Emory student with ADHD creates AI app to help overwhelmed students tackle assignments

Malia Wakesho-Ajwang built Asoma to break large assignments into manageable steps after experiencing the same academic challenges herself.

For students struggling with ADHD, completing an assignment can sometimes feel difficult before the work even begins. The challenge may not simply be understanding the material, but knowing where to start and organizing a large task into something that feels achievable. That experience inspired Emory University computer science student Malia Wakesho-Ajwang to create an AI-powered academic support platform. As reported by FOX5 News, she was also diagnosed with ADHD during her sophomore year.

Her app, Asoma, is designed to reduce the ADHD feeling of being overwhelmed by automatically gathering assignments and organizing them into three priority tasks. The AI app for ADHD then helps break larger assignments into smaller steps that students can work through progressively. Wakesho said the project was influenced by her own experiences as well as techniques taught to her by her mother, alongside concepts from her psychology studies.

“I think the biggest thing is just seeing people understand that we understandIt’s that finally someone gets it kind of moment. That’s always beautiful, because I know what it’s like to like, not know where to start, to be completely overwhelmed or like not understand why I want to do something and I can’t do something. So seeing it work is just like, like, yes.” 

The app is currently being tested by high school and college students as Wakesho and her team gather feedback and refine the platform. The development also reflects a broader shift toward using AI to address individual learning and productivity challenges. Rather than simply providing another digital to-do list, Asoma is designed around the specific problem of turning an overwhelming workload into actionable steps.

For Wakesho, seeing students respond positively to the AI app for ADHD has been particularly meaningful. She described the experience as seeing users realize that the app understands what they are experiencing, something she recognizes from her own struggles with knowing where to begin when academics become overwhelming. Asoma currently offers both free and paid options, with its premium service priced at $25 per month.