Vocabulary & Routines
Use this page to see the product scope decision: what words Meadow includes, how routines are organized, and how V1 stays intentionally focused instead of trying to cover the entire AAC market.
Use this page to validate vocabulary selection, routine organization, omitted categories, and whether Meadow’s word system supports communication at the three tiers without becoming clinically brittle.
The core vocabulary footprint, routine structure, and boundaries of V1 scope.
Meadow is built on one idea: children learn language through pictures, colors, and context — not text. Every word in the app has an emoji symbol, a color that teaches its grammatical role, and a place it lives in the child's world. Below is every word the child will have, shown exactly as they'll appear in the app.
Vocabulary density adapts to the child’s language milestone level. At the earliest milestones, children aren’t selecting vocabulary themselves — the app models words to them. As symbolic understanding develops and expressive vocabulary grows, the interface opens up. Communication is always the primary path.
Exploring & Modeling
Pre-symbolic to emerging symbolic. The companion models vocabulary through caregiver co-use — spotlight, speak, pause, celebrate. No direct selection expected.
Word Combinations
The child selects words — this is communication. Visual scenes with hotspots, grid displays, persistent core bar. Carrier phrases and QuickChat conversation loop emerge.
Sentences
Expandable grids, sentence engine predictions, morphological modification. Full QuickChat with rich follow-ups. World map vocabulary expansion. The app gets out of the way.
The words that carry communication
Core words are the most-used words in any language. They live in the persistent compass frame, category drawers, and avatar — always available within three taps, always in the same place. Not all words are visible at once: the compass shows the right number for each developmental tier. Color teaches grammar through repetition.
Research basis & tier key
Each tile shows when it first becomes available. T1 = compass edge at 12–18mo (16 words). T2 = added at 18–24mo (36 cumulative). T3 = added at 24–48mo (72 total with categories). All = available at every tier (via avatar or global). Words behind category tiles (colors, manners, questions) are accessible within 2 taps but not directly on the compass edge.
Sources: Project Core 36 (UNC, Erickson & Koppenhaver), Banajee et al. (2003) toddler core, PrAACtical AAC First 12, AssistiveWare Crescendo, ASHA language milestones for body parts & early nouns.
Teal dot = Meadow addition beyond Project Core 36. “I love you” is a permanent, globally accessible phrase (Decision D11).
My Words (v9): Dashed gold tiles are personalizable — parent types the real name (e.g., “Maya,” “Nana,” “Bongo”), and the label changes while the symbol stays or is replaced by a photo from camera roll. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Teacher override their bundled counterparts when personalized. Up to 18 people slots, 5 things, 4 places, plus 15 wildcards. See the My Words system section below for the full catalog.
Words are organized by what the child is doing — daily routines like mealtimes, bath time, and bedtime. Each routine opens a scene — an illustrated context where vocabulary lives. Tap a routine or scene below to see every word inside it. See Interaction Design for how routines and scenes connect to the compass frame.
Routines
Breakfast
Kitchen · morningLunch
Kitchen · middayDinner
Kitchen · eveningBath Time
~30 words · BathroomGetting Dressed
~18 words · BedroomBedtime
~19 words · BedroomPlaytime
~35 words · Living RoomScenes
Kitchen
~110 words · breakfast + lunch + dinner + snacks + cookingBathroom
~30 words · all bath, potty & hygiene vocabularyBedroom
~35 words · all clothing, sleep & nighttime vocabularyLiving Room
~35 words · all toys, play & activity vocabularyVocabulary categories
People
~15 wordsAnimals
~18 wordsFeelings
~13 words · via avatarMeals · Kitchen
~110 words organized by meal — food is the most frequent communication context for toddlers. Each meal surfaces age-appropriate vocabulary a child actually encounters.
Playtime · Living Room
~35 words — play is communication. Toys, creative activities, and movement vocabulary for social interaction and turn-taking.
Getting Dressed + Bedtime · Bedroom
~35 words — two routines share this room. Getting Dressed covers clothing and dressing actions. Bedtime covers sleep, comfort, and critical safety words (scared, dark).
