By Shiri Epstein, NoCamels -
In today’s world, more people than ever are aware of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – a neurological condition that makes it difficult to maintain focus on a task or control impulsive behavior and sometimes even causes hyperactivity.
Having experienced the disorder firsthand, the creator and CEO of Pery, Ziv Elul, realized that many parents of children with ADHD do not have the correct tools to deal with the diagnosis, and in many cases, they too had undiagnosed ADHD.
Elul, a veteran businessman, was himself diagnosed with the condition as an adult, at around the same time as all of his children.
Extensive research shows that the condition is indeed genetic, and a child with a parent with ADHD has a greater than 50 percent chance of having it too.
According to the organization Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), around 129 million children and adolescents worldwide between the ages of 5 to 19 years have ADHD. The US National Library of Medicine says that some 366 million adults worldwide also have the condition.
The app, Elul realized, would have to take into account the needs of people with ADHD, using short interactions and simple instructions.
New users are invited to complete a brief questionnaire about themselves and their children, including specific behaviors, daily routines, particular obstacles, performance at school and emotional responses.
This part, Elul explains, was created to be a dialogue between the AI platform and the new user.
To create the optimal interaction between user and interface, the company worked with psychiatrists and psychologists at hospitals in the US as well as psychologists working in its own offices in Tel Aviv.
“We want validated clinical knowledge when we come with any recommendation,” Elul tells NoCamels.
After completing the questionnaire, the AI system analyzes the core function impairments and behavior of the family members involved, using clinical studies collated by the company.
The app then offers help with living with the condition, such as parenting strategies, behavior management and even communication with the child’s school.
Each family receives a personalized strategy that will give them the best chance of having a successful daily routine. This, Elul says, is meant to help children most of all learn that living with ADHD is not an impediment.
At the end of each day, the app asks users questions about how helpful they found the daily insights provided. When something does not work for the users for a period of several days, the AI adapts the planned routine accordingly.
“You need a map to guide you, there is not only one way and it depends on you and depends on your targets,” Elul says.
Elul co-founded Pery with COO Gili Avital-Lang and CTO Meir Amsellem, who also have children with ADHD. All three were driven by a personal desire to help people – young and adult – with the condition have an easier day-to-day life.
In fact, all 16 members of the Pery team either have the condition or children who do. And according to Elul, the company sought this out as they wanted to work with people who truly understood what it is like living with and around ADHD.
“[We are a] team with a mission to do something that will change the world of parenting and to bring AI technology to mental health,” Elul says.
The app is also designed to support relevant documentation, and can store all important medical information in folders that can then be used to send diagnoses to key institutions such as schools or workplaces.
Pery launched this month, after half a year of working with specialist clinics to understand the best ways to help children with ADHD.
For Elul, it was important that the whole platform was rooted in both scientific understanding and personal knowledge, combined with the possibilities afforded by AI.
The company’s name comes from the Hebrew word pe’er, meaning magnificence. According to Elul, this is because the company is trying to see the splendor and positives in everyday problems.
The company is currently funded by two different VCs, along with investment from CEOs of other startups who wished to support the concept.
The next step, Elul says, is a funding round based on a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE), in which investors expect to receive shares in the company in the future.
Pery is also planning to become a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) company, in which they will partner with other firms in order to then reach more new users.
Elul is further hoping to add a simulation to the app that will teach parents how to talk to their children to inspire positive conversations and actions.
“There is a mission and there is a soul,” he says. “We want to leverage this technology to really help parents.”
