Filmmaker, techpreneur join forces for app dedicated to Ausome children

MANILA, Philippines — Filmmaker-teacher Mark Meily and businessman-techpreneur Vincent Rocha have combined forces to come up with MYLO Speech Buddy, a speech development system for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and speech delay. The video-streaming platform/app streams content for learning with the goal of making an Ausome child go from zero (word) to one, or from non-verbal to verbal.

The app gained attention recently after becoming a finalist on CNN Philippines’ The Final Pitch Season 9: Open Edition, a business-reality show featuring aspiring startups vying to secure funding and mentorship.

Investor-judges like Pantheon Holdings president Brian Poe Llamanzares offered to help MYLO in a kickstarter (crowdfunding) campaign, while Henry Aguda, president and CEO of Union Digital Bank and convenor of Go Digital Pilipinas, saw the value of a startup like MYLO being an Ausome parent himself, that he promised to partner with themeither through financial assistance or other forms of involvement.

Both Vince and direk Mark are personally invested in MYLO because they are an Ausome parent and grandparent, respectively.

“Vince’s son (Noah) started from non-verbal. Using the discrete modeling method, he’s now slowly becoming articulate and can now talk in sentences,” noted the award-winning film maker behind the films Crying Ladies, Maledicto, Baler, during the finale episode still streaming on The Final Pitch’s YouTube channel.

MYLO founders (from left) Vincent Rocha, Enrico Aquino and Mark Meily.

“The first word he mentioned was dog. My wife and I cried. The next word Daddy, we cried. After that, Daddy, (I love you),” said Vince.

The duo then showed a clip of Noah saying the word “wave” and doing the “waving” action through the help of the MYLO app.

The Philippine STAR got to talk more about MYLO with Vince, who serves as founder and CEO with focus on the business side, along with direk Mark as chief learning officer, who is in charge of content. (The third person behind MYLO is Enrico Aquino.)

Direk Mark described how he got onboard the project as “serendipitous.” He and Vince were introduced to each other because of another ed-tech project.

“Nung kinukwento ko ang vision kona parang Netflix of learning (offering content) that is accessible… (Vince) said, you know, my son is subscribed to a service na parang sinasabi mo Netflix of learning, but my son has autism. Tapos pinakita niya sa akin yung project,sabi ko, ganda nung concept because we are serving a market that’s underserved,” the director said.

To explain why it’s underserved, Vince mentioned that based on their studies, in the Philippines,there are 1.2 million people diagnosed with autism and “we’re only looking at 70 developmental pedia,700 speech therapists, 3,000 to 4,000 occupational therapists. So, out of the total population nakailangan ng tulong, kakaunti lang talaga yung pwede ma-serve ng professionals.”

Recalling his own experience with Noah, he further said he has been looking for solutions ever since his son was diagnosed with autism at two years old.

“Same as with any other parent here in the Philippines, when your child is diagnosed with autism, unangi-ma-manage feelings mo as a parent. During that time, I felt anger. For two weeks,na sa kama lang ako nag-e-emote. But from there, we tried to find solutions and interventions for my son,” Vince shared.

“When we were trying to find them, developmental pedia took us three months to book, second opinion another three months, third opinion another three months. We were advised that we (would) need a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. My gosh, yung center ng anak kongayon, 200 ang nasa waiting list. So ganun ka grabe yung mismatch in terms of demand.”

True enough, they felt the demand when they launched MYLO last July. They started working on it in March. Their target was only 500 subscribers, but to date, the app has been downloaded over 5,000 times.

They are grateful for the support of influencers, members of the community, even some doctors, for the “likes and loves” and spreading the word. Final Pitch also gave them good traction.

Before the show, they also pitched the idea via a mere power point presentation to an angel investor and secured an investment. “We are proud of our achievements at the moment because ang bilis and ang ayo ng nararating ng ginagawa namin,” Vince said.

MYLO follows a curated curriculum that uses discrete video modeling, a “proven methodology” for children with ASD said to be based on the concept of focusing on “one learning bite at a time.” Here is where direk Mark’s long experience in the academe and filmmaking comesinto play.

In partnership with special education professionals, development pediatricians and speech therapists, they’ve come up with content targeted to grow the speech development of Ausome kids.

