Modello Learning

Individuals with autism often describe their world as fragmented. This is because they find it hard to correctly identify things in their environment. As a result, individuals with autism demonstrate a lack of social skills, which is a source of worry to their parents and caregivers. Fortunately, recent research shows that these concerns can be mitigated with the right type of training. By targeting vocabulary at a young age, social skills can increase more so than traditional methods of teaching social skills directly. However, the traditional methods of teaching social skills are still used today because the proper way of teaching vocabulary is not available to behavioral therapists and parents. Modello Learning hopes to address this gap in the market by providing a tablet based software that teaches vocabulary the proper way to children with autism, giving them the foundation they need to feel more connected to their world.

Modello Learning is working to solve early childhood development within the autism community by teaching vocabulary using evidence-based methods that will eventually lay the foundation for social skills building. With early intervention, leveraging the unique learning style of a child with autism produces the best outcomes when it comes to teaching vocabulary. Modello Learning combines three characteristics of the learning style of autism: 1) preference for technology 2) visual learning 3) pattern-based thinking.  However, the current method used in behavioral therapy centers for teaching vocabulary is flashcards. This is a logistical nightmare because the pattern-based learning style of a child with autism requires exposure to multiple iterations of a noun (ex. different color cups). Therefore, each child could require thousands of flashcards. In addition, autism continues to rise with 1 in 59 children with autism. This means that behavioral therapy centers are struggling to catch up with the demand with parents waiting up to a year for a spot to open for therapy. Modello Learning would not only help behavioral therapists with the logistics of teaching vocabulary but also provide the help parents need during the gap period before entering into a behavioral therapy center. 

Children with autism struggle to make meaningful connection between themselves and the environment due to the lack of useful tools to properly teach vocabulary. Therefore, children with autism will fall behind in language, the strongest prognostic factor in where the child will be on the severity scale of autism. Therefore, early intervention with the correct training of vocabulary can greatly increase language skills and therefore communication. Those who master communication at an early age have been shown to demonstrate a greater increase in social skills, laying the foundation for becoming an independent adult. Modello Learning targets young children with  autism around 3-8 years old who are building their foundational vocabulary or any child at any age with autism who could benefit from a solid vocabulary foundation. 

Modello Learning will satisfy the three unique characteristics of the learning style of a child with autism: 

1.  Preference for Technology: Modello Learning will provide an iOS tablet-based software 
2. Visual Learning: Each item is crisp and photorealistic placed on a minimalistic white background.
3. Pattern-based Thinking: Modello Learning uses multiple exemplar training, or showing multiple iterations of nouns, to teach vocabulary. Modello Learning will initially provide 10 iterations of each noun, with about 200 nouns for the first rollout. Therefore, a total of 2000 objects with be provided on the first version of the product. One lesson will comprise of 5 iterations of a noun with an audio label once the item appears. Each lessons ends with two quizzes which serve more as a learning tool rather than an assessment; therefore, a child selecting the wrong item will learn to recalibrate their label for that item. 

Monthly subscription service will be provided for both the educator and/or parent/caregiver. For larger institutions, a sliding scale subscription service will be provided per student. We hope to charge $100 per child per year for initial rollout.

Current approaches to increase social skills for children with autism focus largely on teaching these skills directly, sometimes rehearsing choreographed social gestures. Teaching vocabulary is the more effective way to increase social skills. However, teaching vocabulary to children with autism is logistically difficult for behavioral therapy centers as flashcards are the current tool for multiple exemplar training. Having a digital version provides seven things: 1) access to more iterations of nouns 2) less worry about storing flashcards 3) ecofriendly 4) opportunity to record child's progress, especially during quizzes 5) utilize existing technology present at most behavioral therapy centers; most already use iOS devices for reinforcement or social games 6) opportunity to expand vocabulary bank at any point 7) opportunity to serve as a liaison between educator and parent 8) potential to be the gold standard for vocabulary training.

Modello Learning will be an application on an iOS tablet with the potential to expand to Android tablets and to a web-based format. Metrics for the child's progress can be accessed by any device with a browser.

