Our Story

I’m not a software developer. I’m a dad.

My youngest son is almost five, and he hasn’t started talking yet. He’s autistic, and he is working so hard — speech therapy, and a preschool full of teachers and therapists who pour themselves into helping him every single day. Part of that help is an AAC device: an iPad app that lets him “speak” by tapping pictures.

It works, and we’re grateful for it. But it always felt clinical. The pictures were generic — a stock photo of a cup, a ball, a door. Not his cup. Not the toy he carries everywhere. Not the door he waits at when he wants to go outside.

I kept thinking: he knows his things. What if the whole app was made of them?

That’s OurVoice. A communication app you fill with photos of your own child’s world — the real cup, the real snack, the real faces of the people they love. You take the pictures. You record the words in your own voice. Everything in it is theirs.

For my son, the difference is familiarity. He recognizes his things, and he reaches for them. The personal photos aren’t a feature on a list — they’re the entire reason this exists.

How it was built, in full honesty

I’m not an engineer, and I didn’t hire a team. I built OurVoice with the help of AI. I brought the idea, the heart, and everything I’ve learned from watching my son; AI helped me turn it into a real app. I want to be completely open about that, because I think it’s something to be proud of — a parent who knows exactly what their child needs can now build it themselves.

I made this for my son. I’m sharing it because I believe it can help many other children, and many other families, the same way.

— Costin, Annova Tech