How four Dubai pupils designed a chair to help their neurodivergent classmates stay focused

Furniture item features built-in fidget toys made from recycled materials

Pupils Ayaan Mohammed, Moulik Savla, Yuvaan Sawlani and Atharva Mehra created the CareChair at Gems Wellington International School. Antonie Robertson / The National

Four pupils at a school in Dubai have created a chair to help children with ADHD and sensory issues stay focused in the classroom.

Yuvaan Sawlani, Ayaan Mohammed, Moulik Savla and Atharva Mehra are all in their final year of the IB diploma programme at Gems Wellington International School. The pupils, aged 17, invented what they call the CareChair as a way to support those who find it difficult to stay engaged during lessons.

The chair, which took two years to create, features an extended base that enables flexible seating positions, built-in fidget toys to help reduce stress and sensory tools that can be customised to suit a pupil's needs. All sensory elements are made from recycled materials.

The project was born when Yuvaan and Ayaan were asked to support pupils with additional learning needs during a sports event. They became good friends with the pupils and began to visit them in class, where they noticed they would lose focus easily.

'Positive learning tool'

“I recalled a friend I had in Year 4 who had similar symptoms,” Ayaan told The National. “I remembered he would bring fidget toys and soft cushions for his chair, which would help direct his focus towards class and minimise stress. That’s the main premise on which we built the product we have today.”

While most school furniture is designed with a one-size-fits-all approach, that fails to address the diverse needs of neurodivergent pupils, Yuvaan said.

The chair can be customised to each pupil's needs. Antonie Robertson / The National

“Many people see fidgeting or movement as a distraction, but research has shown these behaviours can enhance focus when supported correctly," he added. "We want to challenge that perception and design something that recognises movement and sensory engagement as positive learning tools, rather than obstacles.”

The inclusion department at Gems Wellington said it noticed improvements in the attention spans of pupils when they used the chair. "We trialled the CareChair with a student diagnosed with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder," it told The National. "Overall, the CareChair had a positive impact on his focus and emotional regulation, especially during less structured parts of the lesson."

Neurodivergent-friendly

The four pupils have their own role on the project. Yuvaan is responsible for business and financial matters, making sure the team remains within their budget and creates a product that is cheap enough for potential customers. Ayaan, meanwhile, is lead designer, having produced hundreds of sketches for the prototype.

“Imagination wasn't the problem,” Ayaan said. “It was how realistic the product was. We would always have conversations, like Yuvaan would say it’s out of budget or Moulik and Atharva would be like, this is hard to engineer in this school. I have 10 sheets of mini sketches of each iteration – it was finding the right balance between comfort and practicality.”

Moulik is the engineer on the project, making 3D models of the chair and working closely with Atharva, who has been diagnosed with ADHD. “Having that experience, I know, for example, what would trigger someone or not,” he said.

“The surface of the chair now is laminated with a veneer on it and it's quite smooth. But before it had a rougher surface with wood and oil. What ends up happening is that when you rub your hands on it, it has a slight poking feeling and I knew that it would be a trigger for some kids. So then I would use stuff like this from my personal experience to improve the product.”

Victoria McKeown, an independent neurodiversity specialist, said the boys were developing a winning product. In the past, she has used Velcro under pupils' desks so they can run their fingers along it to improve their focus.

She said the chair was "really interesting and a really good idea for a whole number of reasons". Having the items attached to the chair eliminates the potential for people to lose or forget them, which is common among neurodivergent children she works with, she added.

“Also, one of the reasons why fidget toys can be really hard to use inside the classroom is other children want to borrow them and that can be really disruptive, so having them attached to the chair means this won’t crop up so much," she said.

Future plans

The pupils were also keen to use recycled materials, particularly because each chair has to be customised. The idea came from a competition by the Council of British International Schools where pupils were charged with recycling unused and old devices to develop something new.

“In one of the very early prototypes and drawings, you'd find keyboard membranes on the armrests and buttons embedded throughout the seat,” Yuvaan said. “At first, it was part of this competition, but we decided we'd take it further.”

The arm rests feature fidget toys, a Rubik's cube and interchangeable sensory elements. Photo: CareChair

Now, the group are in talks with education providers to have the chairs placed in schools. It is already being used in the inclusion department of their school.

Navin Valrani, chief executive of Arcadia Education, who has been mentoring the boys on this project, said: "It's heartwarming to see a group of students develop a product that will go a long way in helping us develop students to be part of a global society, regardless of their learning needs. The CareChair should appear in schools across the globe."

While each of the four pupils are to attend university abroad next year, they plan to continue working on the CareChair between terms. They will also receive support from the school's inclusion team.

Atharva said the project had been rewarding as they were able to improve their experience of fellow pupils.

“Hearing from them that it helps them focus or they feel more confident after using it is the best feeling ever,” he said. “It’s really taught us that innovation doesn’t always have to come from big companies. Sometimes the best solutions can just come out of a school project.”