Assessment and Assisted Training Software for ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder; prevalence ranges between 3%-5% among school-aged children. Cognitive deficits associated with ADHD are related to a malfunctioning of executive functions (EF), high-level mental processes that allow self-regulation, behavior control and organization. Negative outcomes, especially in academic performance and mood states, are frequent. There is evidence of the potential of new technologies and eHealth interventions for children with ADHD. The present work introduces the design of a software, available for tablets, aimed at empowering EF of school-aged children with ADHD. Particularly EF are: attention, working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and planning. The software has been developed with Unity cross-platform game engine and is divided into 3 main areas: user profile, test and training. Test area contains an EF evaluation session that carries out indications on functions to be further strengthened. Training exercises of EF are gamified to enhance children motivation; furthermore, they are calibrated through an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). In addition, it is possible to collect accurate and automatic data of the individual performance and, then, provide the most useful strategy to help the child. All features are described. Test standardization is currently in progress. In conclusion, the main purpose is to increasingly adapt the training to the real needs of the children and make it as much ecological as possible for the transfer of acquired skills to everyday life, above all to learning contexts as school.