A voice for children who don't use words
Differently is an augmentative and alternative communication app. A child taps symbols; the app builds a sentence and speaks it aloud. It is designed for non-speaking and minimally speaking people — most often autistic children — and for the parents and speech therapists supporting them.
What it does
The board is the whole product. Everything else exists to make the next tap easier to find.
Tap to speak
Symbols are grouped into categories — food, feelings, actions, people, places. Tapping adds a word to the sentence bar; pressing Speak reads the whole message aloud. Parents can add their own symbols using photos from the device.
It learns the child
An on-device model tracks which words this child actually uses, at what time of day, and in what order. It suggests likely next words and quietly moves frequently used symbols within easy reach — between messages, never mid-sentence.
Built for sensory needs
Four modes: full colour, low stimulation with no animation, dark, and high-contrast minimal. Tile size is adjustable from two to eight per row. When tapping becomes fast and repetitive, the app offers a calm moment rather than carrying on.
For parents and therapists
Behind a PIN, so the board itself stays uncluttered for the child.
Progress that means something
Not just tap counts. Mean length of utterance week by week — the measure speech therapists actually use — alongside vocabulary growth, the new words used for the first time this week, and whether communication is broadening beyond requests into feelings and questions.
Shape the board
Add, hide or edit symbols. Pin favourites to a home tab. Drag cards into the arrangement that suits one particular child, and it stays that way. Build printable boards and export them as PDF for use away from the tablet.
Therapy sessions
Therapists can create exercises with target words, run a session, and review what was reached and what was skipped — without interrupting the child's use of the board.
What your child says stays on the device
The record of what a person said using Differently — their symbol taps, their sentences, their timeline — is stored locally and is never uploaded to our servers. That is a design decision, not a default, and it is why the app works with no internet connection at all.
You can use the app entirely as a guest, with no account. Signing in adds nothing more than a backup of the child's profile and board layout across devices.
Read the full privacy policyWhere it is now
Differently is in testing with a small number of families ahead of release on Google Play. If you support a non-speaking child and would like to try it, or you are a speech-language pathologist willing to tell us what is missing, we would like to hear from you.
contact@autismresearch.aiDifferently is a communication aid. It is not a medical device, and it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. Always consult a qualified speech-language pathologist or clinician.