Turn commands into calmer communication.
Decly helps parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals practice declarative language and find calmer ways to communicate. Type what you were about to say, and Decly offers gentler ways to say it.
Free to try. Some features require a Decly membership.
What you'd normally say
Decly suggests
- I notice your shoes are still by the door.
- We're leaving in five minutes — shoes are the last step.
- I'm putting my coat on; I wonder what you still need.
Example output. Suggestions are educational, not clinical advice.
Pricing
Choose the Decly experience that fits your needs.
Free
Try declarative language practice.
$0/month
- 5 prompts/day
- 1 profile
- 3 declarative suggestions per prompt
- No sharing
Member
More practice, more profiles.
$5/month
- 10 prompts/day
- Up to 5 profiles
- Share favorites
Member Pro
The full Decly experience.
$10/month
- 25 prompts/day
- Unlimited profiles
- Share favorites
- Share profiles
The situation
Sometimes it's not what we ask — it's how we ask it.
We usually know exactly what we'd like a child to do. But direct commands and questions can unintentionally create resistance, anxiety, or a power struggle, especially when someone is already stretched.
What is declarative language?
Declarative language shares an observation, a thought, or information instead of issuing an instruction or a demand. It invites thinking and collaboration rather than compliance — and, like any communication approach, it takes practice to make it feel natural.
Imperative
Get in the car.
Declarative
I see everyone's ready — I'll be in the car.
Who can benefit
Who Can Benefit From Declarative Language?
Declarative language may be helpful for people who respond better to reduced pressure, increased autonomy, and additional processing time.
PDA / Pathological Demand Avoidance
Declarative statements reduce direct demands, which may lower the pressure that can trigger avoidance responses.
Autism / autistic individuals
Sharing observations instead of giving orders can provide extra processing time and support autonomy.
ADHD
Short, observation-based phrasing can be easier to hold onto than multi-step commands.
Anxiety
A calmer, less directive tone may reduce anticipatory stress in everyday moments.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Offering choices through observations can reduce power struggles and support cooperation.
Demand avoidance
Removing the demand from the wording can make requests feel less confrontational.
Sensory processing differences
Gentle phrasing can help when sensory overload makes direct instructions harder to process.
Developmental differences
Declarative language supports understanding without relying on abstract or complex instructions.
Foster/adoptive children
A softer communication style can help build safety and connection during everyday interactions.
Children who struggle with transitions
Previewing what comes next as an observation can make shifts feel more predictable.
Highly sensitive children
Reduced intensity in phrasing can help sensitive children absorb information without feeling overwhelmed.
Everyday situations
Parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals may use declarative language when supporting individuals who experience demand avoidance, anxiety, autism, ADHD, ODD, or other communication differences.
Transitions
Moving between activities, places, or caregivers.
Routines
Morning, bedtime, homework, and getting-ready moments.
Emotional regulation
When a child is frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed.
Giving directions
Turning instructions into observations or choices.
Reducing pressure
Shoes, coats, cleanup, and meals.
Supporting autonomy
Allowing space to decide and respond.
Decly is an educational and communication-support tool. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition. Decly does not provide medical, psychological, behavioral, or therapeutic advice.
How Decly works
Four simple steps.
No training required. Decly fits into the moment you're already in.
Type what you want to say.
Write it exactly how it came out.
Decly suggests declarative alternatives.
Three ways to rephrase it.
Choose the response that fits.
You know the person and the moment.
Save useful responses for later.
Build a library you actually reuse.
Features
Everything you need to practice, in one place.
Decly is free to try. Some features require a Decly membership.
Declarative Language Converter
Type an imperative and get declarative alternatives you can use right away.
Profiles
Keep separate context for each child or client so suggestions fit them.
Membership
Favorites
Save the phrasings that work and find them again in seconds.
History
Look back at what you've practiced and reuse what landed well.
Family & Groups
Share selected profiles and favorites with the people who share the care.
Membership
Cross-device syncing
Your saved work follows you between phone, tablet and computer.
Membership
Personalized responses
Suggestions adapt to the profile and demand level you choose.
Membership
Community & support
Tips, ideas and a place to ask questions alongside other caregivers.
For families
Built for real family life.
Decly is made for the moments that repeat every day — when you have thirty seconds, not thirty minutes.
Practice a calmer phrasing before the moment, or rework something right after it. Decly won't promise a particular reaction — every child and situation is different — but it gives you options to try.
For professionals
Bring Decly to your practice or team.
SLPs, OTs, therapists, teachers, special education and autism professionals, clinics and schools use one shared approach — so the language a child hears stays consistent between sessions and home.
Profiles per child or client
Context stays with the person, not with a single device.
Favorites and shared resources
Build a phrase bank your team and the families you support can reuse.
Family & Groups
Share selected profiles and favorites with caregivers and colleagues.
Consistent language
Everyone around a child can practice the same way of phrasing things.
Mobile accessibility
Works in the hallway, the therapy room, or the kitchen table.
Low-friction adoption
Nothing to install for staff — open it and start using it.
Free professional pilot
Try Decly with your team.
We're looking for schools, clinics, and professionals who want to help us test and improve Decly in real-world settings.
Tell us who you are, how many people would use Decly, and what you're hoping it will help with. We'll follow up by email.
Request a PilotFamily & Groups
Share the profiles and favorite responses that matter.
Families, co-parents, caregivers and professional teams can share selected profiles and favorites — while personal history, XP and settings stay private to each person.
Join the Decly Community
Connect with other parents and caregivers, get Decly tips, and stay connected.
About Decly
Communication that creates connection.
Decly exists to help people communicate in ways that create more collaboration, less unnecessary pressure, and more connection.
Decly began with a simple observation: small changes in phrasing can change how a moment feels for everyone in the room. Practising those changes is hard in real time, so Decly puts alternatives in your hand when you need them.
Decly is an educational and communication-support tool. It doesn't diagnose or treat anything, and it doesn't replace advice from a qualified professional.
More about DeclyFAQ
Common questions
What is Decly?
A tool that turns imperative phrasing into declarative alternatives you can use with children and the people you support.
Is Decly free?
Decly is free to try. A membership unlocks profiles, syncing, Family & Groups and personalized responses.