Bath Time · Bathroom
~30 words — potty training vocabulary is highest-priority fringe for 18-36 months. Bath routine covers hygiene, body awareness, and sensory language.
People
~15 bundled words + up to 18 personalized via My Words — family, friends, and caregivers with real names and photos
Animals
~18 words — pets, farm, and wild animals
Feelings
~13 words — accessed via the avatar’s feelings overlay. Tap a feeling and it speaks immediately with its ASL sign. Expressing a feeling is a communicative act, not a request for a conversation.
One vocabulary, three interaction tiers
The developmental level page defines the three canonical tiers: First Words, Word Combinations, and Sentences. Tier 1 stays in direct speech. Tiers 2 and 3 add increasing sentence scaffolding. Tier controls what happens after a tap, not what vocabulary is available.
Tap → Word
Every tap speaks one word and shows its sign. No sentence scaffolding, no follow-ups, no choices to make. The child learns the fundamental insight: touching the screen makes words happen.
Tap → Phrase / sentence options
Tapping a word opens sentence suggestions at multiple MLU levels. The child picks one, it speaks with signing, and three follow-up options appear. Communication becomes conversation.
Guided engagement adapts to the tier
Tapping the companion (bottom-right corner) starts a guided engagement cycle in any routine or scene. What happens during the cycle depends on the tier.
Word modeling
Spotlight a scene object → speak the word → show the sign → longer expectant pause → celebrate any response. The app models language to the child. Bigger celebrations, more patience. This is the primary interface at Tier 1.
Sentence scaffolding
Spotlight a scene object → present a fill-in sentence → child completes the gap → sentence speaks + signs. Shorter pauses, sentence-level modeling. Speak With Me becomes a practice partner for building phrases.
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. Tier controls what the app presents (sentence templates, follow-ups), not what the child can do.
Built for small hands and growing minds
Every design decision serves a clinical purpose. Colors teach grammar. Fixed positions build motor memory. Conversations happen through rhythm, not complexity.
Every word gets a picture
Pre-literate children navigate by symbol. Text labels are secondary, for caregivers. No text-only tiles, ever.
Color is grammar instruction
Fitzgerald Key colors teach sentence roles through repetition. Yellow = who, green = doing, blue = describing, orange = what.
Fixed positions, always
Words never move. Motor planning depends on muscle memory — "want" is always in the same spot, every session.
No prerequisites
All vocabulary accessible from day one. No “readiness” gates, no “must demonstrate X before accessing Y.” ASHA’s position statement is unambiguous: “AAC should be introduced as early as possible” and “candidacy models that require prerequisite cognitive or linguistic skills are not supported by research” (ASHA, 2004; reaffirmed 2016). Beukelman & Light (2020) confirm: denying AAC access based on readiness criteria delays communication development without clinical benefit. The companion models vocabulary the child isn’t yet using independently — exposure precedes production, as it does in natural language development.
Conversation, not statements
QuickChat's speak-choose-speak loop teaches turn-taking. Communication doesn't end after one sentence.
Offline first
No internet required for any communication feature. The child's voice never depends on a WiFi connection.
60pt minimum touch targets
Toddler fingers are imprecise. More whitespace than feels right. Missing a button is missing a word.
Feelings are immediate
Tapping "sad" speaks it instantly. Expressing a feeling is not a request for a conversation — it's a complete communicative act.
Three modalities at once
Every tap fires three things simultaneously: the picture highlights, the word speaks, and an ASL sign animates. Research shows pre-verbal children learn vocabulary fastest when visual, auditory, and gestural channels activate together. This is the gold standard used by Ms. Rachel and validated by SLP research.
Expectant pausing
After speech fires, the app waits. A gentle listening animation holds for 3–45 seconds (configurable) before the UI resets. Toddlers need up to 45 seconds to process and attempt production. Most apps rush to the next input — Meadow holds space for the child's response.
Warm celebration
After every word tap: a brief “You said ___! Great job!” in warm TTS, paired with a gentle animation. Not slot-machine rewards — the feeling of a delighted adult responding to a child's communication attempt. Immediate positive reinforcement builds the confidence to try again.
