Nonverbal children are 3–4× more likely to be abused — and have no way to report it
Children with disabilities are maltreated at significantly higher rates than their speaking peers — a gap well-documented in the epidemiological literature.1 The same communication barriers that define their disability also prevent them from disclosing abuse, seeking help, or alerting a trusted adult.
Existing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools provide no pathway for a child to silently signal distress to someone outside the primary caretaker relationship. Speech-language pathologists, educators, and clinicians working with this population lack a technology-supported method for facilitating or detecting disclosures from nonverbal users.2
Speak AAC — live, free, and installable today
Speak is a free, open-access AAC application for nonverbal and minimally verbal children. It includes two features absent from all existing commercial tools:
Diagnosis-personalized onboarding
Speak automatically configures the symbol grid, vocabulary complexity, motor targeting, and visual layout based on the child's diagnosis, age range, motor ability, and sensory profile — across 17 supported conditions including autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, apraxia, and acquired brain injury. Setup that typically requires months of SLP customization takes under two minutes.3
Private safety reporting channel
A child can silently alert a designated trusted adult (outside the primary caretaker relationship) by activating a hidden symbol sequence or a dedicated Help button. The alert fires an immediate, silent email to the trusted contact — no visible action on the device, no mail app opened, no caretaker awareness. This is the first feature of its kind in any publicly available AAC system.
Installable on iPad and Android tablets. Includes a full clinical guide for SLPs and a user guide for families.
What we want to learn
- RQ1 Does diagnosis-personalized AAC configuration reduce time-to-functional-communication compared to standard manual setup by an SLP?
- RQ2 Does access to a private safety reporting channel increase the rate of abuse disclosures among nonverbal children in clinical and school settings over a 6-month period?
- RQ3 What barriers exist to reliable use of a private safety channel by nonverbal children, and how can the interface be modified to reduce them?
6-month pilot, 30–50 participants
A 6-month pilot study with 30–50 nonverbal children (ages 4–16) across clinical and school-based settings. Participants would be randomized to Speak with the safety channel active vs. Speak with the safety channel inactive.
Outcome measures: number of safety alerts generated, response time from trusted contacts, caretaker-reported communication milestones, SLP-reported ease of setup, and structured disclosure interviews at 3 and 6 months.
All participants would receive a functional AAC tool regardless of group assignment. IRB oversight, participant recruitment, clinical assessment, and data analysis would be provided by the university research partner. The app itself is fully developed, deployed, and maintained by the Speak team.
What we're looking for in a research partner
We are seeking a university faculty member or clinical research team with:
- IRB access and experience with pediatric populations or individuals with disabilities
- Expertise in speech-language pathology, AAC, or communication sciences
- An established participant network or clinical pipeline in AAC-using populations
- Interest in co-authorship on NIDILRR Field-Initiated Projects or similar federal research funding
The technology is built. The problem is documented. The app is live. What's needed is a clinical and academic partner to bring the rigor that turns a compelling tool into evidence-based practice.
Supporting literature
Interested in collaborating?
If you're a researcher, SLP faculty member, or clinician with IRB access and interest in AAC and child safety — we'd like to hear from you. Response within 24 hours.
Email us at hello@speakaac.org