Filmmaker-teacher Mark Meily and businessman-techpreneur Vincent Rocha present Mylo Speech Buddy, a learning app for children with autism, during CNN Philippines’ Final Pitch Season 9: Open Edition.
Both Vince and direk Mark are personally invested in MYLO because they are an Ausome parent and grandparent, respectively. 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. “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.
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. 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.
According to direk Mark, the app is meant to empower parents to take action in their child’s communication journey.