Mocotos: mobile communications tools for children with special needs

Children with special needs often struggle to communicate about even the most basic of concepts. For children who cannot verbally communicate, augmentative visual communications tools can enable them to get their needs met, to socialize, and more. Despite these benefits, the tools currently available have many shortcomings. In this paper, we present results from a preliminary formative study focused on understanding current tools, and determine needs for the design of new tools. We also present the design of Mocotos, a new class of mobile communications tools for children with special needs.