On the 21st of January, the Yarn team launched our first app!
The day was filled with emotions as we pressed the big and scary "go live" button. We are sure every start-up owner can relate to the nerve-wracking thrill of unveiling a new product or service for the first time—an exhilarating blend of excitement, fear, and pure adrenaline!
We're incredibly excited to introduce Yarn Speech, a first-of-its-kind digital solution changing how Australian families access speech pathology services. As a speech pathologist who studied at Oxford, Bec has seen first hand how hard it can be for families to get the support they need. Right now, some families are waiting up to four years for essential speech therapy (Speech Pathology Australia, 2023), and we knew we had to do something about it.
"Speech pathology should be accessible no matter where you live," says Rebecca. "Yet in rural and remote parts of Australia, families face significant barriers to access support, despite the best efforts of our hard-working speech pathologists across Australia."
Yarn bridges the critical gap between referral and treatment, offering evidence-based daily activities designed by speech pathologists for children aged 0 to 3 years.
The reality is, we're seeing growing waitlists across Australia, and our wonderful health practitioners are facing burnout, leading to shortages in allied health nationwide (Australian Department of Jobs and Skills, 2025). Yarn is here to help both our hardworking speech pathologists and the families they support by providing tools families can use while they wait.
What makes Yarn special? We're the only early language app developed by qualified speech pathologists. Our rotating daily activities help parents guide their children toward their first words, ensuring no precious development time is lost while waiting for in-person services.
Right now, you can find Yarn Speech on the iOS App Store, and we're working hard to bring it to Android users on Google Play soon!
We wanted to take the time to thank the Yarn community for all the support they showed during the launch. Whether you reshared our post, liked our updates, or sent words of encouragement, it made all the difference. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of the journey!
This is just the beginning for us, and we couldn't be more thrilled to help Australian families get the support they need, when they need it.
Some key things about Yarn:
Come join us on this exciting journey and let's Yarn!
