I wanted to share something that has been interesting so far in my private therapy sessions with an 11-year-old boy who has autism. I have incorporated into therapy an iPhone, which has many different features that are available by touching the screen.

My client doesn't know his personal information, and at this juncture I feel that is more important than being able to identify the main idea of a passage in a book that he can't read or comprehend and, in the end, couldn't care less about. Having him recite and write his personal information on paper proved to be cumbersome and time consuming.

Then it occurred to me that I had his mom's home and cell phone numbers in my phone. I thought, "What if I had him look for it there and read it from the phone?" I gave him the phone and offered step-by-step instructions on how to retrieve his contact information. He did it with ease. I even had him call the house and talk to his mom. (I didn't warn her that we would be calling because I wanted to see her reaction.)

The phone allows you to enter additional information for each contact. I told my client to hit "Edit" and enter his birthday, address and other information. He typed it in better than I could. He focused very well on the task and even figured out how to backspace when he made a mistake. I was amazed. I then showed him how to select a ringtone for his phone number. He enjoyed this task immensely and chose the fire alarm tone. The phone also has a timer that I use for our sessions so I don't get lost in time. He figured out how to set that and selected a ringtone for that as well.

Bringing an iPhone into therapy might not be appropriate for every client, especially those who are obsessed with electronics and wouldn't be able to put one down when instructed. However, the approach was very successful for this child. He doesn't even know he is learning, and I can use it toward the end of the session as a treat.

The iPhone-related tasks cover a variety of language and other skills. Among these are following directions, identifying numbers and letters, spelling and reasoning, as well as cause and effect, comprehension, pragmatics and fine motor skills.

I haven't even touched on accessing the Internet! My kids have used the phone to download free games, which also can be used as a reward for hard work.

There is also a Note Page feature on the phone, which allows me to set up a page just for my client where he can type in his information on as many pages as it takes for him to learn the information by heart. I know this should not replace writing, so we swap back and forth between typing the information into the phone and copying it on paper. The goal is to make sure he can write down information from memory someday.

Peggy Larson is a craniofacial family advocate and an advisor for the Facial Anomaly Community Education (FACE) Club at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL. She can be contacted at Peglar00@aol.com.