Newsweek ran an article on Jan 16, 2009 about some software the asperger/autitic kids were enjoying using. It was designed and marketed for architects, but their kids pick it upa nd ran with it. The application is called “SketchUp.” The Newseek article is:

Kids With Autism Love This Software

This stuff was such a hit that Google (who owns the application) started “Project Spectrum” within its “Google for Educators” to make it more available. At their website you can try it out for free, join a users community, and there is a manual of lesson plans. Plus a couple of videos of projects kids have done. The link to Project Spectrum is:

http://www.google.com/educators/spectrum.html

Here is one of the SketchUp videos: