Your First Week with SpeakPad

You don't need any AAC experience to start. Here's what the first week actually looks like.

Day one: setup

Install SpeakPad and a short setup walks you through your child's language, a starting communication level, and a voice. At the end, a ready-made board with common vocabulary is waiting, no blank page to fill in. If you want a different focus later, such as mealtime or emotions, there are 13 board packs waiting in caregiver settings.

What your child sees

Your child gets one calm, uncluttered board. They tap picture symbols to build a message in the bar at the top, then tap Speak to hear it read aloud. Back removes the last word; Clear starts over. The grid never rearranges itself: a word stays exactly where your child last found it, which is how the motor memory that makes AAC fast actually builds.

Colours aren't decoration. They follow the Fitzgerald Key used across speech therapy: green for actions, orange for things, blue for describing words, and so on, so the same colour means the same part of speech everywhere in the app.

The one habit that matters most: model, don't test

The single biggest predictor of whether a child picks up AAC is whether the adults around them use it too, out loud, during ordinary moments. This is called aided language stimulation: you point at symbols on the board as you speak, the same way you'd narrate for a child learning to talk normally.

It doesn't need a dedicated session. Tap “more” as you offer more snack. Tap “all done” as you clear the plates. Tap “help” if they're stuck with a zip. You're not testing them or waiting for a response, you're showing them the board is a real way to talk, not a quiz. And when you'd rather the device didn't talk over you, Modeling Mode makes your taps silent.

Expect them to just watch at first, or to mash buttons out of curiosity. Both are normal parts of learning a new language, not a sign anything is wrong. There's no need to ask “what's this?” and wait for an answer; keep talking and modelling instead.

Their first sentence

A first sentence is often just two or three tapped words, not a full grammatical statement. The board keeps a five-second undo if a stray tap or a sleeve wipes the message, so nothing is lost by exploring.

If something isn't working

No sound, can't find a word, or want to check a setting: the Support page covers troubleshooting and every caregiver tool in detail. For the caregiver side specifically, the next guide walks through the board editor.