Ask Grandma eHealth App
Bridging tradition and technology for early language development
Ask Grandma Chatbot
The Ask Grandma chatbot is a culturally grounded digital guide that helps caregivers support their young child’s communication and development through storytelling, songs, and everyday interaction. Guided by Indigenous teachings and evidence-based language strategies, “Grandma” offers warm, practical coaching that feels like talking with an Elder. The chatbot is supervised by a licensed Native speech-language pathologist, ensuring that every message reflects both clinical accuracy and cultural authenticity.
Grandma’s Teachings
The Ask Grandma app brings important teachings to life in short modules designed to support early communication and cultural connectedness in infants and toddlers. Each module in the app features real examples and video demonstrations of developmental strategies completed with Native children which make them useful for both caregivers, home visitors, and early interventionists who want to nurture language, learning, and identity in culturally meaningful ways.
Developmental Tracking
The Ask Grandma app includes an easy-to-use developmental tracking feature where families can securely enter their child’s name and date of birth to receive personalized guidance on growth and learning. The tracker provides notifications about age-expected communication, play, and social milestones, along with ideas for how families can support these skills at home and in their community. This feature also helps families connect to useful early childhood programs in their community.
Meet the developer
Dr. Joshuaa Dominic Allison-Burbank, PhD, CCC-SLP (Diné & Acoma Pueblo) is a licensed speech-language pathologist and developmental scientist dedicated to advancing early childhood communication and wellness in Indigenous communities. He serves as an Assistant Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health and is the Founder of Ask Grandma, Inc. His work bridges traditional knowledge and modern science to create tools that empower caregivers, educators, and health professionals. Through both clinical practice and community-engaged research, Dr. Allison-Burbank promotes language development, family connection, and cultural continuity from birth onward.
Activities you can do to promote Indigenous language nutrition
While our programs encourage your little ones to become better independent learners, we’ve also included special opportunities for you to work on together.
Keep their growing minds engaged through culturally tailored technology
We are building a new support tool to help families maintain momentum and connection between home visits. But to build the right solution, we need to understand the challenges from every perspective: the families we serve, the providers on the ground, and the program leaders driving results.
Your expertise is critical. Please take the short, 3-5 minute survey that best matches your role below.