Otsimo is Integrating Novel Technologies to Its Speech App to Help Kids Overcome Speech Problems

OTSIMO, a special education company, introduces a major feature to its Speech Therapy app to more accurately assess kids' speech skills and help them make consistent progress. Using speech recognition in the exercises, Otsimo Speech adjusts the learning program to the child's own learning pace.

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Otsimo

Feb 03, 2021, 14:01 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Speech therapy is only accessible to a privileged minority of the special needs population due to its high price and lack of accessible resources. Otsimo's mission is to make these fundamental education materials accessible and affordable to all special needs children.

How Otsimo Speech Therapy uses speech recognition and turn-taking to teach sounds and words.

The startup has over five years of experience in the special education field. Otsimo Special Education app consists of over 100 practices divided into 15 categories. It offers personalized educational material in a gamified context. Special needs children are known to have speech and language development issues. With its cumulative experience under its belt, Otsimo teamed up with professionals and families to create the Speech Therapy app, where children can exercise pronouncing letters, sounds, and words.

Hasan Zafer Elcik, co-founder of Otsimo, has a brother who was diagnosed with severe autism when Elcik was 10. This gave him many opportunities to internalize ins and outs of autism. His brother, Alper was a fortunate child in terms of the intensive and early education he was able to receive. As he witnessed the process, Elcik tried to come up with more efficient ways to teach his brother while also contemplating other children's struggles with the disorder.

Elcik says, "I first noticed my brother mimicking sounds enthusiastically when we were playing with a toy piano. That is when I knew to work on this.

The possibility inspired me. We did the research, consulted professionals. Now the Speech Therapy app is based on the scientific approach 'peer modeling', with help from 'speech recognition' and 'machine learning'."

In the US alone, about 5% of children aged 0-7 have noticeable speech disorders, and more than half of these children don't receive intervention services. This leaves so many children with untapped potential. Mobile solutions come in handy because of its accessibility, especially during the pandemic currently ongoing.

HundrED is a non-profit organization that identifies inspiring and impactful K12 innovations. Otsimo was chosen in their 2020 and 2021 Collection, and also Quality Education for All During COVID-19.

A HundrED Academy Member reviewed "The potential for impact and scalability is significant. The possibility to have an inclusive app that can be adopted by schools and families adds scalability potential."

Otsimo hopes to become an all-in-one special education company where a special needs child would easily find their educational needs. With the Augmentative and Alternative Communication app that will be released, speech-language and voice problems will all be covered.

For media enquiries please contact:
Mr. Zafer Elcik
E: [email protected]
M: +90 530 880 4420