The Story

About the Creator

After watching her mom spend hours teaching her younger brother social skills, Toronto high schooler Sherry Chen wanted to put her technology skills to work to see if Artificial Intelligence could help millions of children like her brother. She researched the idea for 1.5 years, published her findings in the National High School Journal of Science, presented the work to doctors who work with children through her local science fair, and refined her approach until the app was ready!

The App

Every child has had a moment where a small thing felt enormous. A broken crayon. A cancelled playdate. A missing water bottle right before the game. For a lot of kids, and especially for children with ADHD, autism, or anxiety, the feeling that arrives is real and big, even when the problem itself is small.

"How big is this problem?" is a question caregivers, teachers, and therapists ask all the time. It is a genuinely helpful idea. But in the middle of a hard moment, it is tough to practice something new. What kids needed was a calm, low-stakes place to build the skill before the big feelings show up.

Glitch, Bummer, Disaster

• Sizing problems as a Glitch, Bummer, or Disaster is a clinically established strategy that caregivers, teachers, and therapists have used for decades.
• The framework comes from the Social Thinking® methodology, originally developed by Michelle Garcia Winner and her team.
• Problem Size brings that idea into a gentle practice kids can return to: watch a short story, choose a size, and get a kind explanation from Bolt every time.