While
my autistic son was delayed in language and social skills and had few
interests
outside of trains or videotapes, he was inspired, or shall we say
obsessed,
with one particular item. My Computer. Jackson, now 7 years
old
took a very early liking to computers. Back in infancy he'd
strain
from my lap to reach the computer as I typed articles, or from his
infant
seat he'd thrust his foot in the air and lean toward the glowing screen
that captivated him. This love of computers broadened to include any
highly
visual, interactive games you find at the local arcade. As we
walked
into the pizza place or mall he would lean and wriggle trying to get
free
to play the games he was so instinctively drawn to. (Let me
mention
I am talking a toddler, not even 2 years old yet with this intense
interest.
We were puzzled by this high interest but continued to deny his chance
to play the games since we were trying to raise our son in a
non-violent
method. We weakened and decided to let him play pin-ball games
since
they are pretty violence-free and could even help with eye-hand
coordination.)
Over the
following years
we noticed how any time Jackson was able to use a video game system, at
a relative's house or at the store demo area, he excelled. He
could
easily defeat your average player-as a 4 year old he could defeat an
adult!
This was amazing given his delays in language and understanding and his
social and emotional difficulties-He was delayed by about 2.5 years in
other areas yet in this highly visual area he excelled. This was
ego-boosting
for him and also had a self-calming effect. Soon after realizing how
beneficial
video games could be for my son I softened and we got him his first
system.
After observing and playing with my son and his video games for the
past
3 years I now often encourage other parents of autistic children to
consider
this type of toy for their very visual children. Video games provides
the
visual patterns, speed and storyline that our kids love while helping
them
refine basic skills that they might not grasp in your normal everyday
setting.
They also allow our unique kids an acceptable way to de-stress and
mellow
out while increasing their knowledge of peer-related topics.
* As with
other tools,
interaction is VITAL with video games. Sit with your child, play with
your
child and learn from your child.
Some of the
therapeutic
benefits my son has gotten from his use of video games:
1. Language -
a.
Discussing and sharing.
b.
Following directions (understanding prepositions etc.)
c.
Giving directions
d.
Answering questions
e.
Having a discussion topic with visual aides to share with me
2. Basic Math and Reading Skills-
a.
One day Jackson surprised me by answering my question of how many red
coins
he had by saying, "I have 5, I need 3 more!" WHAT? Yes,
somehow,
during playing and fun the basic math skills of addition had sunk
in!
No ABA
needed, no
flashcards
- just the fun and excitement of Mario collecting red
coins!
(and this
same week during speech therapy the SLP was trying to get
Jackson to
count to 5
with him-she was stunned to here me say he could count to 100 if needed
and he already knows addition. The key is finding what is
important to
the individual
and learning will click.)
b.
When the games are being played the instructions and any character
dialogue are
printed
on the screen, this works great as sight-reading fuel.
The first
words Jackson
could read were PLAY, QUIT, GO, STOP, JACKSON,
INSTALL, LOAD,
MARIO
and HI-- all words from the computer or video games.
3. Social Skills -
a.
Having an interest that is popular with other children makes talking and
playing
together so much easier. At the playground there is usually at
least
one other
video game fanatic that is happy to jump into re-enacting Mario 64 or
Star Fox with Jackson.
b.
Imaginative play booster. (especially with the figurines out now at
video
stores)
Since our autistic children are many times so visual, this leads
itself well
to re-enacting the storylines with play figures or Beanie Babies.
This
leads to more play skills later, as the learned acting out
storylines
is generalized
to other toys and even includes friends and family.
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