An app to help autistic children with delayed speech
Vincent “Vince” Rocha and his wife Monica were overjoyed when their son Noah was born. But then Vince started noticing something when Noah was 2.
“Based on Filipino standards, sabi nila, lalaki yan, delayed lang magsalita,” he told Lifestyle. “Then our pediatrician said, I think your son has autism.” Rocha was crushed.
It took forever to get help: three different developmental pediatricians, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. “All in all, we had to wait one year and six months just to get intervention,” he said. “For children, the earlier the intervention the better.”
As an entrepreneur, Rocha’s immediate response was to find solutions not only for Noah, but for others like him.
That solution was the app Mylo Speech Buddy, a speech development system designed to assist individuals with speech delays and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Made available on the Google Play Store and the App Store last July, Mylo was officially launched April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, at Seda Vertis Hotel.
On the spectrum
Rocha noted there are 1.2 million Filipinos with ASD. The average wait for professional help is six months. There are only 1,200 speech language pathologists (SLPs) in the country and most speech therapy centers are in Metro Manila.
He cautioned, “Mylo is not a silver bullet. You have to have speech therapy, visual therapy and follow-up at home.” Mylo complements, not replaces, therapy.
Using video modeling, Mylo focuses on enunciation, repetition and mouth opening. Video modeling works with the child viewing a video and imitating what is shown. Parents watch the videos and repeat the exercises with their children at home. Mylo moves up to higher levels and the SLPs can incorporate it into their sessions.
Mylo uses a subscription system, where parents pay P1,000 a month; the average SLP charges P1,700 per hour for as many as three sessions a week.
As CEO, Rocha takes care of the business side, Enrico Aquino the tech side and filmmaker Mark Meily the learning side. Through organic growth, Mylo now has 18,000 paid users from 10 countries.
Developmental and behavioral pediatrician Dr. Francis Dimalanta noted the launch fell on World Autism Awareness Day, “which I would like to call World Autism Acceptance Day. I’d like it to be World Autism Inclusion Day when we find a place for all neurodivergent child in our society.”
ASD is difficult to diagnose as there’s no test for it. Dr. Dimalanta reminded why it’s called a spectrum. “Some have intellectual disabilities, while others may be highly intelligent; there’s low-functional and high-functional.” He also remarked that “there is no single autism experience. When you see one child with autism, you only see one child and autism.” Some can live independently while others have severe disabilities and require lifelong support.
Tech such as Mylo really has a place in helping those with ASD. “Assisted technology can be a game-changer for autistic children in terms of communication and learning,” Dr. Dimalanta said.
Language-rich environment
Said Worthy Habla, an SLP with 15 years of experience, “It is the role of the SLP to help the parents navigate this difficult and sometimes very frustrating road of not just being parent but a therapist for their child.” It’s also about encouraging “not just the parents, but the yayas, the grandparents, even the neighbors to provide a language-rich environment for a child.” He said you can really tell when the parents are not following through at home.
There are also not enough SLPs. He recalled how, a few years ago, he was invited as a visiting SLP to a province in Mindanao. “To my surprise, there were many who needed such services,” who didn’t understand what speech therapy and what occupational therapy really was.Katherine Tiuseco, aka “Teacher Kaye Talks,” is an SLP who uses social media and videos to spread info about therapy.
Ever the storyteller, she remembered that her first encounter with a teenager with ASD occurred when she was still an intern.
A 14-year-old boy felt he had not gotten enough time with his therapist and reacted by grabbing the therapist’s hair and banging her head against the wall. “I was on my knees and crying because I couldn’t step in,” she said. “I was not a clinician yet. I could only observe. For the very first time, I was afraid because these are the cases I will handle.
“Now, 10 years into my practice, all my experiences have shown me that we change, we adapt with how we accommodate the needs of all these people. We become stronger but we celebrate those we help.”
It’s about changing perceptions. “It’s important to talk about the full range of the spectrum,” she said, noting that what most people know about autism is what they watched in the K-drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.”
“Not all of them are Attorney Woos and not all are like the children who cannot speak shown by the media. The first thing we can do is to go on social media and see what they themselves are talking about. What can I use to better interact with the ones I work with? And we have to talk about autism openly, honestly and respectfully.“
‘Ausome Stories’
Mylo also launched the “Ausome Stories” videos series. These were stories of 11 families and how they dealt with having an autistic family member.
Three are now available for viewing on the Life Life PH YouTube channel (@LifeLifeph). Comedienne Candy Pangilinan spoke of what she went through with her beloved son Quentin, 20. “It changed the way I see things, the way I judge people,” she said. She even wrote a book about their bond, “Mommy Dear: Our Special Love.”
Global mobility specialist Shiela Cris is a single mom of three, two of whom are autistic, Rollins, 20, and Robert, 13. She said it taught her to be more focused on her children than herself: “I pray that when I’m reborn, I would still have them as my kids.”
Joel Nava, 38, suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, and is an operations associate at 1 Export Trade and Services Inc. Younger sister Mel, who founded 1 Export, explained they don’t hire people with disabilities out of pity but because they work hard and well (Joel was not the only such employee). “His detail-orientedness is almost better than a computer sometimes,” she says. “It’s always correct.” Joel’s advice to those with disabilities seeking work: “Don’t think about your disabilities, think about the abilities you have.”
Dr. Dimalanta cited Project Inclusion of Unilab Foundation, which finds gainful employment for special-needs workers, and establishments like Shakey’s, which employs adults with Down Syndrome as servers.
The remaining eight “Ausome Stories” will drop in the coming months.
How far is Philippine society from being an autistic inclusive society? “We’re taking baby steps. We have support and parents groups, such as the Autism Society of the Philippines,” Dr. Dimalanta said. “There’s a whole community movement and I’d like to say that we are halfway there.”Rocha is making Mylo Speech Buddy free for all Filipinos until April 31.
“For every person who understands autism better, another autistic person is happier,” Dr. Dimalanta said. INQVisit mylo.ph. Download Mylo Speech Buddy on Google Play Store and App Store.
