DaySteps is a calm, clinically-grounded routine app for children with ADHD, autism, and executive function challenges — and the parents, educators, and clinicians who support them.
No spam. One message when DaySteps is ready.
One step at a time, visible timers, zero shame mechanics. Calm structure that fades as they grow.
Built on Zelazo et al. (2017). Aligned with ABA prompting hierarchies and visual activity scheduling.
Consistent structure from classroom to home — IEP-aligned, parent-permissioned, Chromebook-ready soon.
Every design decision traces to peer-reviewed research, not engagement metrics.
DaySteps has two sides: a calm, distraction-free experience for your child, and a powerful configuration layer for you. You set the pace. Your child feels the calm.
No spam. One message when DaySteps is ready.
Your child's screen shows exactly one step — never the full list. Seeing everything at once overwhelms working memory and spikes anxiety before a single task is even started.
Time blindness — the inability to feel elapsed time — is a core feature of ADHD, not a behavior problem. Every step has a concrete countdown so time becomes something your child can actually see.
Stress shuts down the prefrontal cortex — the very system we're trying to support. DaySteps has zero punitive mechanics, no failure states, and nothing that makes a hard morning feel worse.
Your child can exit a routine at any point, without consequence. Forcing compliance through design is clinically counterproductive. The exit is always there — and it's intentional.
DaySteps gives you five independent dials to tune the app to exactly where your child is today — and to unlock more as they grow. Nothing advances automatically. Every change is yours to make, when you decide it's time.
And if your child works with a therapist, OT, or school psychologist? They can send you structured suggestions directly through the app. You approve, decline, or modify every one.
Controls how much of a routine your child can see at once. Start fully guided; unlock more independence as they're ready.
Controls whether your child can see and eventually propose edits to their own routines.
Controls how far ahead your child can see. Too much future visibility can increase anticipatory anxiety.
Controls how much of their own progress data your child can see. Framed as growth, never as grades.
Controls your child's overall agency in the app — from receiving routines to helping shape them.
You don't need to get this right on day one. DaySteps is designed to start at the most supported settings by default — everything begins fully structured, and you only unlock more when you feel ready. If you're not sure where your child is, their therapist or OT can suggest a starting point and send recommendations through the app as they observe progress. You're not doing this alone.
Built on Zelazo et al. (2017) and aligned with the EBPs your practice already uses: visual activity scheduling, systematic prompting, and immediate reinforcement. DaySteps is a therapeutic support tool you can recommend with confidence.
"When stimulation is in a moderate range and controllable, such as well-structured experiences in the classroom, neural activity in this brain network is balanced and EF is readily engaged."
— Zelazo, Blair & Willoughby (2017), IES / U.S. Dept. of EducationNo spam. One message when DaySteps is ready.
The gap between when a routine is scheduled and when the child starts — a core EF deficit signal. Parents can't easily measure this. You'll have it session-by-session.
Each axis maps directly to ABA prompting hierarchies and CABAS. You can see exactly where each client is across Runner Level, Calendar Range, Autonomy, and more — and send structured recommendations to parents.
Send parents a structured before-and-after suggestion for a specific routine — not a free-text message. Parent approves, declines, or modifies. You extend your clinical reach without becoming a project manager.
ADHD and autism have opposite color-stimulation needs (Zentall 1983; Robertson & Baron-Cohen 2017). You can configure salience per client: Low, Medium, or High. A clinical decision, not a UI preference.
DaySteps is a therapeutic support tool, not a standalone clinical intervention. It operationalises the EBPs you already recommend — visual schedules, systematic prompting, immediate reinforcement — and makes them available every day at home, not just in session.
The five-axis progression model means scaffolding fades in lockstep with your clinical judgment. You decide when a client is ready to advance. The app just makes the prompting hierarchy visible, configurable, and measurable.
The IES-commissioned EF framework — working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility. The research base most school psychologists and OTs already cite.
Initiation latency, step-level drop-off, and daily affect ratings — behavioral signal across every day, not just your 50 minutes a week.
The long-term goal is a child who needs less external support. Every axis advances only when you and the parent decide. The app grows with the clinical plan.
DaySteps is available to OTs, school psychologists (NCSP), BCBAs, and clinical psychologists. If you work with families navigating ADHD, autism, or executive function challenges, this was built for your clients. Join the waitlist for early clinical access and to shape the product before launch.