The veteran director also drew inspiration from his granddaughter.“Medyo advanced nasiya. She’s a little older, but she was also the basis for essential learning skills, competencies or words needed like ‘open,’” he said, adding he used his grand daughter’s experience for validation if they were on the right track or not before the app’s launch.

Vince said they’re now in the process of collating testimonials from other users. Closer to home, he’s seeing progress first-hand through his son.

He, however, clarified that the app is designed to be “supplementary.” “We don’t say this is the replacement for the speech therapist and occupational therapist. What we always say, go, mag-speech and occupational therapist kayo, but sa bahay, ito ang pwede niyong magawa,” he said.

A MYLO session lasts for only one hour. “The parent still has 23 hours to work on it,” said Vince. “That’s the reason why our preferred watch time for the child is 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon, 10 minutes in the evening.

“Twice ulitin sa umaga, twice ulitin sa tanghali, twice sagabi. Make it daily, in two weeks’ time, usually,biglang magugulat na lang yung parents niyan, ‘Daddy, throw.’ ‘Pag sinabi ng bata, ‘Daddy, throw,’naku mag-iiyakan na sila...”

According to direk Mark, the app is meant to empower parents to take action in their child’s communication journey.

“Yung parent nakakasama kasi nila lagi. They have the agency to do something with the child’s development… They have the role to do something about their child’s education. Akala nila, before,sina sabihan lang ay ‘di pwede ‘to gawin ng anak mo, ‘di pwede mag-aral yung anak mo sa normal school, ‘di nas’ya pwede mag trabaho. But actually, kaya pa pala at anglaki ng nagagawa ng parent. Because parent-child activity ang paggamit ng MYLO.”

The makers also said while the earlier the intervention the better, the app is for all ages. “Of course, it matters, but the (measure) is not the age, more on the vocabulary at na sasabi niya ang word, the expressive and receptive language,” said direk Mark.

“We are looking at milestones, instead of the age,” added Vince.

They hoped that with the app, parents of children with ASD would feel they’re not alone on this journey. “More than the growth of the company itself, I think this startup really focuses on a specific problem in our society,” said Vince.

“Just two weeks ago, may nakausap akong parent sa therapy center, sinabi ko lang sakanya ang MYLO, ayun nag-iiyakan na kami sa coffeeshop. It was the first time I met that mother (laughs),” he further recalled.

“Ang feeling kasi ng parent mag-isa sila, wala silang kasama, walang karamay. Tinatago pa nila issue, so lalong walang ano… But the moment you open up with the community… magugulat ka kasi maririnig mo yung story na, ‘uy non-verbal yung anak niya but after six months, nagkaroon ng ‘Daddy, eat chicken, daddy, itchy, daddy tickle.’”In other words, they can find hope in the stories of others.

As for direk Mark, he feels “so blessed and so lucky” to have met Vince and be part of MYLO, which is short for “My Little One.”

“‘Pagnag-sulat ka ng script, drama, comedy,ang hinahabol mo palagi ano yung reaction and emotion naini-elicit mo dun sa audience.What’s beautiful about (MYLO),first of all, ‘di ko kailangan ilako kasi na pagod narin ako…,” he said on the fulfilment he’s been getting out of MYLO.

“Because when it comes to films,(you have to ask) ‘Pwede mo panoorin movie na ginawa namin?’Tapos sa sabihin nila, ‘Tingnan ko kung free ako this Wednesday.’ But with this one, wala pa kaming parent ng isang Ausome na bata na sinabihan kami na ‘di namin gawin‘yan, ayaw namin subukan‘yan. Every parent we’ve met and told, ‘Let’s talk about the project. We will show you the project. Do you want to see it? Do you want to try it?,’ ang sabi nila, whatever it takes.

"So, you don't need to force anyone, 'Like or subscribe my videos.' They themselves will approach you. They appreciate it and really show their appreciation. As I said, the goal of every content creator is not so much for himself or herself, but what you can do to help your audience,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, MYLO Speech Buddy is one of the Top 10 finalists for PLDT Enterprise’s Startup Innovation Challenge with final pitching and demo day on Oct. 13 at the PH Digicon 2023.