How Meadow Works
Use this page to understand the product behavior that makes Meadow different: how the child communicates, how scaffolding appears, and how direct communication stays primary.
Use this page to assess whether the interaction model supports communication without over-directing it, and whether the tiered scaffolding is appropriate for Meadow’s intended population.
Every screen is wrapped in the same four edges
The compass frame is the single most important layout decision in Meadow. Core vocabulary lives on three edges of every screen — top, right, and bottom. The left edge holds routine navigation tabs, giving the child one-tap access to any activity. The child always has access to “want,” “help,” “stop,” “more,” and “no” regardless of which routine or room they’re in. Nothing moves. Nothing hides. The left edge is the one exception to core vocabulary — it holds routine tabs (eating, bath, dress, bed, play) that change the center scene. These tabs are also spatially fixed.
This is not a cosmetic choice. Motor planning — the ability to reach for a word without looking — depends on spatial consistency. Every time a child reaches for “want” and finds it in the same spot, the motor pathway strengthens. Move it once, and you reset weeks of learning.
Four persistent elements anchor the compass frame: the grid toggle (top-left — swaps the center between scene and grid view), the child’s avatar (bottom-left — the child’s representation, tap for feelings), the companion (bottom-right — guide, engagement trigger, and signing demonstrator), and the signing bubble (overlapping the companion — signs come from the guide). These never move — the child always knows where to find themselves, how to start learning, where to watch signs, how to switch views, and their guide.
The grid view shows the same routine vocabulary as the current scene, arranged in a spatial grid with Fitzgerald Key colors. Tapping the grid button toggles between scene view and grid view — a single symmetric action. The compass frame remains unchanged during the toggle.
Spatially Fixed
Every core word occupies a permanent position. No adaptive layout, no rearranging, no “smart” reordering. The grid is sacred.
Motor Planning
Consistent position builds muscle memory. The child learns to reach for “help” without searching — the same way you reach for the light switch in the dark.
Color-Coded Grammar
Fitzgerald Key colors teach grammatical category by association. Green = verbs. Blue = descriptors. Yellow = people. The child absorbs grammar without explicit instruction.
Always Accessible
Core words are never hidden behind a menu, a mode switch, or a parent gate. Communication essentials are always one tap away.
Decision on this page
- Direct speech remains available at all times.
- Scaffolding increases by tier instead of gating vocabulary.
- Guided engagement supports but does not replace child-initiated communication.
- The product still behaves like an SGD first, not a teaching toy first.
The four edges and four anchors
Every screen in Meadow is wrapped in this frame. Core vocabulary lives on the four edges — always visible, always in the same place. Four persistent anchors are fixed in position: the grid toggle (top-left), the child’s avatar (bottom-left), the companion (bottom-right), and the signing bubble (overlapping the companion — signs visually come from the guide). The center holds the current routine scene — tap the grid button to swap the center to a grid view of the same vocabulary.
conversation, the choices
Why the compass matters
Research on AAC motor planning (Thistle & Wilkinson, 2015) shows that consistent spatial layout reduces selection time by 30–40% within weeks of use. Grid-based AAC systems with fixed positions outperform dynamic displays on both speed and accuracy for children under age 5. The compass frame applies this principle universally — core words never move, across every screen and every session.
Every word is seen, heard, and signed
Meadow does not choose between communication modalities. Every tappable element in the app triggers all three simultaneously: the child sees the picture, hears the spoken word, and watches the ASL sign. This is not limited to guided engagement — it is universal. Every tap, everywhere.
Picture
The symbol or illustration that the child taps. Always present. Pre-literate children navigate by picture, not text.
Speech
TTS speaks the word or phrase immediately on tap. The child hears what they just communicated.
Sign
The signing bubble overlaps the companion in the bottom-right corner. Signs visually come from the guide — always in the same place.
The signing bubble
The signing bubble overlaps the companion character in the bottom-right corner of the compass frame. It shows an ASL sign animation whenever any word or phrase is spoken — whether from a core word, a routine tab, a scene object, the avatar, or a QuickChat follow-up. Signs visually come from the guide: children learn signs through imitation of people, not abstract animations. The companion gives signs a social source.
Fixed position — overlaps the companion, bottom-right corner, every screen. Motor planning applies to watching signs too.
Brief animation — 1–2 seconds per sign, plays once per tap.
Simultaneous with speech — the sign plays alongside TTS, not after it.
Idle state — resting hand or subtle presence when no sign is active.
