The Support App for Parents of Children with ADHD or Autism
Thriive helps children grow up feeling understood, not broken.
Everyday support for families navigating ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergent profiles. Track the patterns, find strategies that actually fit, and feel one step ahead on the hard days.
What changes for parents of neurodivergent children
Without Thriive
- Growing up believing they're broken
- Falling behind and never understanding why
- Slipping through the cracks of a system not built for them
- Families feeling helpless watching it happen
With Thriive
- A child who understands how their brain works
- Parents who can advocate with confidence
- Strategies that actually fit, not generic advice
- A family that feels like a team
How Thriive supports parents of children with ADHD and autism
- Pattern Tracker: Log a tough moment in 30 seconds. Thriive surfaces the patterns behind ADHD and autism behaviours, so you can spot the triggers and respond earlier.
- Strategy Library: Real strategies for ADHD and autism, matched to your child's profile. Not generic advice.
- Visual Routine Builder: Step-by-step routines for the moments that usually go sideways. Mornings, bedtime, homework.
- Daily Check-ins: A 30-second mood check that builds a picture of how your child is really doing over time.
- Shareable Reports: Take real evidence to your GP, school, or therapist when it matters.
- The Hive: A community of parents who actually get it.
How Thriive helps parents, and how it helps their children
For parents
Understand your child like never before. Advocate with confidence. Stop feeling like you're figuring it out alone.
For children
Feel seen. Understand how your own brain works. Build a profile that's yours.
Neurodivergent conditions Thriive supports
Parent Guides
Glossary
Daily Challenges
Strategy Categories
Community
Alternative Communication Methods (AAC) for Children Who Struggle to Speak
Alternative and augmentative communication, or AAC, is any way of communicating that does not rely on speech. It can be pointing to pictures, using cards, signing, or a speech app on a tablet. It gives children who cannot rely on words a way to be understood.
Your child needs communication support beyond verbal speech
Steps
- Explore AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) options with a speech therapist
- Start with low-tech options: PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), Makaton signs
- For older or more able children, try high-tech options: speech-generating apps (Proloquo2Go, TouchChat)
- Model AAC use yourself: use the system alongside your verbal speech
- Give them time to explore and learn the system without pressure
What you need
Speech therapy referral, AAC device or app, patience
Why it works
AAC doesn't prevent speech from developing — research consistently shows it supports language development. For non-speaking or minimally speaking children, AAC provides a communication pathway that verbal speech alone can't offer, reducing frustration and opening up social and learning opportunities.
Age guidance
Can be introduced from age 1 onwards. Low-tech options (PECS, Makaton) work for very young children; high-tech apps suit older children with the motor skills to use a tablet.
Real-world example
A parent introduced a PECS board with just three images: 'drink', 'snack', and 'play'. Within a month their child was using it unprompted to request things. Far from replacing speech, the child started verbalising some of the words alongside pointing to the pictures.
Troubleshooting
- AAC does NOT prevent speech from developing. Research consistently shows it helps
- Don't wait for a formal diagnosis to start AAC. Any child can benefit from visual communication
- The best AAC system is the one the child will actually use. Trial different options
