wics hackathon 2021 - game for children with ADHD Contributors: Macy Huang, Anmol Mittal, Niyati Prabhu, Harini Ram

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FYmEQlaoIRMfSvgt_rY1Bz88Dn4TBXOM3jxjM30YG5s/edit?usp=sharing

We've done some research into video game-based therapies for ADHD, which has leading competitors such as Roblox and Minecraft, but there's a gap in the market when it comes to very young children who have ADHD. These children may find other game engines too complex or distracting. Going into this hackathon, we wanted to create something that could help people by providing the community with resources to help support neurodivergent children.

We were inspired to address this problem with a simple and elegant solution. While ADHD is typically treated with medication-based therapies, these are not universally covered by insurance, and may come with long-term side effects. With this in mind, we decided to create a website using React and vanilla JavaScript.

Snowcus Focus is a simple game designed to help young children with ADHD to refocus and develop important skills like visual-spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and planning and prioritizing, which many children with ADHD may lack because of fine motor deficits. For this reason, our user experience is designed to soothe children and get them positively engaged. Our website design reflects this fundamentally, following an inclusive model for ADHD design principles, like using large-print san-serif fonts and providing a relaxed environment with soothing colors and pleasing audio.

Options on our website also include links to resources intended to help children and families understand the ADHD diagnosis beyond crude stereotypes and counteract the everyday ableism that is evident in both our institutions and in popular culture. The game section of our website helps our users to train motor skills and focus by gamifying attentiveness and precise movements to create an environment where these traits are positively reinforced.

Our website was built using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS, along with the React-App platform for added features. Through a collaborative effort, we were able to assign roles and divide responsibilities among all of our group members. Ultimately, we reconvened in order to assemble our product and launch our public webpage through GitHub Pages.

Along the way, we encountered several roadblocks which stemmed from our unfamiliarity with web-developing languages and with operating GitHub. Before building our product, it was necessary that we learned applicable skills from online resources: creating a product that called for new skills (in a restricted time period) proved to be quite the undertaking. Nevertheless, we designed and built a product that we are proud to present.

Given our skill level in web-development prior to the WiCS Hack, the result that we managed to achieve is a feat in itself. In addition to basic HTML, we were able to add special features to the website, such as animation, music, and a resource tab. We were able to create a product that we felt was meaningful, useful, and aesthetically pleasing.

In the process of developing our website, our team had to acquire game development skills, take on new frameworks and language features, and form planning and teamwork skills that we're sure will serve us well in future product development. We relied on the WiCS mentors at several points in the course of our project, and were grateful so many times for the supportive environment WiCS and MLH have fostered.

In the future, our team would like to continue serving children with ADHD as a website families and communities may use as a resource, and with more time and research, we'd like to add features to the website like the option to choose from a wider selection of games or consider expanding our user base to provide resources and skill-reinforcing games for other neurodiverse people. In addition, we would like to expand Snowcus Focus to mobile platforms, as well as provide better support for mobile website users given that many people with ADHD report that using mobile devices such as phones or tablets helps them to manage their ADHD. Moving forward, we will continue working in this niche in the market and aspire to become an important resource for people with ADHD.

field research: https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2019/11/24/ableism-in-the-workplace-when-trying-harder-doesnt-work/?sh=36a5496715ae, https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1020.3133&rep=rep1&type=pdf, https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/adhd-and-video-games-is-there-a-linkhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6424539/, https://www.nomensa.com/blog/2011/introduction-inclusive-design, https://www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/empowering-your-child/building-on-strengths/neurodiversity-what-you-need-to-know, https://observer.com/2017/07/iphone-ipad-apps-adhd-and-disabilities/ tutorials: https://codepen.io/knopkaivy/pen/jRQaMr (react), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjw7wAZqSM4 (game), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXzw5CQXIVo (game), original media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei0OzyvM26k (creative commons)