Why triple modality
Research on aided language stimulation (Drager et al., 2006; Binger & Light, 2007) shows that multimodal input — combining visual symbols, spoken language, and manual signs — accelerates vocabulary acquisition in young AAC users. Children who receive input across multiple modalities show faster word learning and better generalization to new contexts. The signing bubble ensures every interaction in Meadow is a multimodal learning opportunity.
Navigate by what you’re doing, not just where you are
Meadow’s scope is the child’s world — the daily routines and familiar places that fill their day. Navigation is organized around routines — the daily activities that structure a young child’s life — with rooms as an alternative path for free exploration. Routines and rooms are two lenses on the same vocabulary. The child can enter from either direction.
This is communication-first design. A child doesn’t think “I’m in the kitchen.” They think “I’m eating.” The routine surfaces the words they need for what they’re doing right now.
Routines — the primary path
Large, tappable cards with illustrations. No reading required. Each routine opens a focused scene with activity-specific vocabulary.
Rooms — the exploratory path
For free browsing, SLP sessions, or when the child wants to explore by place. Each room shows ALL vocabulary for that space — the superset of all related routines plus non-routine items.
Routine vocabulary
Each routine surfaces a focused subset of vocabulary relevant to the activity. The room view shows everything.
| Routine | Scene Focus | Example Vocabulary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🍽️ | Time to Eat | Kitchen / dining area | bowl, spoon, cup, milk, juice, more, yummy, all done, hungry, water |
| 🛁 | Bath Time | Bathroom / tub | water, bubbles, wash, towel, soap, splash, wet, clean, duck, warm |
| 👕 | Getting Dressed | Closet / dresser | shirt, pants, shoes, socks, zipper, on, off, help, pick, coat |
| 🌙 | Bedtime | Bed / nightstand | blanket, pillow, story, pajamas, night-night, light, teddy, sleepy, hug |
| 🧸 | Playtime | Living room / playroom | ball, blocks, car, doll, puzzle, share, turn, fun, build, music |
Flexible cross-navigation
Routines and rooms are not a rigid hierarchy. From inside a routine, the child can see related rooms. From inside a room, they can see related routines. Two routines can share a room — Getting Dressed and Bedtime both happen in the bedroom, but each has its own focused scene illustration and vocabulary. The structure serves communication, not taxonomy.
Why routines over rooms
Young children’s language is organized around daily routines, not spatial categories (Bruner, 1983; Nelson, 1986). Mealtime, bath time, and bedtime are the contexts where early vocabulary is most naturally acquired and practiced. Routine-based organization maps to how caregivers and SLPs already structure language intervention — “Let’s practice words during bath time” is natural; “let’s practice words in the bathroom” is clinical.
One vocabulary, three interaction tiers
The tier is set by the SLP or caregiver at setup based on the child’s language milestone level and controls how the app responds after a tap, not what vocabulary is available. Tier 1 stays in direct speech. Tiers 2 and 3 add increasing sentence scaffolding. All words remain accessible at every tier.
First Words
Every tap speaks a word and shows its sign. That’s it. No sentence building, no follow-ups, no choices to make. The child learns the fundamental insight: touching the screen makes words happen. At the earliest milestone levels, guided engagement is the primary interface — the companion models words to the child through caregiver co-use.
- Single tap → word speaks + sign plays in signing bubble
- No sentence scaffolding shown
- No QuickChat conversation loop
- Guided engagement available — longer pauses, bigger celebrations
- Avatar tap → “I love you” + sign (same in both modes)
- Core + routine words emphasized; vocabulary grows as tier increases
Word Combinations to Sentences
Tapping a word opens sentence suggestions at multiple MLU levels. The child picks a sentence, it speaks with the key word signed, and three follow-up options appear. Communication becomes conversation.
- Single tap → sentence suggestions appear (MLU 1–4)
- QuickChat loop: speak + sign → choose follow-up → repeat
- 8 pragmatic functions covered (requesting, commenting, greeting…)
- Guided engagement available — shorter pauses, sentence scaffolding
- Avatar tap → “I love you” + sign (same in both modes)
- Full vocabulary + sentence templates available
Tier is not a gate
All three tiers have access to the full vocabulary. A Tier 1 child who taps “want” then “pizza” will speak both words separately — they won’t be prevented from tapping multiple words in sequence. Tier controls what the app presents (sentence templates, follow-ups), not what the child can do. This is consistent with ASHA’s position that vocabulary access should never be gated by “readiness.”