Routine-anchored scenes
Vocabulary is organized by the child’s daily routines — mealtime, bath time, getting dressed, bedtime, playtime — not abstract categories. Words have immediate functional value when they appear in the context where the child actually needs them. This is how Ms. Rachel teaches vocabulary and how toddlers naturally build word-to-world connections.
Receptive before expressive
Children understand words before they produce them. Meadow mirrors this: the companion models vocabulary receptively (the child hears and sees the word in context) before that vocabulary appears on compass edges for independent expressive use at the next tier. At T1, the companion models colors, body parts, and counting — the child absorbs these through exposure. At T2, those words graduate to compass placement for expressive production. This receptive-then-expressive arc is how natural language develops and how SLPs scaffold AAC intervention.
Research basis: Principles marked with triple-modality, expectant pausing, warm celebration, and routine-anchored scenes are drawn from Ms. Rachel (Songs for Littles) — six SLP-validated techniques with 17M subscriber validation. No AAC app currently incorporates these techniques. Sources: ASHA Leader, AAP Guidance, Global Speech Therapy, Aulad journal semiotic study. Full research: The Ms. Rachel Playbook (2026-05-17).
The frameworks behind vocabulary placement
Every word in Meadow has a home — a compass edge position, a category fan-out, an avatar panel, or a scene. These frameworks govern where words go, how they get there across tiers, and what rules prevent the system from breaking as vocabulary scales. This section is for SLPs and clinical reviewers who want to see the logic, not just the word list.
Companion as vocabulary multiplier
At Tier 1, the child is not expected to independently navigate to most vocabulary. The companion — activated by the parent or SLP — models words to the child from the entire vocabulary database, not just compass edge words. This means vocabulary like colors, body parts, and counting can be modeled at 12 months without consuming compass edge space. When the child reaches T2 and is ready to use those words independently, they graduate to compass placement — and the child reaches for words they already recognize.
Parent taps companion → companion spotlights scene objects, speaks words, shows signs. Colors, body parts, counting — all modeled by the app, not navigated by the child.
Words the companion modeled at T1 become independently accessible. COLORS and NUMBERS category tiles appear on compass edges. The child reaches for vocabulary they already recognize.
Full vocabulary on compass edges and categories. The child navigates world map scenes, builds sentences independently. Companion becomes a practice partner.
Design implication: Vocabulary the child can’t independently use yet (colors at 12mo, counting at 14mo) doesn’t need compass edge space at T1. It needs companion modeling access. When the child reaches T2, companion-modeled items graduate to compass placement.
Why the companion models, not just the parent: Aided language stimulation research (Binger & Light, 2007; Solomon-Rice & Soto, 2014) shows children learn AAC fastest when a communication partner models it in context. The companion does this directly — but it also teaches the parent by demonstration. Parents watch the companion spotlight a scene object, speak the word, and show the sign. They absorb the technique naturally, the same way parents learn vocabulary strategies from watching Ms. Rachel with their child. The companion is a modeling partner for the child and a live tutorial for the parent — one interaction serves both. This matters because parents of AAC users consistently report feeling overwhelmed by the learning demands of AAC systems (PMC, 2024). The companion lowers that barrier by showing, not telling.
Same word, same position, different behavior
Words that appear at T1 persist through T2 and T3 — same compass position, same color, same icon. What changes is what the app does after the tap. Motor memory accumulates across tiers. The child never has to re-learn where a word lives.
One tap, immediate speech. Done.
Tap → speech + bubble offers scene-aware combos.
Tap → sentence engine predicts multi-word paths.
Applies to all tier-spanning words: more, help, stop, yes, no, go, eat, drink, I, you, mom, dad. The word is stable. The scaffolding around it grows.
Edge assignment rules
Each compass edge has a grammatical identity governed by the Fitzgerald Key. Words assigned to an edge stay there permanently. New words at higher tiers fill open positions — nothing moves.
Blue descriptors (more, big, hot, cold…) and gray function words (to, with, in, on, up…). Category tiles: COLORS, NUMBERS, PLACES. Row 1 = descriptors. Row 2 = function words + quantifiers.
