Every kid has things they want. These tools help them say so.

Free software for children who communicate in different ways. Built by a dad, shaped around his daughter, and shared with your family. It runs on your own device.

Get the tools Read our story

Ellie and her dad on the couch, both grinning

Ellie and her dad. The sweater was her call.

Our story

Every kid should get to choose what they wear.

Our daughter Ellie is six. She has Rett syndrome, which makes communicating verbally challenging. Working on communication together, we discovered she really cares about fashion. Like any young kid, she wants to pick out what she wears.

So we designed exactly that. Every morning her wardrobe shows up on screen, checked against the weather, and she chooses.

She started picking her own outfits every day.

It was one small win, and it gave her a reason to engage with her eye-gaze device. That's what all learning is, really. Find the things you care about and build from there.

Since then we've kept building more ways to choose, make, write, and say.

The tools

Works out of the box. Take only what you want.

Each tool installs on its own and runs entirely on your computer, by eye gaze and by touch. You get them exactly as Ellie uses them every day.

START HEREDownload all

Gaze Layer

A steady, gentle cursor for eye-gaze devices, tuned for kids. It is the foundation the other tools stand on. Whatever else you download, you will want this first.

Built because custom tools need custom control.

Morning Outfit Picker

Every morning your child's real wardrobe shows up on screen, checked against the weather, and they choose. Set up for outfits, and happy to show anything else you can photograph.

Built because she loves fashion. The original.

LITERACY SUPPORT

The Pencil

Free writing with prediction that learns your child's own words, including invented spelling ("kat" offers cat).

Built because her ideas outran her letters.

Making Words

Guided word-building lessons designed around best practices to build literacy skills.

Built because spelling practice should feel like play.

COMING

Book Reader

Scan a beloved book once; your child reads it forever, offline, with word-by-word narration.

Built because bedtime stories shouldn't need Wi-Fi.

Make it yours

Your kid's obsession is different. That's the point.

These tools weren't personalized after the fact. They grew up around one particular kid. Yours might not care about dresses. Maybe it's dinosaurs, or elevators, or a very specific cartoon dog.

This is the part we're most excited about. With today's AI coding assistants, you don't have to be a programmer to reshape these tools around your child.

1 · Use them as-is

Totally legitimate. Install, answer two questions, done. Many families won't need anything more.

2 · Swap in your kid's world

Your photos, your words, your books. Every tool is built to carry your family's content.

3 · Shape the software itself

Point Claude Code, Codex, or any AI agent at our repositories and describe the change in plain English. Then test it with your kid. They're the only reviewer who counts. See the builders track.

Privacy

Your child's world stays home.

No account. It works offline.
Photos, writing, and history live in one folder on your computer.
Full access to the code, so you can make it your own if you want.

Read the full privacy page.

Who's behind this

Medicines by day. Software by night.

By day I run a biotech company working on treatments for Rett syndrome. By night I draw on a former life in software to give Ellie more ways to communicate, share what she wants, and learn.

After a while, people around us thought these tools could help other kids too. So I'm making them available, free.

We'd love your ideas, your pull requests, and someday your own tools in this collection.

If you'd like to help

Two ways, both optional.

Support the work

The software is free, forever. Any money given here funds Rett research, one way or another. Plain talk: the nonprofit is still in progress, so contributions aren't tax-deductible yet.

$3/mo $9/mo $25/mo Give once, any amount

For investors

Uncommon Therapeutics is a for-profit biotech developing treatments for Rett syndrome. Accredited investors interested in learning more may get in touch.

Contact