The app

A Real Voice, From the First Hour

Effara is an iPad AAC app for nonspeaking (nonverbal) autistic children and their families. A child taps a symbol; the app speaks the word aloud — instantly, offline, every time. It is built for the parent at the kitchen table: a serious communication tool your family can start using tonight, without becoming AAC experts first.

Effara is in a private beta (Apple TestFlight) ahead of its App Store launch. At launch, the board and the voice are free; a one-time $99.99 unlock adds your photos, family voices, and coaching. No subscription, no ads, no accounts, ever.

The Effara core board on iPad: a grid of symbol buttons in calm part-of-speech colors — I, want, go, more, help, stop — with the message bar reading 'I want more Mom' and folders for People, Food, Play, and Places. — The child's view of the starter board — "Mom" is a personal button a parent added in under a minute.

What makes it different

Full vocabulary from day one. A robust core-word board from first launch; overwhelm is reduced by hiding words, never by taking them away.
Words stay where you left them. Buttons never move, so finding a word can become motor memory.
Instant, offline speech. Generated on the device — no connection required, anywhere.
Start alone, tonight. A usable board in minutes, with gentle modeling coached inside the app in plain language.
Private by design. No accounts, no tracking, no Effara server. Everything stays on the family's iPad.
Personal in under a minute. Photo buttons and recorded family voices are first-class buttons.

One board, from first words to a full voice

Every button size is a window onto the same fixed board — from nine very large targets up to all ninety-nine words. Growing means revealing more, never rearranging.

Effara's extra-large button size: nine very large word buttons — I, want, go, you, like, stop, yes, no, get — plus People, Food, and Play folders. — Very large targets for a child who needs them…

Effara's full board: all ninety-nine core words visible in the same fixed layout, each word in the same relative position as at every smaller size. — …and the full ninety-nine-word board. Same words, same places.

What we won't promise

Effara won't promise to make your child speak. What the evidence supports is a reliable way to communicate now — the research is written up, with sources, in "Does AAC delay speech?" and the other articles.

Be told when it launches

One email when Effara launches (a few people may be invited to the beta earlier), then the list is deleted. No newsletter, no sharing. Privacy policy.