Engaging adolescents with Down syndrome in an educational video game

Producción CientíficaThis article describes the design, implementation and evaluation of an educational video game that helps individuals with Down syndrome to improve their speech skills, specifically those related to prosody. Special attention has been paid to the design of the user interface, taking into account the cognitive, learning, and attentional limitations of people with Down syndrome. The learning content is conveyed by activities of production and perception of prosodic phenomena, aimed at increasing their communicative competence. These activities are introduced within the narrative of a video game so that the players do not conceive the tool as a mere succession of learning activities, but so that they learn and improve their speech while playing. The evaluation strategy that has been followed involves real users and combines different evaluation activities. Results show a high level of acceptance by participants and also by professionals, speech therapists, and special education teachers.2018-09-01MEC-FEDER Grant TIN2014-59852-R y la Junta de Castilla y León Regional Grant VA145U1

The use of humor by an adolescent with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of this study was to describe the humor use by an 11-year-old adolescent with ASD. Through an iterative coding process to identify a successful, unsuccessful, and neutral rating of instances of humor, we describe how does an adolescent with ASD uses humor and the functions humor serves in his interactions with a friend. We describe the personal and environmental factors that support the successful use of humor. The adolescent used two main types of humor (self-initiated and environmentally-initiated), consisting of two forms (verbal and physical). We describe 12 main behavioral indicators to identify the instances of humor. Humor appeared to sever as a means of engaging his friend and he appeared to be most successful in using humor with his friend when in a familiar environment and engaging in a familiar activity. The implications for future research are discussed

Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: a review of empirical research

Background and aims: Research suggests that excessive online gaming may lead to symptoms commonly experienced by substance addicts. Since games are particularly appealing to children and adolescents, these individuals may be more at risk than other groups of developing gaming addiction. Methods: Given these potential concerns, a literature review was undertaken in order (i) to present the classification basis of online gaming addiction using official mental disorder frameworks, (ii) to identify empirical studies that assess online gaming addiction in children and adolescents, and (iii) to present and evaluate the findings against the background of related and established mental disorder criteria. Results: Empirical evidence comprising 30 studies indicates that for some adolescents, gaming ad - diction exists and that as the addiction develops, online gaming addicts spend increasing amounts of time preparing for, organizing, and actually gaming. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that problematic online gaming can be conceptualized as a behavioral addiction rather than a disorder of impulse control

Social communication between virtual characters and children with autism

Children with ASD have difficulty with social communication, particularly joint attention. Interaction in a virtual environment (VE) may be a means for both understanding these difficulties and addressing them. It is first necessary to discover how this population interacts with virtual characters, and whether they can follow joint attention cues in a VE. This paper describes a study in which 32 children with ASD used the ECHOES VE to assist a virtual character in selecting objects by following the character’s gaze and/or pointing. Both accuracy and reaction time data suggest that children were able to successfully complete the task, and qualitative data further suggests that most children perceived the character as an intentional being with relevant, mutually directed behaviour

Longitudinal Association between Video Game Use and Physical, Mental, and Social Health Outcomes in Young Adults in the United States

Background: Increasing adolescent engagement in video game use and its associations with public health outcomes has been a controversial topic over the last several decades, with studies conducted in the United States only managing to produce contradictory results. This dissertation explores the statistical associations between video game use in adolescents and various physical, mental and social health outcomes as they develop into adulthood in the United States. Methodology: Secondary data analysis was conducted, guided by Life Course Theory, utilizing publicly available data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Results: Video game use during adolescence was significantly associated with the risk for development of metabolic syndrome in adulthood (p =.034). No significant association was found between video game use at any time point and increased measures of violence and aggression. A significant association was found between weekly hours of video game use and sleep problems (p = .002), depression (p = .006), anxiety / panic attacks (p = .021), and marijuana use (p = .001). No significant association was found between video game use and ADHD/ADD and drug use excluding marijuana. Conclusion: This dissertation highlights several risks and benefits associated with engaging in video game use. These findings help to inform future public health practice and research. In moderation video game use was shown to have prosocial and positive effects on youth development as they grow into adulthood. However, when video game use exceeded 30 hours or more per week, detrimental effects began to emerge, including an increased risk for the development of metabolic syndrome, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, and marijuana use. Demographic variables such as gender and race / ethnicity and Life Course Theory variables of education and marital status were shown to have greater associations across all health outcomes than video game use at any time point. Recommendations for future research on the topic are discussed, including further investigation of the more significant findings and replication of the statistical analyses using Add Health wave V data once available

Prototype of an Educational Video Game for Knowledge Retention in Youth Health Education

There is some debate about the most effective and least controversial means of sex education in schools. In several states, state law does not require education about Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (STDs and HIV/AIDS.) There is also debate about the effect and pervasiveness of sexual situations in video games and its effect on the healthy sexual development of adolescents. This research therefore aims to try to solve these two problems and answer the following question: Is it possible to represent sex in a more realistic and educational way through a video game while teaching more medically accurate and necessary information? The completion of this study will be able to provide some insights on the feasibility and benefits of widespread implementation of serious video games for health education in the United States and also point to the necessity of future research into this topic

Engaging Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Physical Activity to Improve Health and Educational Outcomes

This starred paper will attempt to describe how physical activity can have lifelong and short-term benefits for youth and adolescents with ASD. Emphasizing positive behavioral impacts that PA may have on other aspects of a student’s learning experience. It will explore some of the barriers these students face in getting enough PA and more importantly the practices that should be utilized to overcome these obstacles. Simply finding ways for positive engagement is a strong predictor of success. With that in mind, there will also be a focus on unique strategies or types of activities that students may not typically receive in a standard physical education class. The literature review in the following chapter will examine the most current studies and analysis on the topic

Using Explicit Social Skills Instruction Combined with a Restricted Interest Group to Increase the Frequency of Social Skills in Students with Autism

The literature suggests that adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are characterized by restricted interests and deficits in social skills (White, Keonig, & Scahill, 2007). Due to the deficits associated with ASD, adolescents with ASD do not typically engage in social interactions at a rate similar to their same age typicallydeveloping peers (Wagner, Cadwallader, Garza, & Cameto, 2004). This study assessed whether explicit social skills instruction in a restricted interest group in an afterschool club setting increased the frequency of specific social skills in two students identified with ASD. A multiple baseline experimental design was implemented across behaviors. During baseline measures, the participants showed minimal social interactions. During intervention, results showed increases in the social skills being measured. These results have implications for understanding factors related to developing social skills in adolescents with ASD

Preparing Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders for Employment

The work experiences and job histories of adults with ASD were examined to determine whether or not they corroborate findings in the literature. Incidences of ASD are on the rise, and children diagnosed with ASD will become adults who will need employment opportunities. Most employers are using a variety of technology tools to increase productivity, communicate, perform record-keeping tasks, save time and money, and conduct business. Individuals with ASD gravitate toward technology, and employment opportunities that capitalize on the use technology may allow them to be productive in the workplace. Semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions reviewed and approved by founders of a technology institute were used to gather employment data from participants. The interviews with adults with ASD were examined to explore work histories and best practices for preparing adults with ASD for jobs designing video games. Findings revealed a focus on individualized instructional delivery with game engines, organizational skill development, rewardstructures, electronic record-keeping for task management and scheduling, and social integration through team building and group problem-solving