GoManda

GoManda is an education technology company that builds an iOS application teaching receptive vocabulary to autistic and other neurodivergent learners. The app is positioned for early childhood and elementary use across three settings: classrooms, homes, and clinical/therapy care. Lessons are customized by selecting from hundreds of nouns, colors, and shapes, or students can explore via a Free Play mode; rewards are tied to a student's personal interests to support motivation and engagement.

The product's stated design principles include a minimalist, distraction-free interface without animations, photorealistic images and video rather than cartoon representations, and multiple variations of each common word to teach that a noun can appear in different colors, textures, and materials. The app performs real-time data collection during each lesson, tracks mastered words, and allows progress data to be exported to members of a student's support team, which the company positions as a replacement for handmade flashcards and associated preparation time.

The company describes its approach as "strength-based teaching" oriented to what it calls the hyperfunctional mind of autism, and characterizes the product as among the first neurodiversity-affirming learning apps targeting foundational skills such as early literacy. Company materials state the app is intended primarily for learners building foundational vocabulary, typically ages 2–9, though the company notes the target skill can be relevant at any age.

Founding story

GoManda was founded by Celest Austin, MD, PhD, and is named after her autistic sister Amanda; "GoManda! GoManda!" was the cheer the family used to celebrate Amanda's accomplishments. Austin has said that resources available to her sister did not nurture her way of thinking and were instead framed as "cures" and "treatments." After completing an MD/PhD at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio in 2016, Austin left further medical training to found the company.

Business model

GoManda sells access to its iOS app via subscription with a free trial, serving both individual families and institutional buyers such as schools and learning centers. Institutional prospects are directed to schedule live demonstrations with a company team member, and the company has offered promotional discounts through an association partnership (15% off for Division of Early Childhood members, with an additional 10% offered at the DEC annual conference).

Paid subscriptions to the GoManda app, preceded by a free trial, with sales to families and to school and clinical organizations.

Traction

As of March 2022 the company reported its solution was at the pilot stage and served 47 people. Company materials state the app had been tested in schools and learning centers over a two-year period, and the company reports internal research findings of a 400% increase in vocabulary comprehension and a 95% improvement in attention. The app is described on the company site as award-winning, and the company was named a semi-finalist in MIT Solve's Re-engaging Learners challenge.

Latest developments

In May 2024 GoManda announced a partnership with the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) to support early education, offering DEC members 15% off purchases with an additional 10% discount available at the DEC annual conference in December, alongside a listing in the DEC bookstore. The company site identifies GoManda as an official DEC partner in the Mobile App Solution category for early childhood and elementary.