Green verbs (want, go, eat, help…) and purple social words (yes, no, all done). Category tiles: MANNERS, QUEST, MORE VERBS. Row 1 = T2+ additions. Row 2 = T1 core verbs (never move).
Orange routine tiles — navigational, scene-switching. The child’s daily life: eating, bath, dress, bed, play, outside, car, store. Each opens a scene with contextual nouns.
Yellow people/pronouns — I, you, mom, dad at T1. T2 adds me, my, he, she. T3 replaces individuals with FAMILY category (9 people behind 1 tile). Category tiles: FAMILY, EXTEND.
Immovability rule: Once a word is assigned a position, it never moves — not across tiers, not across scenes. Category tiles follow the same rule. Non-negotiable for motor planning: the child builds muscle memory that accumulates across months and years of use.
Category fan-out rules
Category tiles multiply vocabulary reach without consuming edge space. One tile gives access to many words — but categories have constraints to prevent cognitive overload and maintain the ≤3 tap guarantee.
Category contents — what’s behind each tile
red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, black, white, brown (10)
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten (10)
hi, bye, please, thank you (4)
mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa, teacher, friend, baby (9)
what, where, who, why, when (5)
make, come, give, love, feel, put, open, turn (8)
mine, that (2 + SLP-configurable)
under, behind, next to, between, above, below (6 · spatial prepositions)
Exception — Alphabet: 26 letters exceed the 10-item fan-out maximum. The alphabet uses a keyboard overlay pattern — a full-screen letter grid triggered by an SLP-enabled category tile at T3. This is a literacy tool, not core communication vocabulary, and is SLP-toggleable per child.
Vocabulary housing map
Every word needs a home. This decision tree governs placement — applied below to all vocabulary items that section 02 catalogues but the compass frame mockup doesn’t yet place.
Housing decisions
Scene nouns vs core words
Vocabulary splits into two systems with different rules. Understanding this boundary is essential for vocabulary planning.
edges
nouns
- Fixed position — never move across tiers or scenes
- Present on every screen regardless of scene
- Grammatical vocabulary: verbs, pronouns, descriptors, function words, social
- ~55–65 direct words + categories at T3
- Change when the child navigates to a different scene/routine
- Contextually bound — cereal in kitchen, rubber duck in bath
- Concrete nouns: food, objects, animals, clothing
- ~15–25 per scene × 15+ scenes at scale = 260+ words
Cross-scene nouns: Some nouns appear in multiple scenes — “water” in kitchen and bath, “cup” at mealtime and bedtime. Same word, same icon, same data. The sentence engine recognizes them regardless of which scene surfaced them.
The synergy: Core words (edges) + scene nouns (center) = complete communication. “Want” (edge) + “milk” (kitchen scene) = “want milk.” The scene provides contextual awareness that makes edge words smarter — the sentence engine knows where the child is and offers relevant continuations. This is the differentiator. See Compass Frame.
Compound words and multi-word phrases
Some vocabulary items span two or more words but function as a single concept in the child’s communication. These are represented as single tiles with a unified TTS clip, a single symbol, and one Fitzgerald Key color assignment. The child taps once to communicate the whole phrase.
All three must be true. “Want milk” fails — it is a sentence, not a concept, and the child should compose it via the sentence engine.
all done · thank you · I love you · uh oh · night night · high five
ice cream · peanut butter · belly button · teddy bear · french fries · apple juice
Morphological marking — inflections without tiles
Children at Brown’s Stages II–IV (24–48 months) begin producing grammatical inflections: present progressive -ing, regular plural -s, past tense -ed, possessive ’s. These emerge in a predictable sequence. Meadow handles them through the sentence engine, not separate vocabulary tiles.
Why not separate tiles? Adding -ing, -s, -ed, and ’s as tap targets would require the child to understand morphological decomposition — breaking “eating” into “eat” + “-ing” — which is a metalinguistic skill that develops after morphological production. Toddlers say “eating” as a whole word; they don’t consciously add “-ing.” The sentence engine mirrors this by handling inflections at the output layer. This is consistent with how Proloquo2Go and LAMP handle morphology for pre-literate users.
