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ZAC is a web browser specifically designed for children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, (PDD), and PDD-NOS.
ZAC is for "for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. Children touch it, use it, play it, interact with it, and experience independence through ZAC….. ZAC is the zone that will permit your child to interact directly with games (a LOT of games) and activities (focused on MANY interests) that cater specifically to kids who display the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, like impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. ZAC has been an effective tool for kids with low, medium and high functioning autism."
The simple graphic, interactive interface provides four main content areas: Television, Games, Music, and Stories. The browser’s emphasis is on linking to educational and fun games, activities and videos. Ease of use is further enhanced by cutting out extraneous elements such as right clicking; helping to reduce sensory overload and possible frustration.
Adult content is blocked to ensure safe browsing. The browser links to specific pages on sites such as Sesame Street, Disney and PBS Kids and it is not possible to follow any links (including the websites internal links) from these pages. I can see the necessity of this although my son found it a little frustrating not being able to access other games and activities on the site he was on, at least when he first started using the browser. From my perspective I do not mind this. I find it does keep him on task as he would normally be inclined to flit from link to link without concentrating on anything for very long.
ZAC was developed by John LeSieur based on the needs of his autistic grandson, Zackary, and is still in beta stage. (The name is also an acronym for Zone for Autistic Children). John LeSieur was also involved in the development of d the Kid CD browsers aimed at children and teenagers.
ZAC Browser’s forum provides a way for parents and caregivers to communicate and share stories, challenges and successes.
ZAC may not suit all children in the Autism Spectrum Disorder range, because of their varying abilities, and needs, but it is the only free resource of its kind and I give it a thumbs up. Its use is not restricted to those children with special needs but is a program suited to all young children.
I have installed ZAC on my PC too - well, I had to research the program myself before writing a review.- so please excuse me now while I carry on researching. I am up to level 3 on Higglytown Higgly Ball 
Update:
- I just read an interesting interview with John LeSieur on about.com where he talks about ZAC.
- There is also a Zac Search Engine that includes links to Autism Resources and sites
Popularity: 9% [?]
| 2.9 (3 people) |
Sueblimely
WOW! Sue that looks fantastic. I am so grateful that you surf so much and can bring these things to us. Thank you.
Will look for your review and will go and check ZAC now.
This is useful information. Thanks for sharing. Maybe useful for my nephew who is autistic and now in his teens.
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hey thanks, I have already passed this along to a few people who are going through this with their children.
How nice and great to see the safe surf feature too. Thanks for sharing this Sue - I also know a family who have a child who is autistic and will of course pass this on.
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Wow, this is great!
Thanks for finding these kind of things, I’ll be letting Feral Beast loose on ZAC as soon as I download it
He’s just looked over my shoulder and said it looks like fun!
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Jayne sent me this. Do you mind if I link to this so others can be informed ??
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I am more than happy for you to link to it. My google/technorati rankings will thank you too. Seriously though it would be great if as many people as possible found out about it. A safe site for all young kids as well as being good for ASD
I can recommend the ZAC browser as Feral Beast played on it solidly for 4 hours with enough laughter to raise the roof
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Wonderful - more blogging time for you too. I was not online when my Fragile X son was little but there was nothing like this available anyway. All he would use on the PC was a program called Kids Pics and that particular obsession lasted about 4 years
Who owns or runs that browser?
Kudos to you for writing this post, anything that helps people with this dreadful condition is worthy
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You can read the story here http://www.zacbrowser.com/story.html It is John LeSieur President and CEO of People CD, Inc is behind Zac.
[…] To learn more about the browser and find interviews with its creator, read the full post here. […]
ZAC is great. It allows children with disabilities to interact with the browser which in any other case they may not have been able to. They can enjoy themselves and at the same time ZAC takes a lot of stress and concern from parents and caretakers.
Well said Howard. When my own son was young he was very limited in what he could do on the computer because of his disability and because of what applications were available at the time.
I’ve just noticed this post and felt my need to put in my two cents.
There has been a lot of debate as to whether ZAC Browser can really be called a browser, but due to the fantastic achievement of being able to control viewing through a custom front-end to IE I think it deserves all the praise it can get. After using it for a couple of hours and testing it for robustness I could safely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun alternative to browsing a computer for their kids.
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“ZAC may not suit all children in the Autism Spectrum Disorder range, because of their varying abilities, and needs, but it is the only free resource of its kind and I give it a thumbs up.” Yes, I do agree and I think it’s fantastic that research is been done to help our children.
There has been a lot of debate as to whether ZAC Browser can really be called a browser, but due to the fantastic achievement of being able to control viewing through a custom front-end to internet explorer I think it deserves all the praise it can get. After using it for a couple of hours and testing it for robustness I could safely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun alternative to browsing a computer for their kids.
Thanks for checking it out and letting us know. Maybe not a browser as such but the title does convey the sort of thing it does.
Wow! That’s incredible information. I will definitely be passing this on throughout the agency I work for.
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