Lyra

Say hello to Lyra

13 followers

Say hello to Lyra

13 followers

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Language Learning

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Therapy apps

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Text-to-Speech Software

Lyra is the easiest, most affordable symbol to speech app for children with autism. Based on the latest research and designed by an expert team of parents, teachers and therapists.

Launch tags:Education•Tech

Launch Team

Render: Get up to $100K in startup creditsCloud infrastructure for founders who want to move fast and NOT break things

Promoted

Stark

Maker

Hey everyone! Cat here, one of Lyra’s co-founders. We’re stoked to see to see Lyra come to life. It’s easy to learn for children, parents, and speech therapists alike; based on leading evidence based methodologies; and it’s more affordable than any other product in the market. For those of you that aren’t familiar: Lyra is a type of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) system. And while many AAC systems have been helpful in increasing children’s communication skills, we knew from our own experience (some of our co-founders have lived in the world of autism personally and professionally for quite some time now) as well as the countless conversations with other parents that there needed to be a more intuitive, technologically advanced, and affordable solution. A product that would be easier for parents and therapists to set up (and not feel mechanical to ‘program’), and one that would be designed specifically for children on the autism spectrum who struggle with verbal communication. Simple, focused and beautiful. Our voice and in turn our means to communicate are what enable us to participate in our communities, and share our identity with the world. But for those who struggle to make words with their own voice, that connection can be lost. With Lyra, your child has a voice at their fingertips, and we can’t wait to hear all they have to say. Because early intervention is key to success, it's our mission to ensure Lyra is used by every child that needs it. So for every (10) 1-year subscriptions we sell, we'll be giving 1 away free to a child in need. Would love your thoughts!

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7yr ago

Prototypr

@imcatnoone oo congrats on the launch Cat! 🖤

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7yr ago

Stark

Maker

@graeme_fulton Thank you, Graeme! :)

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7yr ago

Stark

Maker

@thomaswangio Thomas thank you thank you! :)

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7yr ago

MailKing by cloudHQ

@imcatnoone Love this, thank you for your work.

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7yr ago

Microsoft Whiteboard

Super excited to see this launch! Bravo @marchr @imcatnoone and others! Since this is PH, one product question I'm curious to learn how you handled was the pricing model. You mentioned making it more affordable than any other product, having a mission to ensure Lyra is used by every child that needs it, and a donation program based on sales. If I was building an app like this, especially with the personal connections you mentioned, I can see myself REALLY struggling to price it at a rate that balances the mission of giving access to the most people possible, while at the same time turning a profit to keep development going. How'd you think about this for Lyra?

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7yr ago

Lyra

Maker

@imcatnoone @ianmikutel It's something we talked about a lot. Ultimately we chose a price that would be sustainable given a realistic obtainable share of the market while making the product accessible to as many people as possible. The 30 day free trial and our 10:1 donation program are expressions of our values - that people should only pay for something that is genuinely useful in their lives and that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford even our moderate price. Ultimately we want to have a viable company and fulfill our mission of helping as many children with autism as we can, so we'll learn as we go.

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7yr ago

Microsoft Whiteboard

@imcatnoone @marchr Very cool. Do you want schools to adopt this too?

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7yr ago

Lyra

Maker

@imcatnoone @ianmikutel Yes indeed. To be truly effective a tool like this has to be present everywhere the child/student is building communication skills - at home, at school and in speech & behavior therapy sessions. We designed Lyra so that you can sign in and instantly synch across as many devices as needed. This is so the customized words and collections for the child can be available on their own device as well as district and therapist’s devices.

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7yr ago

Lyra

Maker

Hey, I’m March, one of Lyra’s other co-founders. I wanted to touch more on something from Cat’s comment about our own experience. From the beginning this has been a very personal project. Lyra is named after the girl who inspired it—myself and my wife Kristin’s daughter! A girl with a ready smile, a love of raspberries and tickles. A girl who has autism, and has challenges with communication. Ever since her diagnosis eight years ago we have struggled to find tools that would help our daughter communicate her needs and build her language skills. I’m sure every parent can empathize with the pain of wishing so much to help your child but not having the tools to do it. We’ve tried pretty much every tool available and while they help they are often complicated, expensive and didn’t seem designed for our specific needs. We decided to combine our personal need with our skills & passion to create Lyra—a symbol to speech app designed specifically for children with autism. We’ve been using the app with our own Lyra for several months as we refined and experimented with the design. The simplicity of it helps us give Lyra the words she needs right when she needs them. I can’t express how it feels to finally have a tool that really fits our daughter’s needs. We’re so excited to share it with the world. I feel very fortunate to have such a great set of co-founders. Kristin is a veteran autism mom and fierce advocate for Lyra and other children with autism. Over the past 8 years she has become an expert in behavior, speech and child led therapies and was our first user. Cat, as well as being a superb designer & experienced founder, has spent time in the special education field working predominantly with children on the autism spectrum. Ben and Asa are world class professionals in creating powerful & intuitive products. Together we’re at the beginning of realizing my long held dream to give my daughter, and other children like her, a voice.

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7yr ago

@marchr congrats on launching March! I've been following your developments for almost two years now and I'm so happy to see this launch to the world now. It will bring a lot of good to the world!

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7yr ago

Lyra

Maker

Thanks @koreyk ! That means a lot ❤️

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7yr ago

Corilla

Congrats on the launch Cat (and team!). You're so prolific, I don't know how you do it. The real life photos/categories feature, and the contextual linking functionality, is really wonderful. I'll be sharing this with family and will pass on any feedback.

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7yr ago

Stark

Maker

@davedri David <3 Thank you tons for this. Seriously.

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7yr ago

#MakerGoals

Congrats on launching Lyra, @imcatnoone and @marchr. After only worked a little while in converting a product to be more accessible, my eyes are open and how much is still required to cross many bridges in this space. Thank you for working on much needed and important problems to solve!

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7yr ago

Stark

Maker

@marchr @kzograf Thank you tons, Kalina! We really appreciate it.

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7yr ago

PaperProto

This is cool. We made a physical device with the same goal in mind for my brother a few years back. Lyra looks polished and very thoughtful. Keep it up!

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7yr ago

Stark

Maker

@theream Wow! How did it work? Did it have physical cards? What was the core intent?

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7yr ago

PaperProto

@imcatnoone Check it out here - http://dustinswords.com/ - A different take on AAC using text messaging from a physical device with interchangeable buttons from a dashboard for caregivers. Trying to bridge the gap between children, caregivers, teachers and specialists. Lots of big ideas, but we never really did anything with it.

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7yr ago

ArrayList

Only for ipad? no Android?

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7yr ago

Lyra

Maker

@prakis We’re starting on iPad but the system is intended to be cross-platform so we fully plan to grow to Android and other platforms.

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7yr ago

Stable Diffusion 3

@prakis @marchr an ideal target device would be the Kindle Fire HD 8 due to the combination of price, quality and battery life. Getting up to Proloquo2Go level functionality would be great, big design space available. We are giving out free android devices in scale to those in need, will be in touch.

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7yr ago

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