Anila Gonsalves, a mother of two, remembers feeling fearful, confused and helpless when she learned of her eldest son's autism diagnosis. She watched her son struggle with natural speech and frustrations with learning. “But we had to be determined if we needed results. Through multiple therapy sessions and meetings with specialists, I found that my son, like many others, was more receptive to learning and communicating with visual cues. Anila said. Determined to make things better for her son, Anila looked for ways to make conversation easier for anyone who has communication problems. Conversation interruptions are common in people with hearing problems, autism, or speech delays. After being inspired by the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) methodology, Anila came up with the idea to develop a digital assistance tool that simplifies daily conversation called Fabulaa.
(Image credit: Febulaa) Fabulaa is a free to download app for iOS and Android that helps users get their message across using voice-to-text, visual cues, and hand-drawn notes. In addition to making the app simple and easy to use, Anila also wanted the app to be accessible to everyone: “By researching and working on various therapies and tools, I realized that every parent wants to do what's there. The best for your children. But many of us are limited by the high costs of treatment and the lack of accessibility. Technology plays a key role in processing and learning and is a tremendous catalyst for People of Determination (POD). " The app has a simple, easy-to-navigate interface and users have multiple ways to express their point of view. You can use speaking directly in the app, which is then converted to text displayed on the screen, or write a sentence and have it said out loud. Users can also draw or write their message in the Doodles tab. For those who rely on visual cues, the Cards tab allows them to choose words that match the pictures to create sentences that are then expressed There is also a handy feature that allows you to save phrases to a phrase bank for quick and easy access later Fabulaa currently supports English, Hindi, French, Spanish and Portuguese Plans are underway to develop an Arabic version in the next 6 months.