Post by leunas on Oct 4, 2006 13:56:48 GMT -5
Got Schwartz? has a great little piece on a video game that’s been designed to detect autism in children. As theschwartz points out, Autism is one of the more serious childhood diseases:
1 in 100 boys suffers from autism, and 1 in 166 of all children (guess that makes girls a bit more than 1 in 200?). I’ve been seeing a lot more about this lately, and these numbers got my attention - the problem is far far more common than other childhood diseases we have heard a lot about, such as Type 1 diabetes, muscular dystrophy or childhood leukemia. Even more commonly, 1 in 10 children may have dyslexia.
So, how does this game do what it says?
A key sign of autistic behavior is the inability to deal with random sequences. Therefore, the arrangement in Learning for Children’s games is changed each time they are played. The analysis of play pays particular attention to the number of attempted answers made by a child, as well as their performance in games, which can reveal specific inabilities. As children play, the system tracks the number of incorrect and correct answers, as well as attempts made, in a private, password-protected record. A parent or teacher then uses this information to decide if further testing is warranted. Learning for Children is proud to donate 10% of all sales to the Doug Flutie Jr., Foundation for Autism.
What is good, to me at least, about this product is that it’s not a specialised product. Concerned parents can use it as a way of investigating the possibility that their child has autism without putting their child through unnecessary testing that may unsettle them, and it’s pleasing to see gaming being used in this context.
gaminghobo.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/detecting-autism/
1 in 100 boys suffers from autism, and 1 in 166 of all children (guess that makes girls a bit more than 1 in 200?). I’ve been seeing a lot more about this lately, and these numbers got my attention - the problem is far far more common than other childhood diseases we have heard a lot about, such as Type 1 diabetes, muscular dystrophy or childhood leukemia. Even more commonly, 1 in 10 children may have dyslexia.
So, how does this game do what it says?
A key sign of autistic behavior is the inability to deal with random sequences. Therefore, the arrangement in Learning for Children’s games is changed each time they are played. The analysis of play pays particular attention to the number of attempted answers made by a child, as well as their performance in games, which can reveal specific inabilities. As children play, the system tracks the number of incorrect and correct answers, as well as attempts made, in a private, password-protected record. A parent or teacher then uses this information to decide if further testing is warranted. Learning for Children is proud to donate 10% of all sales to the Doug Flutie Jr., Foundation for Autism.
What is good, to me at least, about this product is that it’s not a specialised product. Concerned parents can use it as a way of investigating the possibility that their child has autism without putting their child through unnecessary testing that may unsettle them, and it’s pleasing to see gaming being used in this context.
gaminghobo.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/detecting-autism/