Parents of Autistic Child Find Help From iPhone; Today Apple Approved Behavior Tracker Pro

Market Wire, June, 2009

Today Apple approved for sale BTP, or Behavior Tracker Pro, an iPhone application that allows behavioral therapists, aides, teachers or parents to track behaviors and graph them. The application was specifically designed to support the behavioral treatment plans for children with Autism however it can be used to track behavior in any field.

The concept of the Behavior Tracker Pro grew out of a personal and professional need. The application was designed by Elizabeth Maher, BCBA and her husband Steve with the assistance of Nick Rudolfsky, 18, of Nitrex Pro Inc. Many years of struggle preceded the development of Behavior Tracker Pro.

Eleven years ago, Liz and Steve's daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with Autism. They saw the difference that ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis, made to Sarah's progress. As a result, Liz went back to school and earned her Masters degree in Special Education with an emphasis in ABA, and then earned her board certification as a behavior analyst. "I'm a computer geek," says Steve. "I always wanted to find a way to create technology to help Sarah." Working together as husband and wife has brought about a unique tool to help kids with Autism worldwide.

Three years ago Liz started consulting in schools in North-East Pennsylvania, working with teachers and their students with Autism to decrease problem behaviors and increase communication using Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behavior. As Liz worked with staff in schools she found that it was difficult to assess whether a treatment plan was working. Data, even if it had been taken consistently, was usually not graphed. "What's the point of taking data if you aren't going to graph it?" said Liz. "Graphing data allows everyone to see how treatment plans are working, whether behaviors are increasing or decreasing and you can make changes quickly. If you don't take data and don't graph that data, you're flying blind and the kids deserve more than that."

Moreover, as a family Liz and Steve often needed to take data on Sarah's behavior. The use of a timer and a clipboard was not easy or very discreet in public. Many of Liz's co-workers lamented the lack of an easy way to both collect and graph behavior data for kids with Autism. "The feedback has been amazing," reports Liz. "And to top it off our programmer Nick was five when Sarah, now 13, was born," says Liz laughing. "We took a few days off early in the development process because Nick had to study for finals exams, from High School."

Behavior Tracker Pro is available in the Apple iPhone store.

Liz and Steve can be reached at 570-332-2285 or via email at steve@behaviortrackerpro.com or liz@behaviortrackerpro.com .

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Contact: Liz and Steve Maher 17 Greystone Dr., Mountaintop PA 18707 Company Name: Marz Consulting Inc. Telephone Number: 570-332-2285 Fax Number: 570-474-0601 Email Contact Email Contact Web site address: http://www.behaviortrackerpro.com