UK Students
"It's saved me a lot of mindless scrolling. I enjoy the suggestions, and the AI chat is really seamless."
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User Feedback
A Bit Of Background
We get addicted to phones because executive dysfunction and dopamine dysregulation make us seek dopamine hits like bees sniffing after flowers. We gotta get that fix.
Boredom, stress and distress are the key triggers.
Because our brains work differently (especially the Cerebellum, for the geeks among us), we become neurologically dysregulated in ways that undermine our effective functioning.
It's not our fault, and there's no 'fix'. Medication helps for some, that's true. But it's not a permanent solution.
We miss deadlines, forget important tasks, get distracted, and leave things to the last minute.
That all make a few things super hard:
- 1. Meeting university deadlines
- 2. Keeping on top of laundry
- 3. Feeling ok in yourself despite the struggles
For very legitimate neurological reasons, we need external support.
That can be peers and friends, a therapist, or family.
They help you feel that someone believes in you, and believe that you can do it.
But what if none of them are around when you need them?
It's also programmed by people who really do care. We hope that comes across.
For DSA Assessors
When To Recommend
Problematic phone use causes and exacerbates:
- sleep deprivation
- social deprivation
- fragmented attention
- addiction
- loneliness
- depression
- anxiety
Phone addiction is hard and real. It is not a question of low willpower. It legitimately requires external support once it develops to 'problematic' or 'addiction' levels.
Candidate disability labels that struggle - even while seeming otherwise high-functioning - include:
- ADHD
- ASD/Aspergers
- Specific Learning Differences: dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, DCD
- Unlabelled or invisible conditions: CFS, ME, sickle cell anemia
- Mental health conditions, inc. depression and anxiety, ODD/PDA
Bear in mind that some disabilities that traditionally are not considered to be 'neurological' can still have impact on executive functioning.
Sometimes the best support is an app that they already have installed - perhaps a note-taking app, or their todo list, or a calendar app.
Including
The upshot; a potentially increased likelihood that the student will engage with their wider support package.
"Very easy to set up and worked with the apps I set up."
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User Feedback