Children with EF challenges thrive on predictability across every environment. DaySteps lets you extend the structure you already provide — without adding overhead to your day or requiring a new framework.
"EF skills themselves can be a target of practice-based instruction… leading not only to improved EF but also to improved academic achievement."
— Zelazo, Blair & Willoughby (2017), IES / U.S. Dept. of EducationNo spam. One message when DaySteps is ready.
DaySteps maps directly to visual activity schedules and systematic prompting — two of the most widely used EBPs in special education. If it's in the IEP, DaySteps already speaks that language.
The same single-step structure students rely on in class follows them home. No list to scan, no decision about what's next. One thing. Then the next — exactly the way you already do it.
You see only what parents approve. Every connection goes through a parent-controlled consent flow. No data sharing without explicit permission — ever.
A progressive web app optimized for school-issued Chromebooks is on the roadmap — so students can access DaySteps on the same device they already use in class. No iOS device required.
For students with ADHD, autism, or executive function challenges, unpredictable mornings at home can undo a productive school day before it starts. DaySteps lets the structure you've already established extend into the hours you can't be there.
You don't have to become a family consultant to make this work. Connect, share your routines, and let parents take it from there — with the same prompting language and sequence your students already know.
Visual activity schedules and systematic prompting are already embedded in how DaySteps works. No translation required between your IEP goals and the app's structure.
Students don't have to context-switch between how school works and how home works. The same calm structure, the same language, the same one-step-at-a-time rhythm.
A QR code and 2 minutes. No IT department, no parent training session, no new curriculum. If a family wants to use it, they can start the same day.
DaySteps is designed for general education teachers, special education teachers, and resource room educators who work with students with ADHD, autism, or EF challenges. Chromebook support is on the roadmap — join the waitlist and tell us what your school uses. It directly shapes what we build next.
No engagement mechanics. No dark patterns. Each design choice traces to peer-reviewed research or established clinical consensus — not retention metrics.
The child-facing view shows exactly one step — never the full sequence. Displaying the full list exceeds working memory capacity and increases anticipatory anxiety before a single task is attempted.
EvidenceTime blindness is a core ADHD feature, not a behavior choice. Concrete visual timers are a documented intervention. Every step has one. (Barkley 1997; Zheng et al. 2022 meta-analysis, Hedges' g > 0.66.)
EvidenceStress elevates catecholamines, which suppress the prefrontal cortex — the region responsible for EF. No alarm-register red in child UI. Zero punitive states. Zero failure mechanics. (Arnsten 2009; Arnsten et al. 2011.)
EvidenceStreaks, points, badges, and leaderboards spike cortisol and undermine intrinsic motivation. Completion feedback — immediate, competence-framed acknowledgment at task completion — is clinically distinct and appropriate. The mechanics of achievement games are not.
Clinical consensusDaySteps starts fully structured and reduces external support as the child demonstrates consistency — mapped to ABA prompting hierarchies and Greer/CABAS. The goal is reduced reliance on external scaffolding, not permanent dependency on an app.
Evidence · Zelazo et al.; Greer (2002)Zelazo et al. (2017) identify autonomy support as a driver of EF development above and beyond general positive parenting. Children should experience the routine as their own tool — not a surveillance system imposed on them.
Evidence · Zelazo et al. (2017)| Source | Finding | Role in DaySteps |
|---|---|---|
| Zelazo, Blair & Willoughby (2017) IES / U.S. Dept. of Education |
EF = working memory + inhibitory control + cognitive flexibility. Autonomy support drives EF development. | Primary anchor |
| Barkley (1997a/b) | Time blindness and temporal myopia as core ADHD features — not behavioral choices. | Basis for visible countdown timers on every step |
| Zheng et al. (2022) | Time perception deficits confirmed via meta-analysis: Hedges' g > 0.66 for precision. | Quantitative support for timer design |
| Arnsten (2009, 2011) | Stress → elevated catecholamines → PFC suppression → EF failure. | Basis for zero failure states; no alarm-red in child UI |
| Zentall & Zentall (1983) | ADHD = cortical under-arousal; task-relevant color improves on-task performance. | Basis for High Visual Salience option |
| Robertson & Baron-Cohen (2017) | Up to 90% of autistic individuals have sensory differences. | Basis for Low Visual Salience option |
| Greer, R.D. (2002) — CABAS | Systematic application of behavioral principles to structured learning environments. | Underpins Runner axis progression design |