Flooding

A Personal Note from the Founder:

This feature was born from a simple reality: my hands were always busy during the best teaching moments. I wanted to model phrases like WASH HANDS or CUT APPLES right when we were doing those things, but I couldn't. I was missing countless opportunities to connect words with actions.

Flooding was designed to solve that. It acts as your hands-free modeling partner, seamlessly turning essential daily routines into powerful and consistent language lessons.

The Challenge: Why Human Speech Can Be a Barrier

A neurotypical baby is immersed in a "language bath," hearing tens of thousands of words in their first year. They learn that "water," "water," and "water?" are all the same word, even with variations in tone, pitch, and pronunciation.

For many AAC learners, like Quinn, this natural variation is a significant hurdle. The cognitive effort required to understand that a word is the same despite sounding different each time can be overwhelming. This can slow the development of receptive language—the ability to understand words. They miss out on that essential "language bath" because the water is never the same temperature.

The Solution: Perfect Consistency

This is where the power of an AAC voice lies: perfect consistency. In QVoice, the word "hands" is pronounced the exact same way, every single time. This stability removes the cognitive load of variation, allowing the user's brain to build a strong, clear, and reliable connection to that word.

The Flooding feature is a therapeutic tool designed to create a concentrated, consistent "language bath." By repeatedly exposing the AAC user to the stable, predictable sounds of words and phrases, Flooding helps build those crucial neural pathways for language, dramatically boosting comprehension.

How Flooding Works

After a sentence is spoken, the Flooding feature will automatically repeat it (or its components) 10 times to maximize learning and exposure. 

To Turn on Flooding: 1. Open the Q Menu by long pressing on the Q on the top left corner of the screen. 2.  Under Quick Settings, check the "Enable Flooding"  checkbox and start using the sentence bar to speak.  Flooding will kick in automatically.

The Three Flooding Patterns

1. Full Phrase Mode ("Repeat all words")

   • What it does: Repeats the entire sentence with a natural pause in between.

   • Example: For the phrase "wash hands," it will say: "Wash hands" ... "Wash hands" ... "Wash hands" ...

   • Best for: Reinforcing multi-word requests, teaching conversational scripts, and focusing on the meaning of a complete thought.

2. Chant Mode

   • What it does: Creates a rhythmic, song-like pattern by repeating the initial words before saying the full phrase.

   • Example: For "wash hands," it will create a chant: "Wash" ... "Wash" ... "Wash hands" ... (and this whole sequence repeats).

   • Best for: Aiding memory through rhythm, drawing strong attention to the first word of a phrase, and making exposure more playful and engaging.

3. Random Mode

   • What it does: Breaks the sentence apart and repeats the individual words in a random order, occasionally including the full phrase.

   • Example: For "wash hands," you might hear: "Hands" ... "Wash" ... "Wash" ... "Wash hands" ... "Hands" ...

   • Best for: Teaching the meaning of each individual word within a phrase and ensuring the user learns the parts, not just the whole sentence as a single block of sound (chunking).

To change the flooding pattern:

	1. Open the Q Menu by long pressing on the Q on the top left corner of the screen
	2. Tap on Preferences.
	3.  Enable flooding if not already 4.  Choose the flooding pattern below that.

Our Flooding feature is grounded in well-established research principles. It automates Aided Language Stimulation and Auditory Bombardment to provide the high-intensity repetition necessary for language acquisition. Crucially, by using the perfectly consistent voice of an AAC system, it reduces the cognitive load associated with processing the natural variability of human speech, allowing the brain to form a stronger and more reliable understanding of new words. This approach is supported by decades of clinical practice and research in speech-language pathology and cognitive science.

** Help us build what matters! We focus on creating practical tools people actually use, so if you have an idea for the 'Flooding' feature or any others, please shoot us a message!  We personally read every submission and promise you'll always hear back from a real human.

References for Further Reading:

• Binger, C., & Light, J. (2007). The effect of aided AAC modeling on the expression of multi-symbol messages by preschoolers with developmental disabilities. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 23(1), 30-43.

• Plante, E., & Biser, M. (2018). Effective Use of Auditory Bombardment as a Therapy Adjunct for Children With Developmental Language Disorders. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 3(1), 66-77.