# Chetana AAC

By Aniruddha Kadam · Ongoing · since Jan 2026 · Updated 22 Sep 2026

A free, fully offline Marathi communication app for the ~50 children at Seva Sahayog's Chetana centres who have little or no speech. So far, a 193-word vocabulary, 12 written decisions and a working design tool, with no child's data collected.

- **My part:** your exact part (lead? which pieces did you build?)
- **Team:** 4 students + Chetana's therapists confirm the team list
- **Timeline:** 2026 → now
- **Status:** Ongoing
- **Links:** [Seva Sahayog Foundation](https://sevasahayog.org/) repo / design-tool link

## In short

- **Problem:** A child who thinks in Marathi has no free, offline, Marathi-first way to speak, and their therapist has no record of what they can do.
- **What I did:** one line on exactly what you did
- **Result:** A 193-concept Marathi core vocabulary (90 core, 91 fringe, 12 openers); 12 decision records; 40 numbered questions delivered to Seva Sahayog Foundation; printable A4 boards Chetana can use before the app ships.
- **How to check:** The design tool, the schema and the decision records public links

## Who it’s for: 44 of 48 children on the register are 10 or younger

_Jan 2026_
Chetana's Sahakar Nagar register lists 48 children. We analysed a de-identified copy, using aggregates only.

- **44 / 48** are 10 or younger, inside the early-intervention window
- **≈ 3 in 4** have a diagnosis for which aided AAC is evidence-based
- **23 / 48** have school enrolment recorded at all

> **AAC** Augmentative and alternative communication: anything that adds to or replaces speech, from picture cards to apps.

![Architecture: child app and local store on the device; therapist dashboard syncs later](https://anikadam.com/media/arch.svg)

_Offline-first: the child side never needs a connection._

## Diagnoses across the 48-child register

_Feb 2026_
![Bar chart of diagnoses across the 48-child register](https://anikadam.com/media/chetana-register.svg)

_Diagnoses after normalising spelling variants. Families come from 29 localities across south Pune._

## Only 2 of 14 AAC apps ship Marathi

_Mar 2026_
What works:

- Fixed tile positions, so muscle memory builds
- Colour-coded word classes
- Speech only when the child presses play

What fails:

- Only 2 of 14 ship Marathi at all
- Premium apps cost US$150–550 and are English-first
- The free tier is touch-only: no switch scanning or eye gaze

> This is not a translation problem. Marathi changes the word itself, not just the word order.

## A design tool therapists can use before the app exists

_Sep 2026_
Before building the app we built a tool that shows exactly what the child will see and lets therapists change it live: drag words between cells, switch Present and Design modes, take snapshots, attach notes to a role (never a name), and export printable A4 boards.

**Useful before the app exists** The printable boards mean Chetana can use paper communication boards immediately.

![Core board: a grid of colour-coded Marathi word tiles on a phone](https://anikadam.com/media/board.svg)

_The core board as designed. Word classes are colour-coded, and tile positions never move._

## How we’ll know it worked: 4 gates, none measured yet

_Oct 2026_
| Gate | Target | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Tap-to-sound latency, cheapest target phone, 20 taps | < 150 ms | measure |
| Full function in airplane mode | pass | test |
| Golden sentence patterns (मला पाणी हवं …) | 100% | run |
| Cold start, RAM, size on a 2 GB phone | within budget | measure |

The real success criterion, after six months: Chetana changes the vocabulary itself, without asking anyone.

## Paper: Marathi word forms in AAC

_Jul 2026_
Two paper abstracts drafted. title, authors, venue and status

## What’s still open
Nothing here has been verified by Chetana's therapists yet, and it has not been tested with children. One of 67 tracked questions has an answer so far.

## References

1. [ARASAAC pictograms (CC)](https://arasaac.org/)
2. [Seva Sahayog Foundation](https://sevasahayog.org/)

**Credits.** The Chetana team confirm names and Chetana's therapists.

**How I used AI tools.** one line on how you used AI tools

Source: https://anikadam.com/work/chetana-aac/