some new hope.
"I knew it was worth the man-hours it was going to take to do, and the woman hours," Bonnie said.
Tractor Math has modest sales so far, getting into a handful of schools.
"It was worth it just for the experience of working together as a family," Brian said.
