Video Games to use to teach children with Autism - Essay Example

Many people think that video games are wastes of time or have little utility, merely toys. But a growing body of research has found that video games can actually help children comply with medication, teach hand-eye coordination, develop social skills, and offer a myriad of benefits to adults. Autism is no different: Autistic children love video games, like many children do, and the research shows that video games can help with many elements of autism treatment. Video games as an instructional component for autism is supported both by research and by individual parents.

Some parents use video games with their children to teach emotion sharing and to connect with their autistic children, playing games like The Sims or Pokemon and gaining a rare shared glimpse into the world. Researchers have found that games like The Sims that have online mingling allow autistics to interact and learn social skills that are among the hardest to teach autistics. Research has also found, in this vein, that autistics approach video games very similarly to non-autistic children and get the same benefits.

Because of this, video games become one of the ways for autistic children to share experiences with peers: An autistic child and a non-autistic child may have many obvious differences, but they both catch Pokemon the same way. Research into the Wii in particular indicates that the Wii can help people with Parkinson's rebuild their skills and memory, and help children with exercise. Motion control systems like the Wii and the Move and Kinect controllers can help autistics and other children interact, get physical activity, and learn elements like hand-eye coordination and intuitive knowledge of physics.

Research conducted by Rosas et al (2002) into educational video games find that they help to improve math, spelling and comprehension skills in first-and-second graders. Other research shows that video games teach hypothesis testing and the scientific method: Children realize that boss X has weakness Y, or craft a new strategy to deal with difficult opponents. Based on my research, I think that the best way to use video games for my classroom would be to help build social skills as well as general education.

Picking the right game is the biggest challenge: Once the right games are chosen, everything else follows. Avoiding adult content is actually extremely easy. I'd select video games for a few objectives. First: Social skills. Games like The Sims allow children to interact online, but that's not within the classroom's prerogative. But collaborative games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii can make it so children have to interact and form into teams to accomplish shared objectives that are largely intuitive, and Mario Party can make interaction fun and goofy.

Pokemon in particular is not only immensely popular, so it causes shared interests, but would also help my autistic children learn how to trade. And games like Monkey Island teach not only puzzle-solving and logic skills but also how to use dialogue options to get what you want out of people, a skill autistics lack. Second: I'd choose games that'd help autistics cope with their senses and develop skills that they're behind on. This isn't just basic math skills, but also games like Brain Age or Professor Layton.

Wii games in particular are good because they are intuitive, don't require heavy instruction, have child-friendly themes and give instant feedback, like in Mario Kart where one sees instant consequences of actions, which can help with motor skills. Works Cited Anthes, E. (2009). Concerns about violent programs persist, but researchers are discovering that playing can boost cognitive function and foster positive behavior. Boston Globe. CNN. (2009-12-7). Wii-Hab For Parkinson's. Dodd, S. (2009).

Video Games and Autism. Retrieved 3/10/2011 from http://sandradodd.com/special/videogames.html Duncan, S. (2010). Mario Bros. Video Game As Autism Treatment. Retrieved 3/10/2011 from shttp://www.stuartduncan.name/autism/mario-bros-video-games-as-an-autism-treatment/ Gonigal, L. (2011). Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Landers, R.N. (2010). Should Children with Autism Play Video Games? Thoughts of a Neo- Academic. Leavitt, L. (2011). Video game helps autistic children with social interaction. TG Daily. Loftus, T. (2011). Virtual world teaches real-world skills. MSNBC. Rosas, R.

, Nussbaum, M., Cumsille, P., Marianov, V., Correa, M., Flores, P., Grau, V., Lagos, F., Lopez, X., Lopez, V., Rodriguez, P. and Salinas, M. (2002). Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students. Computers and Education. 40(1):71-94. ScienceDaily. (2007). Computer Game Helps Autistic Children Recognize Emotions. Thompson, C. (2008-09-08). How Videogames Blind Us With Science. Visscher, M. (2006). Reading, writing and playing The Sims. ODE.