Lynbrook senior awarded scholarship for creating mobile application to help those with Fragile X Syndrome

Lynbrook High School senior Sarah Moelis, 18, has known about Fragile X syndrome ever since a family friend, Justin Silver, was diagnosed with it at age 5.

Moelis saw how the disorder, a genetic mutation, affected Justin’s ability to complete daily tasks. So she, her brother Ben, 20; Justin’s sister Hailey, 19; and their friend J.D. Gebbia, 15 created a game in 2014 that rewarded children with the disorder for completing daily responsibilities.

After developing an app based on the game, called The Magic Arrows,, Moelis bested 430 high school seniors across New York and almost 10,000 seniors across the country to win a $25,000 scholarship from the AXA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the AXA Insurance Company, for her creation.

She will receive a certificate for the scholarship at her high school’s awards ceremony in June, and said she would like to use the money to study special education at Ohio State University, where she is enrolled in the honors program.

“She was ecstatic,” said her father, Stephen Moelis. “I think she felt that what had amounted to a year and a half of work has gained recognition.”

The app, released in January, makes challenging chores such as showering, dressing and getting ready for bed fun with a reward system. A player who completes a task gets a star, and eventually stars fill the screen. According to the rules, listed on www.magicarrows.net, if players have difficulty, the game offers them choices to prevent anxiety.

“If a particular task involves a choice, say ‘What is your afternoon activity?’ the supervisor — a friend, parent or therapist — can write choices and let the user spin to choose the activity, such as watching TV or playing [with a] toy,” Ben explained in a video posted on YouTube.

The evolution from board game to app happened after a distributor told the family that they would need to make about 5,000 copies of the game to send out as prototypes.

That was when Moelis decided to create the app and came up with the name. She found people to program it, and told them how she wanted it to look and function. Then she advertised it at the International Fragile X Foundation Conference in San Antonio last year. “She basically acted like a project manager,” her father said.

Fragile X syndrome, also known as Martin-Bell syndrome, is caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene. According to the U.S. National Library of Science, the mutation occurs in about 1 in 4,000 males and about 1 in 8,000 females.

Common signs of the disorder are intellectual disability, anxiety and hyperactive behavior. But symptoms can vary depending on the individual. “Some kids have no anxiety. Some have debilitating anxiety,” explained Brian Silver, Justin’s father. “Justin has debilitating anxiety.”

All of the proceeds from the app go to an organization founded by Justin’s mom Shari, the Fly With Me Fund, which provides travel funds for people with Fragile X syndrome so they can seek treatment at the medical clinic of their choice. It also pays for storage at the National Fragile X Foundation’s bio-bank, a repository of blood and tissue samples from people with the genetic mutation, that are used for research.

Silver expressed his gratitude to Moelis for creating an application that helps his son. “It’s truly remarkable to have people like Sarah in your life who, for completely unselfish reasons, try to help you in this journey,” he said. “This game, this app, has just been incredible,” he added, noting that the game reduces Justin’s anxiety.

For more information about the game and its rules, visit magicarrows.net