This interview is with Givona Sandiford, Founder/CEO at Melospeech, Inc.

Givona Sandiford, Founder/CEO, Melospeech, Inc

Welcome, Givona! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey in the world of EdTech, focusing on your work with speech therapy, communication development, and autism?

I created my first educational app in 2012. A family from Australia reached out because they wanted access to the tools I used in my dissertation research to try with their autistic son, who wasn’t speaking. They mentioned he had an iPad, which sparked an idea—why not turn these tools into an app? At the time, I didn’t know much about app development, but I figured I could find someone to help me. And I did.

My first tech tool was built by a self-taught high-school student. He was part of his private school’s work-study program and had experience making apps for the school. His family knew my dad, who was a high school teacher, so there was already a level of trust. I sat down with his parents, and we put together a work-for-hire agreement. He built the app quickly and effortlessly, and that was my first real step into tech. From there, anytime I couldn’t find the materials I needed, I made my own.

Over the years, that led to the creation of several iOS and Google apps. When I started my mobile speech therapy company, it just made sense to use our own EdTech to help families access early intervention services faster. We began automating everything we could using our own algorithms.

Then, as AI became more mainstream, we leveraged it to take automation even further. Now, AI helps us with everything from interviewing candidates and accepting referrals to dispatching therapists to the families closest to them. It also plays a key role in training new staff by answering FAQs 24/7 and automating session notes with The SLPeaceBot™, which we even made available to other speech therapy providers. Our Communication Milestones Screening Protocol: Birth to 5 (CMSP:B-5)™ has also been a game-changer, streamlining our screening and evaluation process so families can receive reports faster.

Givona, welcome to EdtechBrief.com! To start us off, could you please tell our readers a bit about yourself and your journey in the world of EdTech, specifically focusing on your work with speech therapy, communication development, and autism?

I created my first educational app in 2012. A family from Australia reached out because they wanted access to the tools I used in my dissertation research to try with their autistic son, who wasn’t speaking. They mentioned he had an iPad, which sparked an idea—why not turn these tools into an app?

At the time, I didn’t know much about app development, but I figured I could find someone to help me. And I did. My first tech tool was built by a self-taught high school student. He was part of his private school’s work-study program and had experience making apps for the school. His family knew my dad, who was a high school teacher, so there was already a level of trust.

I sat down with his parents, and we put together a work-for-hire agreement. He built the app quickly and effortlessly, and that was my first real step into tech. From there, anytime I couldn’t find the materials I needed, I made my own. Over the years, that led to the creation of several iOS and Google apps.

When I started my mobile speech-therapy company, it just made sense to use our own EdTech to help families access early-intervention services faster. We began automating everything we could using our own algorithms. Then, as AI became more mainstream, we leveraged it to take automation even further.

Now, AI helps us with everything from interviewing candidates and accepting referrals to dispatching therapists to the families closest to them. It also plays a key role in training new staff by answering FAQs 24/7 and automating session notes with The SLPeaceBot™, which we even made available to other speech-therapy providers. Our Communication Milestones Screening Protocol: Birth to 5 (CMSP:B-5)™ has also been a game-changer, streamlining our screening and evaluation process so families can receive reports faster.

Your career path in EdTech, touching upon areas like speech therapy and autism, is truly inspiring. Could you share a pivotal moment or experience that solidified your passion for this field?

I remember just starting out with Melospeech®, and the referrals for early speech-therapy services in the home and communities were coming in fast. I began building a team to help me, but I found myself constantly mapping out routes—trying to minimize their drive time or figuring out if a family was too far for us to provide early-intervention services. That’s when it hit me—we needed a tool to automate this.

Our distance-finder app was the first tool we built, and it ended up saving us a huge amount of time. What used to take two hours was now done in seconds. Over time, we evolved that simple tool into what is now the MeloSuite—a system that automates referrals, dispatch, and even alerts us when it’s time to hire new staff in a particular area. It completely transformed how we manage our services.

What are some significant technological advancements in speech therapy and communication development that have excited you most recently, and how have you seen them benefit children with autism?

We were working with a particular referral source that had limited understanding of speech therapy. They required us to complete full evaluations for young children already receiving services—a process that typically takes two hours—but they only allowed us one hour. We weren’t the only ones concerned. Many providers protested. How were we supposed to provide meaningful insights into a child’s needs in just one hour while also writing a full report? The reality was that our team would either have to work off the clock, or we’d have to pay out of pocket, which wasn’t sustainable.

Cutting corners was never an option, even though the payer told us, “Just make something up out of your head based on your experience.” Instead, we created the Communication Milestone Screening Protocol: Birth to 5 (CMSP:B-5)™, built on well-established normative data from the CDC, ASHA, and other sources. We trained the tool to measure developmental milestones, and as an AI-assisted system, it could even factor in observations and previous data (if entered) to generate a full report with recommendations in just 5–7 minutes.

This allowed us to add another standardized measure to our assessments, helping families faster while ensuring accuracy. After several months of giving both our CMSP:B-5 and another measure together, we found that our criterion-referenced tool strongly aligned with known standardized tools, so we made it available to others in the field. In this way, we met a challenge with something that revolutionized the early intervention industry. I learned that sometimes a barrier is actually a bridge if you can shift the way you view it. That's what innovation is.

Can you describe a time when you had to get creative to overcome a challenge in implementing technology for speech therapy or communication development, particularly for students with autism? What did you learn from that experience?

We were working with a particular referral source that had limited understanding of speech therapy. They required us to complete full evaluations for young children already receiving services—a process that typically takes two hours—but they only allowed us one hour. We weren’t the only ones concerned; many providers protested. How were we supposed to provide meaningful insights into a child’s needs in just one hour while also writing a full report?

