Flexspeak was born from personal experience and professional insight. As a Vietnamese-American speech therapist who stutters, Alan Vu intimately understands the structural issues around augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Many platforms lacked robust multilingual support, had outdated user interfaces, and were too complex. This left many families and AAC users feeling underserved and eager for more inclusive and modern communication tools.
In 2023, Alan partnered with Michael Jamieson, a talented developer with a background in nursing. Together, they envisioned an AAC solution that would prioritize three key aspects often overlooked in existing tools: multilingual support, efficiency, and ease of use.
The result is Flexspeak: a symbol-based AAC system that enables fluid communication across languages with an intuitive, streamlined interface. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and user-centric design, Flexspeak aims to set a new standard for AAC.
Alan (he/him) is a neurodivergent speech therapist who stutters and has ADHD. He served as the Marketing Strategist for the National Stuttering Association (NSA), a nonprofit for people who stutter, and founder of Here & Now Supply, an e-commerce startup acquired in 2023. Alan leverages his unique skill set to raise awareness on communication disabilities and create a user-centric AAC solution.
Michael (he/him) is a Filipino-American developer who previously worked as a nurse. Specializing in cross-platform applications, Michael built the infrastructure that powers Flexspeak and leads its ongoing development efforts.
Wendy brings a wealth of experience from her time at Microsoft as an Accessibility Program Manager and her work with university-based startups. A speech-language pathologist and researcher at NYU, Wendy has participated in National Science Foundation accelerators and consulted for Lovevery, a B-Corp backed by Chan Zuckerberg & Google Ventures.
Kim is a clinician with 9 years of experience across healthcare, education, and technology. As a licensed speech-language pathologist specializing in AT and AAC, Kim brings unique expertise to accessibility and best practices for AAC implementation.
Ashley is a multilingual speech-language pathologist and AAC specialist with expertise in cultural and linguistic diversity. With a passion for technology-based solutions, she specializes in accessibility for users with cognitive, linguistic, or speech disorders.
Harlow (they/them) is a multiply disabled and neurodivergent AAC and mobility aid user. They have been instrumental in shaping the direction of Flexspeak, helping us continually refine our features and functionalities to better serve the AAC community.
Pheonix (they/them) is a non-speaking, autistic college student majoring in art and full-time AAC user. With their unique perspective, Pheonix brings immense value to our development in creating a solution that addresses gaps in the AAC market. Also pictured is Pheonix’s favorite rooster, Jasper, whose family tree they love to “nerd out about."