Interactive Video Game Helps?

[Moustapha Floyd]

   Some expert and specialist have noticed that some patients respond more actively to interactive video games than other forms of therapy. Interactive video games are games that cause the player to participate by body-movements in order to control the game; such as the Wii and Xbox 360. Interactive video games were suggested as an addition to the regular therapy, not as a cure. Therefore, not every patient recovers as to others. For patients with disabilities like autism and other physical ailments these games provide: a sense of normality, enthusiasm, build up stamina and encourages patients to be physically active.

     Interactive video game enables the patient to act and feel regular by participating in every-day activities. Once patients start to thinks normal, it helps the brain to visualize better and with the constant exercises from the movements; the body becomes familiar and more flexible to regular movements. In the News Release article entitled: “Practical Play: Interactive Video Games Appear Valuable for ICU Patients” implies that “Interactive video games, already known to improve motor function in recovering stroke patients, appear to safely enhance physical therapy for patients in intensive care units (ICU), new research from Johns Hopkins suggests”(Lazarou).    

      Although interactive video games might not be perfect, foremost technology companies (Nintendo of American Inc. and Microsoft Corporation) continue to invent more effective interactive video games that are promising to turn patients into active, moving, jumping, swinging game player. However, as some patients recuperate, they undergo some muscle weakness and physical failure due to their limited capabilities, but patients prefer interactive video games because of the excitement and entertainment they experience. Some actions of the techniques include actual boxing, tennis, bowling, and baseball movements. Each of these games provides a variety of movements that help build muscle tone, strength and stamina. “The present investigation indicates that a training program that links interactive video games to cycle exercise results in greater improvements in health related physical fitness than that seen after traditional cycle exercise training.”  (Rhodes, "The Health Benefits of Interactive Video Game Exercise.”)

    Hence similar technique of physical therapy is, in addition, applied to patients with autism. Some people think autism patients feels frustration for being limit to the movements of the games and occasionally are unable to understand the concept of the game. Yes, that is true. Nevertheless Hannah Hoch article (Teaching Children With Autism To Play A Video Game Using Activity Schedules And Game-Embedded Simultaneous Video Modeling) illustrates the success of the experiment on autism patients based on the game Guitar Hero II. “Children with autism have severe and pervasive impairments in social interactions and communication that impact most areas of daily living and often limit independent engagement in leisure activities.”(Hoch). Yet the expert and specialist were successfully able to teach those kids to play a video game that most people may have probably thought they could not do. Also, within the article, results were shown that some patients improved beyond what was expected.

    In conclusion, interactive video games, even though not a cure, it helps patients with physical ailments and autism. Although patients who experiment with the interactive video games therapy sometime discover failure with some muscles, instability and disorganization, however, patients still prefer interactive video games because of the excitement and independence they experience. The physical activities involve within the games causes an increase in the patient’s abilities to inner-act with emotional response and intelligence. Interactive video grant patients experiences of normality and enthusiasm as well as build up stamina and encourage patients to be physically active. Is that not the key factors of recovery?
 

Sources:
http://news.eformation.de/client/media/132/data/8376.pdf

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Teaching+children+with+autism+to+play...

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/practical_play_i...

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10494820.2010.542760#pre...

http://www.e-jesf.com/article/S1728-869X%2812%2900004-4/fulltext