How a Speech-Language Pathologist in Northern California Uses Krikey AI Animation to Enhance Teletherapy for Students with Complex Communication Needs

Many districts nationwide face a shortage of in-person speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Remote SLPs like Astrid Miliffe, help special education departments meet the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ensuring students with speech or language impairments have access to necessary therapy services.

Since transitioning to telehealth in 2020, Astrid has refined her skills in delivering engaging teletherapy sessions using a variety of digital tools. She sought a solution to better connect with her neurodiverse students—particularly those who use Speech Generating Devices (SGDs) for communication—through creative, visually stimulating activities.

Summary

• Description: After exploring options in Canva’s App Marketplace, Astrid discovered the Krikey AI Animation App. Testing a few sample videos quickly revealed the potential of animation to foster engagement and spark communication. These short, animated clips encouraged her students to comment, react, and participate—making therapy both enjoyable and effective.
• Krikey AI Features used: Voice AI, Animation Library, Krikey AI Canva App

"Before Krikey, I would spend hours making videos then upload them to YouTube, in order to incorporate them during therapy sessions. Now, I can create animations and avatars that make therapy feel like fun entertainment—while students are still learning."— Astrid Miliffe, M.A., CCC-SLP, Owner of Over-The-Rhine Speech Language Pathology Services, Inc. 

Challenge

• Astrid wanted to connect with her students through body movement, visual creativity, and personalized content—building rapport while increasing participation.
• Many of her students rarely see themselves represented in media, so diversity and inclusivity in character design were important priorities.
• She also needed a platform that was intuitive, gave her full creative control, and could integrate seamlessly into her existing teletherapy materials.

Solution

• Krikey AI Animation enabled Astrid to design customized animated videos directly within Canva, integrating them into her existing slides and presentations without extra production steps.
• Krikey AI Animation gave her complete creative control—allowing her to customize characters (like an animated Unicorn), animations, dialogue, and storylines to match student interests and cultural backgrounds. By offering a wide range of customization options in a single tool, Krikey AI saved time and increased session impact.
• Her first project—a fully animated fashion show—was tailored for a student with limited mobility who uses an eye-gaze SGD. The student’s interest in fashion inspired Astrid to create animated avatars, custom backgrounds, and fashion show scenes from the animation library. This student moved from minimal interactions to actively commenting on outfits and scenes using her device.
• In addition to therapy activities, Astrid uses Krikey AI animations for Professional Development presentations for teachers and staff, replacing traditional self-recorded videos with engaging, character-driven content.
• Looking ahead, Astrid is excited to explore Krikey’s Sign Language animation packs launching in 2025. Many of her students use modified sign language and gestures, and she sees tremendous potential for this tool to support communication for teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and students.

Use Cases

• Student Engagement: Creating topic-specific, animated content aligned with students’ interests to increase communication output.
• Inclusive Representation: Designing diverse, culturally relevant characters for students to see themselves reflected in therapy materials.
• Staff Communication: Producing animated announcements for internal and student-facing updates.
• AAC Support (augmentative and alternative communication): Encouraging multiple-modalities of communication use through interactive, animated activities that prompt responses.

About the Customer

Astrid Miliffe, M.A., CCC-SLP, is an independent contractor and owner of Over-The-Rhine Speech Language Pathology Services, Inc. She has provided in-person, remote, and hybrid speech-language therapy for more than 13 years across California and Colorado.

Specializing in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT), Astrid implements evidence-based programs to enhance communication skills and promote academic success for students with diverse needs. She is deeply committed to collaborating with families, equipping them with strategies and resources to support their child’s unique speech and language challenges, with the goal of fostering long-term success into adulthood.

Astrid works closely with special education teachers and paraprofessionals to create inclusive, engaging learning environments. She provides both one-on-one and group therapy, helping students find comfort, confidence, and strength in their preferred communication styles.

About Krikey AI

Krikey AI Animation tools empower anyone to animate a cartoon character in minutes. The character animations can be used in marketing, tutorials, games, films, social media, lesson plans and more. Krikey offers an animation video editor that creators can use to add lip synced dialogue, change backgrounds, facial expressions, hand gestures, camera angles and more to their animated videos. Krikey's AI tools are available online at www.krikey.ai today, on Canva Apps, Adobe Express and on the AWS Marketplace!

"I love the outfits, the representation of people of color, and the different languages. I want my students to see themselves and their culture in what we create. Many are into anime characters, and Krikey helps me make relatable content for middle and high school students that reflects their world right now."— Astrid Miliffe, M.A., CCC-SLP, Owner of Over-The-Rhine Speech Language Pathology Services, Inc.