Your dog has
your back.
We have yours.
Aura is the first mobile app designed specifically for psychiatric service dog owner-trainers living with CPTSD, ADHD, and Anxiety. Canadian law. Low cognitive demand. Zero judgment.
"Standard app design triggers overwhelm. Aura was built from the ground up for brains that work differently — every pixel, every interaction, every colour choice is trauma-informed."
Design Philosophy
Five tabs. One mission.
Every feature was designed with neurodivergent handlers in mind — low cognitive demand, no shame mechanics, and zero data leaving your device.
Home Dashboard
Massive emergency button with Alberta law, spoon-based energy check-in, and adaptive micro-goals that hide on bad days.
Training Hub
Step-by-step micro-training with looping GIF demos, mistake normalization videos, and a built-in over-training prevention timer.
Public Shield
De-escalation scripts citing Canadian provincial law, one-tap incident logger with voice memos, and shareable family guides.
Safe Space Map
Crowdsourced green/yellow/red ratings for businesses. Pre-scout locations to eliminate anticipatory dread before you leave home.
Profile & Settings
Handler and dog profiles, legal region picker with 8 Canadian provinces, granular sensory controls, and privacy-first defaults.
Retirement Guide
Readiness assessment, transition timeline, emotional support for grief, retired dog care tips, and legal gap-period guidance.
One screen.
Zero overwhelm.
The Home Dashboard is a single vertical scroll with no nested menus, carousels, or hidden drawers. The user never has to make navigational decisions to access their daily tools.
Access Challenge Button
Full-width, above the fold. Single tap opens Alberta law flashcard with your scanned Service Dog ID.
Spoon Energy Check-in
Three large tap targets (Full / Some / Low) — no sliders. Low energy auto-hides complex goals.
Micro-Goals
2-3 daily tasks. No streaks, no overdue badges, no failure states. Resets silently at midnight.
Service Dog ID Scanner
Scan both sides of your provincial ID card. Stored locally, shown during access challenges.
Train smarter,
not longer.
Designed to prevent the two most common pitfalls for neurodivergent trainers: task paralysis and hyperfocus-driven over-training.
Micro-Step Modules
One instruction at a time. No scrolling walls of text.
Over-Training Timer
Visual arc depletes green → amber → red. Forced 10-second break.
Mistake Videos
Normalizes failure. Shows incorrect behaviour with calm correction.
Energy-Aware
Auto-filters to couch-friendly tasks on low spoon days.
Your voice when
you can't speak.
During an access challenge, your cognitive and motor skills are impaired by panic. The Public Shield is designed to function when you cannot.
De-Escalation Scripts
7 pre-written scripts across 4 categories citing Canadian provincial law. Extra-large text readable at arm's length during panic.
Incident Logger
Quick-capture form with auto-filled date/time. Only one required field. One-tap voice memo for when your hands are shaking.
Family Guides
Pre-written text messages for loved ones. Enter your dog's name once — it auto-populates across all 4 templates.
Know before
you go.
Anticipatory dread — the fear of being challenged at a new location — is a major barrier. The Safe Space Map removes uncertainty by letting you pre-scout every destination.
Staff asked the two permitted questions and welcomed us immediately.
Security was unsure but called a manager who resolved it quickly.
Pharmacist was knowledgeable about service dog rights.
The hardest
goodbye.
Retiring a service dog is one of the most emotionally complex transitions a handler faces. Most apps ignore this entirely. Aura doesn't.
"This grief is real. Losing a working partner is not the same as losing a pet — it's losing a piece of your independence, your safety net, your daily anchor."
"They gave you their best years. Now it's your turn to give them the retirement they deserve."
Your data is
sacred.
Aura handles psychiatric disability data — the most sensitive category of personal information. Privacy isn't a feature. It's the foundation.
PIPEDA Compliant
Canada's federal privacy law. Consent-first, purpose-limited.
GDPR Ready
Right to erasure, data portability, explicit consent logging.
AES-256 Encryption
All sensitive data encrypted locally via Expo SecureStore.
Data Portability
Export your complete profile and history as structured JSON.
Local-Only Default
No data leaves your device unless you explicitly opt in.
CCPA Compliant
California privacy standards met for international users.
Built for brains that
work differently.
Every design decision was made through the lens of CPTSD, ADHD, and Anxiety. This isn't accessibility as an afterthought — it's the architecture.
No Failure States
No streaks, no overdue badges, no red text. The checklist resets silently at midnight.
Desaturated Palette
Muted sage and slate instead of bright alerts. Brick-red instead of fire-engine red.
Dark Mode Default
Reduces photophobia and sensory overwhelm during anxiety or panic episodes.
Discrete Inputs
Large tap targets instead of sliders. Three options instead of ten. Binary instead of scales.
Flat Navigation
No deep stacks to get lost in. Every screen is one tap from the tab bar.
Haptic Feedback
Platform-optimized vibration patterns confirm actions without visual attention.
Offline-First
Legal flashcards and training data are cached locally. Works with zero reception.
Sensory Controls
Sounds and notifications OFF by default. Animations and motion are opt-in.
One codebase. Both platforms.
Built on React Native with Expo, Aura compiles natively to both iOS and Android. Platform-specific optimizations for haptics, shadows, safe areas, and keyboard behaviour ensure a native-quality experience on every device.
Built by handlers,
for handlers.
The Safe Space Map, Incident Logger, and Handler Profile are now live with cloud sync. Sign in to contribute anonymous reviews, log incidents, and sync your profile across devices.