Monday, March 31, 2014

Autista by Mad Rat Games.. Good Going!

It was one of those regular book store outings with my son. There, sandwiched among really big brands, was a small box. It read "Aksharit". I took it out, more out of curiosity than anything else. It was Scrabble in Hindi!

That's how I first got to know about Mad Rat Games. I came home and researched this organisation - who makes Scrabble in Hindi! How Brilliant! I loved that story.. and the game went on to become the return gift at the said child's birthday party.

Cut to now, a few years later.. this email in the inbox made me smile, then grin.. how many folks think of Autism? How many of them go out and actually make an app to help??

Here is the message, as sent by the Mad Rat Games team. We at Esha think its brilliant, so here goes:

Do you know that there are around 70 million children worldwide suffering from Autism (10 million children in India alone!)? It is a lifelong disorder that affects how a person can communicate and interact with other people.
Privy to this problem, we at MadRat Games have been working on a solution and are now proud to announce the launch of Autista, a free-to-download iPad app to help kids with Autism and other learning disabilities improve their verbal and fine motor skills. The App is the outcome of an year long collaboration with Cornell University (Prof Mathew Belmonte) and Communication DEALL (Dr Pratibha Karanth) center for children with Autism.
The app has been developed scientifically by working closely with Autistic kids and the response we have seen during this process has been very heartening. More about the launch can be read on our blog and we require your support for this app to reach children with Autism and other learning disabilities who need this.
Download the app here for free and spread the word to parents, therapists and children who can benefit from it.
And on another high note, we're also proud to announce that MadRat Games wo
n the Games of the Year- Special Mention award at the NASSCOM Game Developers Conference. MadRat won the award for Autista in this conference that was organized to propel the evolution of the gaming sector and to evangelize the game developer's community in the country.