John Mavrothalassitis used to communicate using pictures and one or two words. But over the past 18 months, the seven-year-old, who has autism, has started speaking in sentences with the help of an iPad application.

His family said he requested or commented on things they didn't realise he understood. This year he moved from a school for autistic students to a satellite class in a mainstream school.

Great communicator ... Johnny Mavrothalassitis, 8, can now talk with his family thanks to an iPad application designed to help children with autism improve their speech. Credit:Steven Siewert

His mother, Yvette, said he was ''infinitely happier. He no longer gets frustrated and upset by not being able to communicate with us and every day his speech is progressing''.

John uses the Proloquo2go app, which turns pictures into sentences then voices them out loud so they can be repeated.