The Mensa Education & Research Foundation is proud to announce Matthew Guggemos, of San Francisco, Calif., as the 2013 winner of the Intellectual Benefit to Society Award.
An annual tribute, the award is presented to one member of American Mensa whose intellectual abilities resulted in a substantial benefit to society. Matthew, a speech-language pathologist, is credited with developing his own mobile-interactive-video-self modeling approach to improve social communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder and/or Social Thinking deficits.
Matthew has dedicated his efforts to addressing the nuanced communication needs of individuals on the spectrum. “Best of all, the approach uses existing technology,” he said. “This would help companies develop programs at a relatively low cost while, at the same time, provide a captivating, innovative tool that improves social interaction and communication for people who have autism.”