Monday, December 11, 2017

Reading the Research: Video Games for Balance

Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.

Today's article talks about a successful use of a video game in teaching autistic people balance.  Balance is one of the things that tends to be affected when a person has autism, to the point that it can be very problematic in a person's daily life.  If you're constantly tripping and falling, you tend to take things with you, or hurt yourself and other people.  Even mild clumsiness can be enough to set bullies after you.  The article also insists that more severe balance and posture challenges tend to indicate more severe autism, which is an assertion I can't personally confirm.

Apparently the researchers linked together a Kinect (a device that uses a camera to track a person's movements), a Wii Balance Board (a device that you stand on and which tracks how you lean, and how much pressure is on each foot), and a computer to create a video game.  This game has the players stand in "ninja" poses and hold them for periods of time.  29 participants from ages 7 to 17 played this video game for six weeks.

By the end of the time, the participants had improved in their performance on the video game, but their balance and posture outside of the game had also improved.  This was true regardless of the participants' IQs, BMIs, and even verbal skills.  The video game used minimal words to convey how to play and throughout the game, which made it more ideal for low-verbal or non-verbal participants. 

That said, it wasn't a "one size fits all" program either.  Participants who were more rigid about adherence to rituals around meals or in other aspects of life didn't improve as much as those who weren't.  These also tended to be the more heavily affected participants.  Probably future iterations of the video game could be made to suit such individuals better.

Video games are a relatively new option for this sort of training.  I, personally, learned better balance via Tang Soo Do, which is a Korean martial art, and dance roller skating.  Both activities had other benefits besides the improved balance, but also required me to care about those activities, get transportation to them, and have the resources to afford them.  Autistic people are drawn to video games, it seems, which makes them an easy medium for therapies and other skills-based learning.  Video games are also relatively inexpensive by comparison. 

I don't particularly begrudge my time spent learning Tang Soo Do.  Every person born female should know how to punch without breaking their fists, how to get away after being grabbed, and how to ensure an attacker can't come after you once you've escaped.  Tang Soo Do teaches you those things, in addition to various punches, kicks, and even how to use some weapons.  That said, I probably never would have made black belt, even had I continued in the program.  My brain and my eyes don't communicate very well, which makes my reaction times rather poor.  I am uniquely unsuited for competitive sparring. 

Learning dance roller skating was a mite more punishing in terms of mistakes, but at least it didn't involve competing against other people.  It was me against my skates, to start with.  When I made friends with my skates, then it was me against the roller rink floor.  And finally, it was me against gravity.  My mistakes resulted in bruised legs, bottoms, and egos.  But I did learn, and fortunately my teacher was kindly, very patient, and encouraging without being pushy.  I can, if my flexibility allows, do various dance steps including spirals, spins, and jumps.  It does take a good while to warm up if it's been years since I last skated, though. 

At this point, if asked about my balance, I tend to say I have "the best bad balance ever."  I trip relatively often, over flat surfaces, my own feet, and tiny, insignificant bits on the floor... but I no longer fall, save once in a very great while. 

Had this video game been available, I probably would have tried it.  Most of the participants in the study found the balance game enjoyable, so if I'd been allowed to play, I probably would have.  My hope is that this game, and other educational games like it, will become much more common and accessible in the future.  I think video games like this can do a lot of good for autistic people and people with other disabilities.

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