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Children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a variety of difficulties related to three primary symptoms: hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The most common type of ADHD has a combination of all three symptom areas. These core symptoms may negatively impact the academic and social performance of children throughout their school life. The AHA (ADHD-Augmented) project focused specifically on the impact of digital technologies’ intervention on literacy skills of children that participated in the pilot study and were diagnosed with ADHD prior to the intervention. Existing research has shown that augmented reality (AR) can improve academic outcomes by stimulating pupils’ attention. AHA project aimed at implementing an evidence-based intervention to improve ADHD children’s reading and spelling abilities through the enhancement of an existing literacy programme with AR functionality. The present paper reports preliminary findings of the pilot study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the AHA system in promoting the acquisition of literacy skills in a sample of children diagnosed with ADHD compared to the literacy programme as usual. Background information on the main characteristics and difficulties related to the teaching and learning process associated with children diagnosed with ADHD are first introduced; the design and methodology of the AHA project intervention are also described. The preliminary findings have shown that AHA project succeeded in delivering an AR solution within an existing online literacy programme, which integrates a set of specific technologies and supports interactive educational content, services, assessment, and feedback.

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BackgroundThe most recent computing technologies can promote the application of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the field of applied behaviour analysis (ABA).ObjectiveThe study describes how the use of technology can simplify the application of EBPs in ABA.MethodsThe Web Health Application for ADHD Monitoring (WHAAM) application demonstrates this in the following two case studies. We are monitoring dysfunctional behaviours, collecting behavioural data, performing systematic direct observations, creating both visual baseline and intervention charts and evaluating the planned interventions using the TAU-U statistical index.ResultsSignificant positive changes of children’s problem behaviours are observed and recorded. Both the duration of the previously identified behaviour ‘to get out of bed in time’ (r = −0.79, TAU-U = −0.58, p < 0.05) and the frequency of the behaviour ‘interrupting others’ (r = −0.96, TAU-U = −0.82, p < 0.01) decreased.ConclusionsThe WHAAM application is an effective tool to support functional behaviour assessments and it is an example of how technology can support practitioners by facilitating the application of EBPs and increasing the communication among clinical, educational and family environments.

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