Exploring the effect of Amira in Reducing Reading Anxiety and Improving Reading Ability in Mexican Children

Problem: Reading is a fundamental skill that children do not acquire naturally, and it is indeed more challenging and frustrating for children with ADHD. This is further exacerbated by the presence of reading disabilities with up to 17% of people with ADHD also presenting dyslexia. When reading is mentally taxing and unenjoyable, especially in a social context of a class, children might develop anxiety towards reading due to fear of being bullied or perceived as "underachievers." Children with ADHD might be especially susceptible to this given the high rates of comorbidity between ADHD, attention and anxiety disorders. In underdeveloped countries like Mexico, educational inequality is high and mockery and social exclusions are common, making this an especially relevant context to intervene. These challenges may open up opportunities to explore alternative teaching methods for reading instruction by leveraging AI reading tutors.

The Amira Learning, an AI reading tutor, with capabilities for listening to the child read aloud and provide entertaining and interactive feedback may facilitate reading instruction in Mexican schools and help children overcome such challenges. We propose to study if Amira can reduce reading anxiety and inattention to potentially improve reading ability in children with ADHD and typically developing children (Neurotypical- NT) in Mexico.

Research Questions:   (1) Understand how the effect of Amira in Reading Ability varies between Children with ADHD and NT, 2) Understand the effect of Amira in Reading Anxiety, its relationship to Reading Ability and differences between children with ADHD and NT

Keywords: Reading Intervention, AI Tutor, ADHD