Alexander's Story
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My beautiful boy was diagnosed with autism at age 2 ½ .
Often appearing as if he’s not quite ‘of this world’, you’ll find him in the garden picking flowers and playing with dirt. His face is always covered with remnants of Nutella – firmly encrusted onto his cheeks with little grains of sand.
So happy in his leafy space, it's easy to forget that he has developmental delays – minimal communication, a lack of social skills and dyspraxia. As his mommy, I worry about his future and need to help him understand people and the world around him so that he can protect himself.
In going through the big learning curve of trying to understand and help my son, I have met the most wonderful people – parents, teachers, therapists – all of whom have helped me solve a little piece of our own autism puzzle.
My earlier career in IT inspired me to use my knowledge and expertise to start a business that would:
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Help children understand social norms through technology.
- Create a hugely successful business that would one day be able to employ my son in whatever capacity he is able.
- Create a space where I could hire adults with autism - all of whom would bring their own unique set of skills.
This is how Strange Duck came about…
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Along this bumpy ride – I have learnt many things, including:
- Alexander has responded positively to children's apps and finds them far easier to relate to than real-life situations. Therefore apps are a great starting point for teaching abstract concepts to children.
- My hope is to teach our children how to engage and react to social situations - through repetitive learning and in their own time.
If there is no pressure on them to perform initially, they will hopefully be more open to learning. The app is not a substitute for the real world, merely a starting point - i.e. role playing in preparation for the real thing.
The Plan:
Up until now, I have funded the app project myself. However, as with all things tech- related, things like development and animation can be rather costly!
The app I refer to is actually a series of apps with different scenes mimicking real life eg. a playground, the shops and a children's birthday party etc.
I have already started with the 'playground' scene, but would also like have to another scene, specifically a 'children's birthday party' when I launch the app so that parents and educators have at least two scenes to start working with.
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The 'Playground Scene':
Features of the app:
- The child playing the app - the 'user' - will be encouraged to choose a friend.
- Once the user has chosen a friend and a piece of equipment to play on, an animation of the two characters on the equipment will be played. This is fun to watch and further reinforces the joy of playing with a friend.
- A bonus animation will play once the user and friend have played together to further reinforce the idea.
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Rules - simple visual representations in the form of icons that show you what not to do on the equipment.
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What I'd like the child to learn:
- Playing with a friend can be fun!
- There is structure and order to playing with a friend, it's a skill that can be learned with practice.
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Play equipment has rules which means that play is not the complete chaos a child with autism may perceive it to be.
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The 'Children's Party Scene':
In this 'episode' of the series, my vision is to have the user be one of the characters attending a children's birthday party. He/she will learn about the social norms associated with such an event.
What I'd like the child to learn:
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What is expected of them when attending a birthday party, like handing over the gift and singing happy birthday while cutting the cake.
- In this scene, I thought I would use the opportunity to let the user express how he/she is feeling as there is a lot of sensory stimuli at a gathering like this.
Some children with autism might find it overwhelming from a sensory perspective.
Icons depicting the various sensory issues will be displayed - 'too loud', 'feeling shy', 'too many people' etc.
I want to show the child that it's okay to feel overwhelmed - and that people will help them deal with it.
- There will be a group activity - hitting the pinata - which the app will help the user to play with the other children.
Where we are:
- 100% of graphic design for the playground scene is complete.
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Some of the sound (voice, effects and music) has been recorded for the playground scene.
Voice, music and sound recorded by African Treehouse. ![]()
www.africantreehouse.com
- Approximately 10% of the animation for the playground scene is complete.
- 0% of the code for the playground scene is complete.
- The party scene is still in the design phase and needs full funding.
Where we need to be:
- Finish sound, code and bonus animations for the playground scene.
- Create the next 'scene' - a children's party. This will require additional graphic design, animations, voice recordings and code.
- Launch Playground and Children's Party Scene in one app in Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
After investigating market-related prices and getting several quotes, I have learnt that it will cost $40,000 to complete and launch both app scenes, namely the playground and children's party scene.
Money, money, money!
Because my business, Strange Duck, also makes autism aids (flashcards and t-shirts) - I will use the money raised in this campaign to manufacture t-shirts and flashcards for my online store.
Creative Services Expenses:
- Pre-Production: $5,300
- Production: $16,000
- App development: $11,000
- Sound: $1,000
Other:
- Perks & Fees: $2,700
- PR & Marketing: $2,000
- Roll-out to non-profits & disadvantaged schools: Strange Duck has promised several non-profit organisations here in South Africa a free download of the app. To do this, I'll need some extra funding to buy tablets for the children at these schools as well do training on how to effectively use the app: $2,000
If funds raised > $32 000 < $40 000:
I will finish the development of the app with the playground scene.
Whatever is left I will then put towards the children's party scene in terms of animation, graphic design, code etc.
If I'm just under target, I will do my best to finish the children's party scene by cutting down on animation etc.
However, if I'm significantly under target, I will finish the development of the app with only the playground scene and sell to local therapists and perhaps have a download on my website only.
It will not be viable to launch in Google Play Store and Apple app store with just one scene.
If funds raised > $17 000 < $32 000:I will finish the development of the app with the playground scene. It still won't be 100% complete however, so I'll postpone the completion of the project until I can raise the necessary funds.
If funds raised < $17 000:
I will use these funds to manufacture t-shirts and flashcards for my online store.
Our Impact:
I truly believe in Strange Duck and feel that this is my mission in life.
I want to create real opportunities for my little boy and others through a successful business that not only creates tools that help those with and affected by autism, but also creates a work environment that fosters creativity and embraces neurodiversity.
Risks & Challenges:
Since my team is already in place, I'm not at all concerned with the completion or quality of the project.
My only concern is that because the app is aimed at a niche market, the project may not break even and will run at a loss, as the amount of money needed to create the app is fairly substantial. This will unfortunately mean I won't be able to create more apps, which is the ultimate goal.
To counteract this, I plan to:
- Enroll the help of a PR person who can help promote the app through social media and other relevant channels.
- Do my due diligence in pricing the app correctly.
Other Ways To Help
Not everyone can contribute financially. No worries!
Please promote my campaign through social media and Indiegogo share tools ;)
Thank you!
Karen
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