Special-Needs Business Profile: Spectrum Visions

Yumi Kubo started Spectrum Visions in 2009 along with Dr. Sei Higuchi, a friend who has tutored her son. The company's first product is the iPhone app Voice4u.

"We help individuals with special needs with technology," Kubo explains. "Our mission is to enhance learning and human expression for individuals with special needs, development delays, autism, and PDD through information technology." The Voice4u web page describes it as "a revolutionary AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) application that helps individuals to express their feeling, thought, actions and things they need. It is a perfect solution for learning and communication for autistic individuals and people around them."

Kubo's son was officially diagnosed with autism at age 2, but she suspected it long before that. "I began to wonder when he stopped saying goodbye to people when he was 10 months old. Also, at his 1-year-old birthday party, all of his friends had an argument of who was going to blow out the candles on the cake, and he showed no interest in the candles and did not blow them out. I realized that he had autism at the party."

"I first created the application since I wanted children around me with autism and children who had trouble with communication to use the device with their mothers," Kubo says. "But, as we were creating the product, we interviewed professionals, therapists, and school teachers who all told us that we should 'make this product as business. This product is so great that all mothers out in the nation should use this device.' Many different people helped us, which helped start this as a job." Kubo now works on Spectrum Visions full time.

Does Kubo consider her business a success? "Of course. I am planning on creating more products after getting opinions from parents, therapists, and doctors so people with disabilities and their family members can use it with no problems. Our mission is to enhance learning and human expression for individuals with special needs, development delays, autism, and PDD through information technology." Parents have praised the app because it's easy to use, the pictures are vivid, the voice is clear, it is easy to carry around, and the price is affordable.

The best thing about having the business, says Kubo, is "the fact that many people will use this device to tell what they want to say to their family and friends and spend a good time with them." The hardest thing, she says, is "there are limits in funding and because of it, the speed of business operation slows down."

One of the happiest customers of Voice4u is Kubo's son. "He loves Voice4u and uses it anywhere. He especially uses it in areas where there are many people and he has to be very quiet there. For example, at movie theaters, churches, lectures, and at school. He used to have tantrums when he was younger, but after using Voice4u and being able to communicate with the people around him, he has been having fewer tantrums and has been going to school with more enthusiasm."

When asked if other parents should do what she did and start a business, Kubo responds, "I believe that people who want to do it should do it. Life is always better if you can find a reason why you can do something than finding a reason why you can't do something."

"It would help to think about how you can communicate with your child, and how your child communicates with people outside of the family," Kubo advises parents of children with special needs. "I especially want to tell new parents of autistic children that there is always a tomorrow. There is always another morning with the light shining at you. Let's bond together and have our children grow."

How did your son's diagnosis affect your family?

I already believed that Wataru had autism at the age of 1, so after a doctor gave me a more official report about him I found myself relieved. Since I knew what his disability was, I was able to find out ways on how to support him. When Wataru was 2 and officially diagnosed as autistic, I already had him enrolled in special class and had him taking speech and OT, so I was able to get him ready for therapy. Also, there were many people who helped us. For example, a neighbor told me about a parent's group that I was able to go to. I am also very grateful for the person who told me about Play Therapy for Wataru. I was helped by many different professionals and neighbors and mothers.

What inspired you to start your business?

Since my son needed support with speaking, I bought a communication device called DynaVox with insurance. But it took half a year to get to us after applying for insurance. During that time, the therapists' assessment was more than $1,000, and I needed another $1,000 for an attorney to negotiate with the insurance company. It was also very troublesome to learn the system, and his school teachers and therapists told me that the device was not fit for him and would never use it. Since DynaVox was heavy, large, and almost impossible to carry around with everything else my son needs, I decided to purchase Proloquo2Go on the iPhone. This cost much less than DynaVox at $190. This application had too many different functions, which made it very complicated to use for my son, causing him to not want to use it. (I lost $190 in a second.) His speech therapist, who had 25 years of experience, couldn't use it, and my engineers and my co-founder who has a PhD from Stanford weren't able to use it either. We decided to create something simpler.

What comments have you heard about kids using Voice4u?

I have heard some family accounts such as, "My son who never spoke with anyone spoke with the characters in Disneyland using Voice4u, which made me cry so much." And, "Since the device is so heavy and big, people would never listen to my child because they are so intrigued by the device. But if it is an iPhone or iPod Touch, a lot of people have it, and it makes my child feel more part of the group of 'cool' people."

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