ComuniTEA is a mobile Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app built with Expo and React Native, designed specifically to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (TEA/ASD) communicate their needs, emotions, and daily experiences. Rather than replacing speech therapy, ComuniTEA extends it — giving children a visual, tactile communication tool they can use at home, in school, or in clinical settings, while providing caregivers and therapists with session reports and AI-assisted vocabulary expansion to guide each child’s progress.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/ElthonJohan/comunitea/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Who ComuniTEA Is For
ComuniTEA serves three interconnected audiences: the child who communicates, the caregiver or parent who configures and monitors the app, and the speech-language therapist or psychopedagogue who uses session data to guide intervention. The app ships a first-run onboarding flow that adapts the interface and vocabulary set based on the child’s communication profile, collected at registration.Three User Groups Aligned with PECS Phases
ComuniTEA organises its features and difficulty levels around three user groups that map directly to the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) developmental trajectory:| Group | Label | Communication Profile | App Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Basic | Single-pictogram selection; non-verbal or emergent verbal | Tablero with 1-pictogram output, guided activities, visual timer |
| G2 | Intermediate | Two-pictogram combinations; limited verbal phrases | Sentence strip (2+ pictograms), guided exercises, emotional vocabulary |
| G3 | Advanced | Multi-pictogram sentences; short verbal phrases | Full sentence construction (3+ pictograms), AI Magic Expand, complex exercises |
ejercicios), tutorial, and game mode all branch on this group assignment — ensuring each child sees content calibrated to their level without cognitive overload.
Communication Model: Pictogram → Sentence Strip → Voice
The core interaction loop in ComuniTEA follows a three-stage model:- Pictogram selection — The child browses categories organised by communicative intent (
Quiero,Siento,Hago,Veo,No quiero) and taps a pictogram. Each tap triggers its pre-recorded MP3 audio immediately as confirmation feedback. - Sentence strip — Selected pictograms stack on a horizontal strip at the top of the tablero. The strip supports sequential multi-pictogram messages, with buttons to remove the last pictogram or clear the entire strip.
- Voice output — Pressing the playback button reads the full constructed sentence aloud using a high-quality neural voice. G3 users can additionally trigger AI Magic Expand, which calls the
ai-expandedge function to transform the pictogram sequence into a natural, first-person Spanish sentence.
Key Capabilities
Tablero (Communication Board) The main screen displays up to 6 pictograms per category, keeping the interface uncluttered. Custom pictograms can be created from the camera roll and stored in Supabase Storage, allowing families to add personally meaningful images (a favourite toy, a specific family member). Exercises and Game Mode Theejercicios feature delivers structured practice sessions. G2 exercises focus on two-pictogram combinations and emotion recognition; G3 exercises involve multi-pictogram sentence assembly. A gamified mode presents pictogram-matching challenges with a non-numeric visual timer (green-to-yellow bar), instant feedback on errors (highlighting the correct answer for two seconds), and a confetti celebration animation on level completion.
Tutorial
A guided interactive tutorial walks new users through the tablero, sentence strip, and playback controls. The tutorial uses the same voice preference (femenina / masculina) chosen during voice-selection setup and is gated per user group — G1/G2 and G3 each have their own tutorial track.
Voice Audio: ElevenLabs + Offline MP3
Audio files pre-generated with ElevenLabs are bundled in assets/audio/femenina/ and assets/audio/masculina/, organised by vocabulary category (comida, emociones, jugar, social, etc.). This makes the app fully functional offline. When online, the elevenlabs-tts edge function can synthesise novel utterances on demand.
AI Magic Expand
A one-tap feature in G3 that sends the current pictogram labels to the ai-expand Supabase Edge Function (powered by OpenAI). The function returns a single, age-appropriate Spanish sentence that the child can then play back — bridging the gap between pictogram selection and natural speech.
Caregiver Reports
After each session, the report screen shows vocabulary usage frequency, communicative intent distribution (Quiero vs. Siento vs. Veo), average response latency, and AI-generated suggestions. Reports can be exported for sharing with the child’s therapist.
Gamification
Progress through exercises earns stars and unlocks sub-levels. Completion milestones trigger a full-screen CelebrationOverlay with confetti cannon and festive audio. The game sub-level system advances automatically once the child meets the mastery threshold (8/10 correct in two consecutive sessions).
Technology Stack
| Layer | Technology | Version |
|---|---|---|
| Framework | Expo | SDK 57 |
| Mobile runtime | React Native | 0.86.0 |
| React | React | 19.2.3 |
| Navigation | Expo Router | ~57.0.7 |
| State management | Zustand | ^5.0.12 |
| Backend | Supabase (Auth + Postgres + Storage + Edge Functions) | ^2.98.0 |
| Audio playback | expo-audio | ~57.0.2 |
| TTS fallback | expo-speech | ~57.0.1 |
| Language | TypeScript | ~6.0.3 |
ComuniTEA is built on The Tactile Sanctuary design system — a neurodiversity-first visual language that prioritises high contrast, consistent iconography, a maximum of 4–6 elements per screen, and immediate audio-visual feedback on every interaction. Every colour palette, font weight, and motion decision is made with sensory sensitivities in mind. The app’s accent palette is user-configurable via
appThemeStore, so caregivers can choose the visual tone that best suits their child.Explore Further
Quickstart
Clone the repo, configure Supabase, and run the dev server in under 10 minutes.
Architecture
Understand the feature modules, navigation structure, Zustand stores, and backend services.
Tablero Feature
Deep-dive into the communication board: pictogram grid, sentence strip, voice playback, and custom pictograms.
Exercises & Reports
Learn how exercises, game mode, and caregiver progress reports are structured.