The reality was that our team would either have to work off the clock or we’d have to pay out of pocket, which wasn’t sustainable. Cutting corners was never an option, even though the payer told us, “Just make something up out of your head based on your experience.” Instead, we created the Communication Milestone Screening Protocol: Birth to 5 (CMSP:B-5)™, built on well-established normative data from the CDC, ASHA, and other sources.

We trained the tool to measure developmental milestones, and as an AI-assisted system, it could even factor in observations and previous data (if entered) to generate a full report with recommendations in just 5–7 minutes. This allowed us to add another standardized measure to our assessments, helping families faster while ensuring accuracy.

After several months of giving both our CMSP:B-5 and another measure together, we found that our criterion-referenced tool strongly aligned with known standardized tools, so we made it available to others in the field. In this way, we met a challenge with something that revolutionized the early intervention industry. I learned that sometimes a barrier is actually a bridge if you can shift the way you view it. That’s what innovation is.

Can you share an instance where you had to adapt or innovate your approach to using EdTech tools for a child with autism facing unique communication challenges?

One of my earliest EdTech innovations was the Melodic-Based Communication Therapy (M.B.C.T.)™ Level 1 app. This app stemmed from my dissertation research on using intoned speech or sung words to help non-speaking autistic children communicate. Clinically, I had noticed something fascinating—some children who couldn’t speak would hum or sing, even if they didn’t produce spoken words.

When I conducted my research, we found that many children began speaking using this technique. But the real turning point came when a family in Australia reached out, looking for ways to try the method with their child. That’s when it clicked—I could turn this technique into an app to make it more accessible. The M.B.C.T.™ app was on the App Store for nearly 10 years, along with Level 2 and other versions. It was well-received and helped many families and therapists support children facing unique communication challenges. Looking back, it was one of my first experiences leveraging technology to bridge the gap between research and real-world therapy.

Many educators are excited about the potential of AI in education. How do you envision AI tools shaping the future of speech therapy and communication intervention, and what are some potential benefits and challenges we should be mindful of?

One of my earliest EdTech innovations was the Melodic-Based Communication Therapy (M.B.C.T.)™ Level 1 app. This app stemmed from my dissertation research on using intoned speech or sung words to help non-speaking autistic children communicate. Clinically, I had noticed something fascinating—some children who couldn’t speak would hum or sing, even if they didn’t produce spoken words.

When I conducted my research, we found that many children began speaking using this technique. But the real turning point came when a family in Australia reached out, looking for ways to try the method with their child. That’s when it clicked—I could turn this technique into an app to make it more accessible. The M.B.C.T.™ app was on the App Store for nearly 10 years, along with Level 2 and other versions.

It was well-received and helped many families and therapists support children facing unique communication challenges. Looking back, it was one of my first experiences leveraging technology to bridge the gap between research and real-world therapy.

How do you see the role of artificial intelligence evolving in the future of speech therapy and communication intervention for individuals with autism?

For speech therapy, automation of mundane and repetitive tasks will be critical to being able to serve more children in the future. Documentation time is wasted time that could be better used directly helping children. In the future, I see an end to documentation time through various tools as we did with our MeloSpeech SLP-eaceBot and an increase in direct collaboration time with autistic students and other educators.

From your experience, how can EdTech companies ensure their products are accessible and inclusive, particularly for students with diverse learning needs like those with autism?

For speech therapy, automation of mundane and repetitive tasks will be critical to being able to serve more children in the future. Documentation time is wasted time that could be better used directly helping children. In the future, I see an end to documentation time through various tools, as we did with our Melospeech SLP-eaceBot, and an increase in direct collaboration time with autistic students and other educators.

What advice would you give to educators hesitant to integrate new technologies, especially those involving AI, into their classrooms to support students with communication needs?

Education is key. Take courses on AI risk assessment and security. Review the product model card to see how the tool works, including how it handles security. Always review and edit output generated by AI before sharing.

Early intervention is crucial for children with communication disorders. How can technology help bridge the gap between identification of these needs and access to effective interventions?

Education is key. Take courses on AI risk assessment and security. Review the product model card to see how the tool works, including how it handles security. Always review and edit output generated by AI before sharing.

From your experience, how can parents and educators effectively collaborate to support a child's communication development, particularly those on the autism spectrum?

Education is key. Take courses on AI risk assessment and security. Review the product model card to see how the tool works, including how it handles security. Always review and edit output generated by AI before sharing. Most tools can be used adequately with pseudonyms and initials. What isn't shared and stored can't be hacked, stolen, or used without your permission later on!

What advice would you give to educators who are hesitant or unsure about incorporating new technologies, especially AI-powered tools, into their speech therapy practice?

Education is key. Take courses on AI risk assessment and security. Review the product model card to see how the tool works, including how it handles security. Always review and edit output generated by AI before sharing. Most tools can be used adequately with pseudonyms and initials. What isn't shared and stored can't be hacked, stolen, or used without your permission later on!

Looking ahead, what are you most excited about in the future of EdTech and its potential impact on supporting individuals with communication and learning differences?

I'm excited about being able to serve more children in need faster. The 3% of children accessing early intervention will become closer to 90% if we can leverage technology to reach them faster. Children will enter kindergarten using language to learn to read, write, and do math instead of still learning how to speak and understand basic concepts, and that will be huge in bridging the gap between those who excel and those who fall behind. We have to catch them early.

What are some common misconceptions surrounding EdTech and its application for children with autism, and how can we better advocate for its effective and ethical implementation?

I'm excited about being able to serve more children in need faster. The 3% of children accessing early intervention will become closer to 90% if we can leverage technology to reach them faster. Children will enter kindergarten using language to learn to read, write, and do math instead of still learning how to speak and understand basic concepts, and that will be huge in bridging the gap between those who excel and those who fall behind. We have to catch them early.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you for having me!