What is the name of your solution?
GoManda
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
An app that teaches vocabulary comprehension to autistic students using their learning style
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Over 58% of autistic children struggle with vocabulary comprehension by the third grade. Vocabulary comprehension is the foundation to all communication. More importantly, vocabulary helps a child feel more connected to their world. Science has revealed that most autistic individuals have a hyperfunctional mind, in other words, the ability to take in lots of information at once. However, despite this incredible capacity, autistic individuals are still struggling with vocabulary comprehension.
One reason for this discrepancy is the lack of educational resources that play to the strengths of a hyperfunctional mind like autism. Instead, educators are using ineffective tools that are designed for non-autistic learners, implementing tools that fail to engage autistic students, or using unpaid hours to create specialized materials for their autistic students. Without the proper tools, many educators confess that vocabulary comprehension is frequently neglected for their autistic students. As a result, the lack of educational tools to correctly teach vocabulary comprehension to autistic students is widening the educational gap between autistic students and their peers and creating more disconnect between the child and their world.
What is your solution?
GoManda is an app designed specifically to teach vocabulary comprehension to hyperfunctional minds like autism. We equip educators with an app designed to increase vocabulary comprehension for their autistic learner.
Our app does this by:
- Teaching to the strengths of the hyperfunctional mind of autism by creating a “Netflix for Vocabulary” - teaching the many different colors, textures, and materials of a noun (ex. blue cup, red cup, etc.) - a scientifically backed method to teaching vocabulary to autistic students.
- Increasing student engagement by not only providing audio and visual reinforcements within every lesson but also reducing social anxiety from educator-led lessons by providing student-led instructional style.
- Streamlining learning by nine-fold by replacing materials and unpaid hours of the educator, thus allowing for educators to focus on what's important in their class. Not only this, our technology generates meaningful real-time data during each lesson that can enhance individualized educational plans for each student.
By teaching vocabulary for the autistic learning style, we aim to create empowered autistic learners who feel more connected to their world.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves autistic learners who are building their foundational vocabulary, typically the age of 2-9 years old. However, every autistic individual is different and so in some cases, targeting vocabulary comprehension can happen at any age depending on the individual's needs.
Without a solid vocabulary, autistic children can struggle with communication and fall behind in literacy and thus other subjects. By the time autistic individuals reach high school, only less than 35% of autistic adults go on to obtain a college degree. The untapped potential of autistic individuals can be achieved with early instruction designed specifically for the learning style of autism.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
GoManda is a lifetime of work from founder Celest Austin, MD, PhD. Dr. Austin grew up with her autistic sister, Amanda, and “GoManda” was the cheer she and her family had for Amanda while she was growing up. Dr. Austin has spent her entire life learning all she can about autism and has come to to learn that autism is a different learning style that requires specific educational tools tailored to it.
Our team has over 35 combined years in child and autism education with 60% of team members who have dedicated their lives for autism because of a loved one who is autistic. Our team has experience working with PBS, Microsoft, Council of Exceptional Students, and even founding schools specifically for autism. We have autistic team members who contribute to the development and strategy of GoManda. GoManda is also guided by autistic thought leaders, executives, and former school directors who are experienced in educational sales and the positioning of GoManda to schools.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Enable personalized learning and individualized instruction for learners who are most at risk for disengagement and school drop-out
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Austin, TX, USAOur solution's stage of development:
PilotHow many people does your solution currently serve?
47
Why are you applying to Solve?
We would love to be a part of the Solve community, being amongst like-minded innovators who are solving all kinds of solutions for all kinds of people around the world. We can't think of a better partner to help us spread the idea of neurodiversity and acceptance of autism. To be accepted is a human right and we believe Solve and the Solve community can help us take our inclusive app and help autistic and other neurodivergent learners around the world. We want the whole world to accept, nurture, and cheer for all types of learners.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Product / Service Distribution (e.g. expanding client base)
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Celest Austin, MD, PhD
What makes your solution innovative?
Our solution is innovative because the core of our solution is accepting the unique learning style of autism. Our app is dedicated to working with the strengths of autism rather than against it. By creating an app that supports the autistic way of learning, we hope to create a new generation of autistic learners who not only have stronger vocabulary comprehension but also feel more empowered and confident. We want educators to see the positive impact of their autistic students from an autism positive app like GoManda and start supporting other solutions that accept and nurture autism. We hope GoManda also changes the way educators and school see other learning styles and perhaps transform education around accepting and nurturing all the different learning styles.
What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?
In the next year, our impact goals are to help increase vocabulary comprehension in autistic children through distribution to school districts, charter schools, and learnings centers in Texas.
In the next five years, we want to help students on a global level. We want to transform education throughout the world in promoting neurodiversity and creating learning solutions for all types of learners. We want to expand products that accept and nurture other learning differences and follow students through their journey through education. We believe learning is for all.
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
We are measuring our impact goals by:
- Measuring rate of vocabulary acquisition before and after GoManda
- Percentage of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in vocabulary comprehension
- Educator feedback of student's confidence and vocabulary skills after a school year use of GoManda
- Educator feedback on user experience and data collection after a school year use of GoManda
- Backend progress of vocabulary acquisition of users with use of GoManda
- Time spent each day with GoManda
- Feedback from school districts, speech pathologists, and other educators
- Extent to which (i) global education and (ii) education for learning differences are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment
- Proportion of schools using neurodiversity positive curriculum and products
- Proportion of children and young people: (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading by learning differences
What is your theory of change?
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
GoManda is an app that runs on all iOS devices, most recommended on the iPad. The iPad is commonly used amongst autistic individuals due to to ease of use and mobility.
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technology
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries will you be operating within the next year?
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
How many people work on your solution team?
8
How long have you been working on your solution?
2
What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?
Our company's mission is the accept, nurture, and cheer for all types of learners. Our team is committed to promoting neurodiversity, a concept that there are a wide range of different brain wiring that normally exist in society. Our inclusive app is designed with consideration for a range of learning and thinking differences and we continuously work to improve GoManda to meet the needs of all users, including exceptional learners.
Our team includes actually autistic and neurodivergent individuals who are involved in the product development and brand strategy of GoManda.
What is your business model?
Our business model is to sell to our three most important customers:
- SaaS Low Tier: $120 ARR (Home)
- Perfect for parents who are home-schooling or wanting to supplement current school work
- Purchased through the App Store
- SaaS Mid Tier: $900 ARR (Speech
Pathologists and Learning Centers)
- Up to ten student profiles
- Purchased through the App Store
- Top Tier: $16,000 - $48,000 ARR (School
Districts and Charter Schools)
- Priced per student/year and includes Training and Support Costs
- Purchased through direct sales with GoManda
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Organizations (B2B)What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?
Although GoManda offers payment structures for different types of customers, we will be primarily focused on school districts and charter schools, which will help more autistic students. So far, we have been bootstrapping but we anticipate finalizing several school district contracts which will allow us to be financially sustainable this year. Once the sales cycle of school districts end in the summer, we will focus our efforts on charter schools. We believe this plan will attract more school districts the following year and will create a stable revenue stream to cover expected expenses and financial sustainability.
Solution Team
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Dr. Celest Austin CEO/Founder, GoManda
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Our Organization
GoManda