1 · Set the boundary
Set the Settings PIN and confirm the device permissions the student wants. Folio’s App Privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”, and communication content stays on the device. That conversation with IT becomes a short one.
For teachers & classrooms
AAC and assistive apps in the classroom, honestly set up.
Three classroom setups plus an adult-campus body-doubling option — with the adult work named, the limits stated, and no student login required.
Who this is for
Classroom teachers, special education teachers, aides, and AT coordinators.
This is an implementation guide, not a spec sheet: what each setup actually takes, which adult does what, and where the honest limits are. Every app here is free to try and needs no student accounts. We make no blanket privacy claim: each setup below names its App Privacy label — SpeechSeed and Folio AAC read “Data Not Collected”; PicExplainer reads “Data Linked to You” for purchases, user content, identifiers and usage data; Sidle’s is stated exactly where it appears.
Setup one · a voice in the room
Folio AAC on a classroom iPad.
2 · Build the first boards
Boards start empty on purpose. A teacher or SLP sits with the student and builds the first topic boards around their actual day — class answers, corridor phrases, the canteen order. The free tier (20 phrases, 2 boards) is the honest trial scope.
3 · Let it be theirs
Students who are nonspeaking or minimally speaking — and who read and type — speak with the class through phrases they chose. Folio never speaks a word the student didn’t choose.
Setup two · the speech practice corner
SpeechSeed on a shared iPad, one quiet corner.
1 · Pick the corner
It listens for whole words, so a quiet corner matters. No accounts to create; a profile is a nickname plus birth year and month, on-device.
2 · The aide is the scorer
The app recognises whole words and banks uncertain tries; the adult ear makes every call at the sound and syllable rungs. One free session a day per device keeps the corner honest.
3 · Keep the lane
It’s practice between sessions — never a curriculum, an intervention, or IEP service delivery, and we’d correct anyone who said otherwise.
Setup three · figure access
PicExplainer for the student who can’t see the diagram
Photograph the figure, hear it explained, ask follow-ups — VoiceOver-first, honest about uncertainty, and a complement to (never a replacement for) the tactile graphics your TVI produces. The 141 bundled curriculum diagrams work free and offline; the saved library stays readable forever.
Adult-campus option · 18+ only
Sidle, framed honestly
Unlimited silent body-doubling sessions suit adult-study libraries — phone face-down, timer on the lock screen. Sidle is for adults 18+ only under its terms even though Apple’s current page still shows an older 9+ classification. Its App Privacy label reads “Data Linked to You” for purchases, user content, identifiers and usage data used for app functionality. The silent timer works locally without a user login. Separate provider features use a device-scoped anonymous service identity; adult consent, DeepSeek processing in China, retention and deletion boundaries are explained in the Privacy Policy. Body-doubling evidence is anecdotal and emerging.
Deployment, in one paragraph
Apple School Manager does the heavy lifting.
All of the above are free, automatically available in Apple School Manager Apps and Books, and assignable to devices with no student Apple Accounts — every claim cited to Apple’s documentation at how schools get our apps. The free tiers are fully usable in class; optional upgrades are personal purchases shown in the App Store, and we make no claims about upgrades under school device assignment.
Try it with one student.
One student, one iPad, one week. If it doesn’t earn its place, delete it — nothing stays behind on the iPad, and the App Privacy labels named above say exactly what each app did or didn’t collect. If it does, deploy with evidence in hand. Either way, tell robin@kindabilities.com what you saw; it shapes what we build.
Spokes for planning: core words in AAC · assistive technology in the classroom · executive-functioning skills
A person answers this address.
Questions, a caseload we should think about, accessibility feedback — write to robin@kindabilities.com and Robin will read it.