Morphological marking is Tier 3 only. At Tier 1 and Tier 2, words speak in their base form. The full morphology system is documented in the Sentence Engine spec.
Sentence engine replaces SCS templates
Traditional AAC apps scaffold sentence construction with SCS (sentence construction suggestions) — static, pre-authored 2–4 word templates displayed in a fixed UI area. Meadow replaces these with a grammar-aware prediction engine inside the speech bubble. This is a significant departure from standard practice. Here is why.
- Pre-authored: “I want ___” “I see ___”
- Fixed options regardless of context
- Same templates in every scene
- Compete for center stage space
- Author-limited — can only compose phrases someone wrote
- Dynamic: predictions adapt to what the child has already said
- Scene-aware: kitchen scene offers food nouns, not toys
- Usage-ranked: the child’s most-used words surface first
- Lives in the speech bubble — center stage stays scene-only
- Open-ended — the child composes novel sentences
Clinical rationale: The sentence engine serves the same clinical goals as SCS — reducing cognitive load, scaffolding multi-word utterances, and increasing MLU — but through dynamic rather than static means. The transition rules map directly to Fitzgerald Key categories that SLPs already use. Predictions follow Brown’s Stages II–IV developmental expectations (Agent+Action, Action+Object, S+V+O). The child can always override predictions with manual word selection. This aligns with aided language stimulation (ALgS) principles: model language in context, respond to the child’s communicative intent, and provide accessible next steps without restricting choice.
The grammar transition table is documented in the Sentence Engine spec and requires SLP validation against Brown’s Stages before implementation.
How Meadow sounds
Sound is the product. Every tap produces the child’s voice — warm, age-appropriate, and consistent across every word, including custom names. The companion has its own distinct voice so the child always knows which voice is theirs.
Child’s communication voice
Apple’s premium text-to-speech (AVSpeechSynthesizer with .premium quality). Parent or SLP selects a voice during profile setup. One voice engine handles every word — bundled vocabulary, custom names, sentence engine output — so the child never hears a voice split mid-sentence. Works offline, zero network dependency, zero audio asset pipeline.
Companion voice (My Buddy)
Warm, playful voice generated via ElevenLabs Voice Design. Used for Speak With Me prompts, celebrations, and encouragement. Pre-recorded for scripted companion interactions. Vocally distinct from the child’s communication voice — the contrast is a feature.
Emotional variation
The companion voice carries three emotional tones via pre-recorded ElevenLabs clips. The child’s communication voice uses speech rate and pitch modulation for contextual emphasis — not pre-recorded tonal variants, but real-time adjustment based on interaction context.
“Juice.” — Calm, clear. The default for ~70% of taps. Requests, labels, statements.
“Juice!” — Excited, delighted. Used in celebrations, Speak With Me discovery, and reward moments.
“Juice.” — Insistent, needs-based. For feelings (“hurt,” “scared”) and escalation when the child really needs something.
Why Apple TTS, not ElevenLabs, for the child’s voice
Custom vocabulary means arbitrary text the parent types. If bundled words used pre-recorded ElevenLabs clips and custom words used Apple TTS, the child would hear two different voices — potentially in the same sentence (“Mama wants…” with a voice split between “Mama” and “wants”). For children with ASD who rely on predictability, this inconsistency undermines the “this is MY voice” feeling. A single voice engine for everything means: no pre-recorded audio clips (~25–30 MB saved from bundle), inherently extensible to any word the parent or SLP adds, and zero voice consistency concerns. Apple’s premium iOS 17+ voices are natural enough for an SGD — warm, clear, and recognizably child-like.
Why this matters: Voice quality directly affects AAC device adoption. Research shows families abandon devices when the voice feels robotic or age-inappropriate. Meadow’s approach ensures that every word the child speaks — whether it comes from the bundled vocabulary or is a custom name typed by the parent — sounds like the same person. The companion’s distinct ElevenLabs voice provides warmth and personality where vocal contrast is a feature, not a bug.