Scaffolding intensity is configurable
QuickChat follow-up suggestions are offers, not forced paths — the child can always ignore them and tap independently. To give SLPs control over how much the app scaffolds, a scaffolding intensity setting is available in the parent/SLP area: Full (default — sentence templates + three follow-ups after each utterance), Light (sentence templates shown, no automatic follow-ups), or Off (direct speech only, regardless of tier). This ensures Meadow supports diverse therapeutic philosophies without removing its core conversational capability.
The child is always surrounded by communication
The compass frame isn’t just a layout — every piece of it is a communication pathway. The child can tap a scene word, open their feelings, start guided engagement, switch to grid view, pair words across layers, or let the app suggest what’s relevant right now. All of these are available simultaneously, from any screen, at any time.
Any word in the scene center fires TTS and shows the ASL sign in the signing bubble. At Tier 1, that’s it — one tap, one word, done. At Tiers 2 and 3, sentence templates appear for the child to choose from.
The feelings tray arches above the avatar. “I love you” is the prominent center option. Thirteen emotions, each one fires speech + sign immediately. The compass frame stays visible underneath.
For children who aren’t yet initiating on their own, the companion takes the lead. “Tap your friend” is one concept — no abstract symbol mapping needed. Words spotlight one at a time inside the scene. The companion speaks each word, shows the sign, then pauses. Any response is celebrated.
The scene center swaps to a traditional grid of the same vocabulary. Same words, same compass frame. For children or SLPs who prefer grid format, it’s one tap to switch — and one tap back.
Core words on the edges and scene words in the center are always visible at the same time. The child taps “want” on the bottom edge, then “milk” in the scene — two taps, a complete thought, zero navigation.
The routine that matches the child’s schedule glows gently on the left edge. A suggestion, not a redirect. The SLP or caregiver sets the schedule behind the parent gate. If it’s wrong, nothing breaks.
Flat navigation, by design
Children at Meadow’s target language milestone levels cannot manage hierarchical navigation. Every routine and room is reachable in one tap. There is no “back” button — the child is always somewhere, never navigating between places. The compass frame ensures core vocabulary and the avatar are never more than zero taps away.
The time-aware glow is a suggestion, not a redirect. The schedule is configured by the SLP or caregiver behind the parent gate. If the time is wrong, nothing breaks — the child can always go anywhere. The glow fades to a hint; it never takes over.
The compass frame is the stage. These are what perform on it.
Each capability occupies a fixed position in the compass frame. The child always knows where to find it. Tap the link to see the full interaction design for each one.
Meadow’s users have motor, cognitive, and sensory needs that make accessibility non-optional
Every interaction pattern in this document — the compass, the avatar, the signing bubble, routines, QuickChat, guided engagement — is designed and tested for assistive technology. This is not a compliance checkbox; it’s a constraint that shapes every design decision.
VoiceOver
Every word tile, routine card, room card, and interactive element has a descriptive accessibility label. The compass frame is a landmark region. Routine transitions announce the new context. QuickChat follow-ups describe both the sentence and its pragmatic function.
Switch Control
All interactive elements are reachable via scanning. The compass frame, routine content, and QuickChat options are grouped into logical scan regions. The avatar and companion are primary focus targets in the corner scan group.
Touch Targets
Every tappable element meets or exceeds the 60-point minimum. This is non-negotiable for a population where motor planning is a primary challenge. Core word tiles, routine cards, avatar, and QuickChat options are all oversized by design.
Timer Fallbacks
No interaction in Meadow creates a dead end. Guided engagement advances if the child doesn’t tap. QuickChat suggestions remain visible until acted upon. The app never punishes a child for being slow, distracted, or unable to touch the screen.
Dynamic Type
Text labels scale with the system accessibility setting. Symbol size always exceeds label size — the visual hierarchy is picture-first regardless of text size. The compass frame reflows gracefully at larger text sizes.
Signing Bubble
The signing bubble has VoiceOver labels that describe which sign is being shown (“Signing: milk”). For children using both VoiceOver and signing, the audio description and visual sign reinforce each other. The bubble’s fixed position supports spatial memory for non-sighted scanning.
Accessibility auditing
Every screen in Meadow runs Apple’s performAccessibilityAudit() as part of the automated UI test suite. Accessibility is not a post-launch checkbox — it is a continuous, automated requirement that blocks any build that regresses.
Questions for SLP review
- Is the tiered response model clinically appropriate for this target population?
- Does QuickChat provide useful support, or does it risk over-scaffolding early combinations?
- Is guided engagement balanced correctly against direct communication?
- Are there any motor, language, or access risks this page underestimates?