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Good practice Imported

Cboard — Open-Source AAC Platform for Children with Speech and Language Impairments

Argentina · Córdoba · See the Argentina profile · See the Córdoba profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 8% 73/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Free open-source AAC platform for non-verbal children (autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome). UNICEF Innovation Fund-backed; 40+ languages; 80+ countries active. PIADS evaluation shows competence, self-esteem and adaptability gains across 3,000+ children in Balkans since 2019.

3,000+
Children reached in Balkans regional pilot (2019–2022)
1,000+
Specialists trained (therapists, educators, psychologists) (2019–2022)
76
Students in Timor-Leste PIADS pre/post pilot (2023)
80+
Countries with active Cboard users

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Cireha / cboard-org
Period
2017–present
Keywords
special education, assistive technology, AAC, open source, non-profit

Context

Cboard is a free, open-source, browser-based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) platform created in 2017 by Martín Bedouret with Cireha, letting non-verbal children (autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, acquired speech loss) generate synthesised speech from pictographic symbol boards; UNICEF's Innovation Fund invested in Cireha to scale and localise the platform, now a certified Digital Public Good available in 40+ languages with users in 80+ countries.

Results

A 2019–2022 UNICEF Switzerland-coordinated pilot across five Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) reached more than 3,000 children and trained over 1,000 speech therapists and other specialists; impact measured with the validated Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) showed consistent gains in competence, self-esteem and adaptability. A 2023 UNICEF Timor-Leste/Microsoft four-month pilot used PIADS pre- and post-assessment with 76 students across three schools.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Commonly funded by

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Data sources

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