ADHD Executive Function Training for Daily Life
Pediatric Occupational Therapy, Planning & Self-Monitoring
The Challenge
ADHD can create a daily executive-function problem, not a knowledge problem. A child may know what to do, but still struggle to start homework, remember to pack a bag, transition from a game to dinner, pause before an impulse, or check work before handing it in.
Her submission used an airport-control-tower metaphor: schedules flashing randomly, radio contact dropping, and the instruction manuals hidden. Adults may read the result as laziness or defiance, while the child experiences repeated frustration, nagging, failure, and damage to self-esteem.
Traditional strategies such as psychoeducation, CBT, coaching, school accommodations, visual schedules, checklist boards, phone alarms, and reward charts can help, but often depend on adult supervision and do not reliably transfer from the quiet clinic room into home or classroom chaos.
The Big Idea
Can a game make Stop, Plan, Execute, Check, Revise feel like an internal power-up instead of another adult instruction?
What Should Be Different
Avivit's review emphasized that many existing ADHD games train isolated executive-function components, such as working memory capacity or response inhibition. This challenge is different: the game should train the daily-life task itself, with the executive functions embedded inside the activity rather than separated into abstract drills.
A strong prototype could also help therapists see where the player needs guidance: which executive-function step blocked task completion, what alternative strategies were tried, and whether the player is building enough self-awareness to transfer the strategy into real home or school routines.
What a Jam Prototype Could Be
- A daily-life mission game where success requires a visible Stop, Plan, Execute, Check, Revise loop before action.
- A replayable puzzle that changes rules, distractions, and time pressure, then rewards self-monitoring and flexible revision.
- A caregiver or therapist view that shows which executive-function step blocked completion and what guidance might help next.
- A school/home scenario prototype: morning routine, homework start, transition to dinner, or packing a bag.
- A reference lane comparing this concept with existing ADHD digital therapeutics and brain-training games, asking what they miss about daily independence.
Design Questions
- How can the game teach strategy transfer, not just puzzle performance?
- How can therapists use the game to identify whether planning, inhibition, working memory, flexibility, or self-monitoring blocked the daily task?
- How can failure be useful without damaging confidence?
- What feedback helps a child notice impulsive actions in the moment?
- Can the game make planning visible and rewarding?
What This Is Not
- Not a diagnosis tool, treatment order, or replacement for clinical judgment.
- Not a place to use identifiable patient data.
- Not expected to be a finished hospital product after 30 hours.
Why This Matters
When children can see and practice the hidden steps of self-management, everyday tasks can become less chaotic and less demoralizing.