Our long term goal is to help children with autism develop into independent adults who feel more connected to their world. This begins by equipping children with autism with social skills. However, targeting social skills directly does not address the root problem, which is the lack of understanding of the world. This lack of understanding can be due to setbacks that began during early childhood from improper categorization of noun labels, a consequence of the child not shown enough iterations of the noun. Without a solid understanding of concrete concepts like nouns, the child with autism does not fully develop language, the first stage of social skills. In addition, abstract concepts will be harder to grasp without a solid foundation of concrete words, setting the child further back. Therefore, the potential of the child with autism can be achieved with proper intervention. 

6, 600, 60,000+

For the next year: 

• Complete a minimum viable product to be released early next year to both behavioral therapy centers and the home market
• Expand our user base to 5 behavioral therapy centers
• Add a marketing/sales person to team 
• Advertise to existing local networked groups like Autism Society in Central Texas, Autism Connections Network in Austin, Williams Community School, Round Rock Independent School District 

For next five years:

• Expand nationally 
• Increase user to base to 100+ behavioral therapy centers
• Become gold standard for vocabulary training for children with autism 
• Create international version of software 
• Expand globally
• Incorporate 3D rotation to future rollouts 
• Incorporate abstract concepts for future rollouts
• Expand vocabulary bank to 5000+ objects 
• Customizable panel for educators to customize quizzes 

1. Financial

   
   

   1. Funds needed to hire a developer to program the minimum viable product to take to market
   2. Ending early stage funding to expand product and fund marketing
2. Market
   1. Penetrating the behavioral therapy centers nationally
      1. The need for a solid sales and marketing team to recruit these centers
      2. Marketing in Autism conferences
   2. Capturing the home market
      1. Creating a social media presence 
      2. Social media marketing 
      3. Autism support group marketing
      4. Marketing in Autism conferences
3. Team
   1. Recruiting a CTO
   2. Recruiting a Sales/Marketing Director 
   3. Recruiting a software developer 
   4. Recruiting a COO

1. Financial 

   
   

   1. Bootstrapping/Friends and Family funding or sweat equity to a development company
   2. Product validation with strong user base to raise interest to investors
2. Market
   1. Recruit a sales and marketing team to recruit these centers
   2. Reserve booths at Autism conferences
   3. Create a social media presence with social media marketing
   4. Network with autism support groups
3. Team
   1. Recruit a CTO
   2. Recruit a Sales/Marketing Director 
   3. Recruit a software developer 
   4. Recruit a COO

1. One (1) full time staff
2. Contracted development team on prototype (2 people)

Celest Austin MD,PhD

• Lifetime experience with my sister, Amanda, who has autism
• MD/PhD from the University of Texas Health San Antonio School of Medicine in 2016
  • Thesis focused on the neurophysiology of autism
• 5+ years experience in curriculum development and behavioral therapy for children with autism

My family's experience with autism has been the inspiration behind all my life's endeavors including pursuing medicine and my thesis while in graduate school. After 9 years of pursuing a dual degree, I decided that creating a better learning tool like Modello Learning could help more children with autism.

I'm currently working with Thrust Interactive who is helping with the creation of the second version of the prototype to test.

I am also currently a finalist for Mass Challenge Texas.

My key customers are both the behavioral therapy centers and the parent/caregiver. Both are important because behavioral therapy centers need a better way to teach vocabulary and parents are desperate for something to help their child while on a waitlist for a behavioral therapy center.

I am currently bootstrapping.

Since my background is mostly medicine and science, I need help with the business, marketing, and software development side of my vision. I am currently testing out a prototype to private schools and school districts but am currently building out a second prototype version for product validation. 

Autism Society

As I have navigated the landscape of education and autism, I notice many of the educators and therapists are female. When I go to autism conferences, most of the attendees are usually mothers. Overall, I feel the women in this area are one of the most amazing people I have ever met. However, when I meet founders for education technology, they are mostly men. There seems to be such a dichotomy in gender between those who represent the disrupters of the education field and who are the ones down at the front lines of autism. It would be an honor to be a woman who can be one of those disruptors.