Developmental Disability
The prevalence of developmental disability diagnosis has increased steadily over the last decade. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) 17% of all children between the ages of 3 -17 years old are affected by developmental disability (DD). DD is defined as a “group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language or behavior areas”. Often these disabilities include individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, intellectual disability among others (NLACRC, 2021).
Board Games vs. Digital Games
Board games can be a valuable tool to encourage learning. They can often be used in interventions when working with children with DD in clinical settings (Noda et.al., 2019). Therapist can employ the use of board games to teach a variety of interpersonal and behavioral skills while modeling appropriate social behavior. Children can learn how to take turns, how to mitigate losses, and how to self- regulate their emotions in a low stake setting.
Although board games can be fun and inexpensive to access, they often require an individual to be in the presence of others to fully engage. Some board games may require players to be able to physically move pieces across a board or to have control of their fine and gross motor abilities. Some individuals with DD may find it difficult to use their hands and or fingers to control small objects potentially making engagement more stressful than fun.
Digital games have been reported to have similar positive effects on children. They can stimulate curiosity, imagination, problem-solving skills, and cultivate teamwork (Brown et.al., 2013). Digital games remove the barrier of physical limitations. Digital games can adapt to a user’s abilities and timeframes (Brown et.al., 2013, National Library Service, 2021). Currently on the market one can find an array of adapted and modified controllers, as well as audio adaptations for games that open the door to accessibility (National Library Service, 2021). Individuals with DD can sometimes suffer from social anxiety. On a social front, online gaming can often allow a player to join a community of people and fully engage in gameplay regardless of physical ability. Studies show that digital game based learning has positive effects on individuals with disability in the areas of memory, executive function, adaptive skills and reaction time (Brown et.al., 2013).
Conclusion
Digital game-based learning has a lot of potential for future learning. As electronics (computers, tablets, smart phones) become more and more accessible to people of all socioeconomic classes the likeliness that we can incorporate digital game-based learning to aid in skill acquisition for individuals with DD increases. Everyday there are more apps that aim to help individuals with social and adaptive skills. There is a lot of potential in the areas of accessibility and equity for groups of people that would in other instances be excluded from a real life game.
Examples of Serious Games
“The Social Express is a research based animated interactive program which allows students an opportunity to learn and practice life skills for future success”.
In way two players get paired and must help each other navigate the levels without using spoken communication. They must rely on gestures and non-verbal cues to navigate the levels.
“The game allows you to test your ability to help in emergency situations. In the game, you are faced with scenarios such as an earthquake or a fire, with the goal of helping a disabled person in the evacuation of a building.”