Christie Ulloa is a rising senior at Bergen Academies in New Jersey and Nanayaa Amponsah is a rising senior at Bronx Preparatory Charter School in the Bronx. These girls joined Girls Who Code with no experience but as they continued the program, they were able to learn to code in Python, HTML, CSS, and Javascript. With those computer languages, they were able to create a snow animation, Pokemon game, and photo editor. Being at the program for 7 weeks taught them how to bring their ideas together. They decided to create a website that would hopefully help people with autism learn more about what to do in different social situations. Their intention at first was to create an app so that it would be more user friendly, however as the design process went on they decided on a website. Although neither of the girls had much experience talking to people with autism, they did a lot of research. Through their research, they found a book called "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M.Draper. The book is based on a young child named Melody whose brain doesn't function well, making it hard for her to interact with other as she can't verbally speak. Melody was later able to get a machine that made it easier to share her thoughts, allowing her to participate in a spelling competition on national television. Like Melody, the creators wanted to make an easier way for autistic people to interact with others by combating their struggles little by little with different icons. Although creating the website was not easy, it will be worth it if it helps austistic people in the world.
