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Good practice Imported

CoughDrop — Cloud-Based Open Communication AAC App

United States of America · South Jordan · See the United States of America profile

Top 24% 92/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Cloud-based AAC app built by a father of a child with Rett syndrome with 30+ speech-language specialists, using core-vocabulary research from UNC's Project Core. Open licensing, cross-device sync and ~68,000 Android downloads support communication for non-verbal children and adul

CoughDrop — Cloud-Based Open Communication AAC App CoughDrop — Cloud-Based Open Communication AAC App

Details

Promoter
CoughDrop, Inc.
Period
2014–ongoing
Keywords
assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication, disability inclusion, speech-language pathology

Description

Brian Whitmer, a software engineer and father of a daughter with Rett syndrome, founded CoughDrop in 2014 after finding existing AAC devices costly, closed and slow to update. He built a cloud-based, cross-platform alternative.
The team partnered with over 30 speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and assistive-technology specialists, adopting core-vocabulary frameworks developed by Project Core at the University of North Carolina's Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, syncing communication boards across devices and letting schools and therapists track usage through built-in reporting dashboards.
Available on iOS and Android (about 68,000 Android downloads recorded), it is used in schools and clinics; its assets were acquired by Forbes AAC (MavWare, LLC), but the app remains operational and openly licensed as of 2026.
Like most AAC apps, published independent outcome studies remain limited; efficacy evidence rests mainly on built-in usage analytics and alignment with Project Core's peer-reviewed vocabulary research rather than an independent randomized trial.

Read the full analysis: https://www.coughdrop.com/

Implementation

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