Scotland’s leading autism-specific charity, Scottish Autism, has launched AutNav, a new app for table devices, developed in partnership with the National Autistic Taskforce.

According to the National Autistic Society, it is estimated that around one in 100 people are autistic, with around 700,000 adults and children with autism in the UK. The spectrum of diagnosis is wide, with autistic people have varying needs and difficulties. Many of these requirements revolve around communication difficulties, especially for people with who are non-verbal or have limited communication abilities.

The National Autistic Taskforce was developed in 2018 to give autistic adults more control over their lives, and the app is in aim to provide better means of communication for people on the autism spectrum.

The app delivers upon the vision of Dr. Dinah Murray, who was passionate about supporting the rights of autistic people with communication difficulties, often supported in long-term residential care, and saw AutNav as a method to enable them to communicate their interests and interact with friends and wider family.

Commenting, Charlene Tait, Deputy CEO of Scottish Autism said: “We are delighted to be able to launch this innovative app, developed in line with the wishes of the late Dinah Murray, and which can act as a fitting and powerful legacy to her work championing the rights of autistic people.

“We are grateful that a generous bequeathment enabled us to develop AutNav, and bring Dinah’s vision into being.”

AutNav is an app that brings together an individual’s favourite content, and keeps it all in one place. It was developed so that autistic people, including those in supported settings, could have more autonomy, and more easily use technology to pursue their interests and keep in touch with friends and family.

The app works by creating shortcuts to the individual’s chosen content, so that they have easy access to music, videos, people they want to speak to, and websites they wish to visit.

“We know from the feedback we have received from the autistic people who have tested the app in its development that they find it beneficial and easy to use, and we are excited to see it rolled out and available to autistic people, not just in Scotland, but across the whole world,”  Tait added.

AutNav is highly customisable, so individuals can modify it to suit their needs and preferences. It lets them organise their content in a way that makes sense to them, pick their favourite colour theme, and choose how much information they can see at once.

They can also hide individual features depending on how they would like to ineract with AutNav.

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Further, the app is specifically designed to work with the accessibility features already available on an individual’s device. It supports both light and dark mode, and is compatible with a range of different text sizes.

Kabie Brook, of Autism Rights Group Highland (ARGH) and a director of the National Autistic Taskforce, commented: “I am absolutely delighted that Dinah Murray’s vision for AutNav has come to life, thanks to Scottish Autism and everyone who has worked hard to make the vision reality.

“AutNav will increase the autonomy of those autistic people and others who currently struggle to enjoy all the benefits of the internet that some of us take for granted.”