LISTEN: App to organise people with ADHD

Friday 29 March 2024

An app has been developed by two Guernsey educationalists to help alleviate one of the most common challenges facing people with ADHD.

Surei - meaning organised in Japanese - was developed by Phil Neild, and his wife, along with a coder, after he recognised that some people with ADHD struggle with organisational skills.

An ADHD diagnosis is based on multiple factors and not everyone diagnosed will be traditionally disorganised, but it's recognised that due to distractibility and forgetfulness, most people with ADHD will face problems keeping track of things like daily tasks or their school/work priorities. 

This is a challenge that people who don't have ADHD may also face too, said Mr Neild - a teacher with more than 25 years' experience. 

"The app is for students with ADHD, but also it's for anybody who's really disorganised," he said.

Pictured: The Surei app is available to download now.

The idea is parents can set reminders for their children for daily, weekly, termly, or yearly tasks which need to be done. This can be for things as mundane as cleaning your teeth to setting countdowns to birthdays or the end of the school term. 

Mr Neild said it's an example of using technology to benefit the user.

"You can build into it, any task you want. You can build in the fact that if they get an achievement point at school, or they do something they think is an achievement, they can log it. It's what you determine the ability of the child is."

The app is aimed at school age children but Mr Neild intends for the app to develop so users can continue using it for organising their lives well into adulthood. 

"It starts with primary school. The parents are going to input most of the things that's going on and then the great thing about it is that it transitions to older kids, and then they take charge of their own organisation."

The trials Mr Neild arranged before the app went live proved to be a success and Surei is now available through the App and Play stores with a free trial period and free subscription for users in Guernsey. 

"We sent it to some friends of ours who have been living internationally and their child doesn't want to brush his teeth and they've been trialling this. They've got him to brush his teeth because it beeps and it doesn't stop beeping until he brushes his teeth.

"So it's small, little changes like that. It might not revolutionise your life, but it will help people get more and more independent."

Mr Neild has also become aware that the app could be used to help people who don't have ADHD, but who are facing other challenges in life which means they need help to keep themselves organised. 

"It's really interesting because I was speaking to my friend from school at the weekend. We met up in London, where he's in a mental health profession and he said If this was slightly adapted, this can really help adults. So, next week we're going to start on an amended version for adults, because he works with people who are coming out of care homes and trying to live independently, for example.

"So this is another extension which I haven't thought of, so there're multiple uses of it, and I think we will develop them as we go along."

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