We're Live on Product Hunt: Our Journey Building Visual Supports for Families

When a child can’t speak, how do they tell you what they want?

Think about it for a moment. Your child is hungry but can’t say “I want a banana.” They’re frustrated, maybe melting down, and you’re cycling through guesses trying to figure out what they need. Was it the blue cup instead of the green one? Are they tired? Overwhelmed? In pain?

Now imagine this is every morning. Every mealtime. Every transition from one activity to the next. The uncertainty. The exhaustion. The helplessness of watching your child struggle to communicate the most basic needs.

I don’t have to imagine it. I live it. I have two non-verbal boys.

How Visual Supports Changed Our Family

Visual supports came into our lives through a therapist’s recommendation. Our kindergarten started using them, and the change was remarkable. Suddenly, my boys could see what was coming next. They could point to what they wanted. The meltdowns didn’t disappear overnight, but they became less frequent. The transitions became smoother. The anxiety around “what happens next?” started to fade.

The concept is simple: instead of relying on spoken words, you use pictures to communicate. A picture of breakfast. A picture of getting dressed. A picture of the car.

What surprised everyone was how well it worked beyond our family. The kindergarten saw such success with my boys that they started using visual supports for younger neurotypical children too—and it worked brilliantly. Structure and predictability help everyone, it turns out. Even though my boys have moved on from kindergarten, the staff there continue using visual supports to this day.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you about visual supports: the traditional approach has real limitations.

At kindergarten, the teachers wore keychains with 20-something visual aid cards. It worked well—until they were outside and the keychain didn’t have the card they needed. The boys couldn’t communicate their needs or wants. They were constrained to whatever cards happened to be brought that day.

We saw the same thing at home. We had binders full of laminated cards, but when a situation arose—a meltdown building, a need that had to be communicated right now—frantically flipping through a binder to find the right card only added stress to an already difficult moment.

And when we left the house? Those carefully organized binders stayed behind. The visual supports that worked so well were sitting on a shelf while we were at the grocery store or the doctor’s office, exactly when we needed them most.

The Gap No One Was Filling

I looked at the apps that existed. Some were incredibly complex, designed for speech therapists with hundreds of symbols to configure. Others were simple but looked like they were designed in 2010 and never updated. Most cost $15-30 per month, which adds up when you’re already paying for therapy and specialists.

None of them felt like they were built by someone who actually understood the daily reality of raising kids with communication challenges.

So I built something.

What MyVisualRoutine Is

MyVisualRoutine is an app for creating visual schedules, choice boards, and First/Then boards. But more importantly, it’s designed to actually work in real life.

50+ activities pre-loaded from day one. No hours of setup required. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, bath time, brush teeth, get dressed, go to school, playground, bedtime—they’re all there with clear, consistent images. You can start building routines in minutes, not days.

It works offline. Because meltdowns don’t wait for WiFi. Your visual supports are there when you need them, whether you’re at home, in the car, or at grandma’s house with no internet.

Privacy-first design. Your family’s data stays on your device. I’m not interested in building a business that profits from selling information about vulnerable children.

Designed for dignity. This isn’t a “toddler app” with cartoon characters that embarrass older kids and adults. Visual supports are lifelong tools for many people with autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, and developmental delays. The design respects that.

Affordable. $3.99/month for Premium, with core features available free. Visual supports shouldn’t be a luxury that only some families can afford.

Why Product Hunt, Why Today

Today, MyVisualRoutine is launching on Product Hunt.

I chose Product Hunt because the tech community understands that accessibility matters. You build products for people. You believe in solving real problems. And you have networks that extend far beyond my own reach.

I’m not looking to compete with the big AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) apps that cost hundreds of dollars and require professional training. I’m building something simpler: a tool that any parent can pick up today and start using tonight at bedtime.

I’m looking for early adopters who will tell me what’s missing. Parents, caregivers, therapists, teachers—anyone who has struggled with the gap between “visual supports are incredibly helpful” and “actually implementing them consistently is hard.”

If this resonates with you—if you know someone who could benefit from visual supports, or if you’ve experienced the frustration of trying to help a child communicate—I’d genuinely appreciate your support.

An upvote on Product Hunt helps more families discover the app. A comment sharing your experience helps others feel less alone. A share to a friend or family member might be exactly what they need today.

What’s Next

This is just the beginning.

Android is ready and we need testers. If you’re an Android user who wants early access, sign up on our homepage—your feedback will help shape the final release.

More features are planned. Feelings boards to help children identify and express emotions. Waiting boards for teaching patience during transitions. More activities, more customization options, more ways to meet the needs of different families.

Built for families, by a family. This isn’t a venture-backed startup looking for an exit. It’s a tool I built because I needed it myself, and I believe other families need it too.

Every Child Deserves a Voice

I think about my boys every time I work on this app. The breakthrough moments when they point to a picture and we finally understand what they want. The reduced frustration on both sides. The small victories that feel enormous when communication has been so hard.

Visual supports won’t solve every challenge. But they give children a way to participate in their own lives. To have some control over what happens next. To communicate, even when words aren’t available.

Every child deserves that voice.

If you want to try MyVisualRoutine, you can download it free on iOS today. Create your first visual schedule in minutes, no credit card required. Start your 14-day premium trial and see if it works for your family.

And if you’re reading this and nodding along because you know exactly what I’m talking about—you’re not alone. I see you. I understand. And I hope this helps.

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Learn more about what MyVisualRoutine offers:

• Visual Schedules - Step-by-step routines for any part of the day
• Choice Boards - Give children the power to make decisions
• First/Then Boards - Motivate task completion with visual rewards
• 50+ Preloaded Activities - Start immediately without setup

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Thank you for being part of this launch. Whether you upvote, comment, share, or simply read this and think of someone who might benefit—it all matters.