Kinect Helping Kids With Autism

For those who don’t know, Autism is a complicated developmental brain dysfunction in which some people have problems with social communication, physical communication, and/or playing around with others. So how does Kinect fit into all this?

The Lakeside Center for Autism takes full advantage of the full body motion capture technology that is Kinect. The Center for Autism believes that with Kinect you can accomplish many of the therapy goals planned for the kids, and allow them have a hand in the world.

[Boody-Bandit]

A therapist said "1" of her patients plays games on Kinect where he is able to fully engage and use both sides of his body in ways that she has never seen him use it before.

How does one therapist saying "one" person with autism interacting with Kinect equates to "Kinect Helping Kids With Autism" <- That is totally misleading and inaccurate. Why? Because this extremely thin article does not go into any details. Who is this therapist? How long has she been working with autistic people? How long has this person been a patient of hers? What other things has she tried? What does she think Kinect is doing for this particular person where other attempts have not been as successful?

I could go on and on... Why could I? Because I have a 19 yr old son that is severely autistic. He has been surrounded with gaming since his birth because I have always been a gamer. He is way more involved with standard controllers, joysticks, wheels, etc and he does not like motion devices like the Wii (which we own) and Kinect. My wife and I bought both thinking he might actually enjoy them since he is into sports, golf, basketball and baseball, but he barely touched either of them.

So I guess my "one" autistic son cancels out this article altogether since it's one therapist and one autistic person?

Maybe this therapist should take this child out on a court, field, course, gym, swimming pool, etc and introduce him to dancing, acrobatics, horse riding, swimming, basketball, baseball (use a tee for starters), golf, tennis, etc and so on.

Sorry but although Kinect engages some autistic people coupled with the visuals, sounds and motion of the person making the character on screen cause actions but there are a lot more things this therapist could try that would garner better interaction and movement than Kinect hooked up to a display.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I too have a disabled child, and he is too young to play games yet so i cant say one way or another if kinect will help him. That said just because your situation doesnt mimic what is stated in this article doesnt mean you need to tear it down. Autism is complicated and presents itself in many forms.

I do hope you find some forms of entertainment for your child in whatever form.... whether its controller based games, kinect, move, movies, music.... whatever helps your child find some joy.

Edit: LOL.....disagrees? Please...do you disagree with my wish for @Brutallyhonest? Do you think Autism is cut and dry? Do you think my son doesn't suffer from disability? I can assure you Dandy Walker Syndrome is no walk in the park. So please... tell me why you disagree.

[TGF_Zero]

I'm sorry to hear about your 19 year old son. I pray that he will get better. I do not think that this title is misleading at all. It is titled Kinect helping kids with autism because if you read the article its is actually helping kids with autism in The Lakeside center for Autism. If I titled it Kinect helps all kids with Autism then that would be miss leading. I also state in the article that "People are finding new innovated ways to take full advantage of Kinect, taking this gaming technology and applying it to other worldly elements." Please check this website for more information. http://techtroid.co.uk/kine...

[Laxman]

Praying wont help any.

[TGF_Zero]

Thank you for the feed back

[Shanster21]

Wow ok. Just because Kinect didn't work for your son doesn't mean it didn't help out others. Therefore, "Kinect Helping Kids With Autism" is not misleading or inaccurate. If you want your questions answered you should email or message the therapist who actually put it into play (the author was nice enough to even put her name; Google her... I did it). You shouldn't attack the author who just summarized about how it is possible for the Kinect to help kids with autism. If you actually read this article (which I doubt you did) you would know that Mari Therrien says that the kid is now able to use both sides body at the same time. Getting results that they didn't get with without Kinect. Everyone is different. Also you said yourself that your son isn't even interested in Kinect or any motion devices, so OBVIOUSLY he cancels this whole article out because he doesn't even like it. But, hopefully your son finds a method that works well for him.

[Boody-Bandit]

So you created an account just to make no sense? Wow ok. Yes this title is completely misleading. Show me where the therapist said this autistic person moving in ways she has not seen him move before = it is helping this person. You can't.

I, the reader, am suppose to fact check the expert being used in this fluff piece (let's be honest here, that is all this is, a PR fluff piece)? No, it is the authors job to introduce and give us information on who this expert is, her background, years practiced and how long she has been working with said patient.

It is not my job to fact check. There is nothing in this minimal article that equates to anything pertaining to that Kinect is in fact helping this person. You can disagree and create all the accounts you want trying to disprove this but you are only fooling yourselves.

I never said Kinect didn't WORK for my son. I said it had zero appeal to him. He responds a lot more to physical action of the activities I mentioned above. NONE of the people responding under this article know as much as I do about autism or other mental disabilities. I have been dealing with afflictions like this since I was 8 years old.

This is a disservice to people with this affliction (autism) just to garner hits for a gaming site that has no clue of which it speaks.

Like I said, this is not an article, it's a fluff (PR) piece for Kinect and has nothing to do with autism itself. My son has seen no greater joy than playing golf. I guess I should write an article of how golfing is helping with autism? Please stop. How in the hell can you or anyone, including this therapist, say this is helping this person when NO expert understands autism or it's causation?

Go create another account and disagree with me again. Proof positive yet again that having webspace does not a critic / author make. Sites like this offer nothing of value especially when you post drivel like this article (which it's not) above.

Edit: Before you or anyone else responds? I'm done with this lame interaction with fools like you. I said all I had to say and I am moving on. I wasn't even going to post what I did but people like you are simply ignorant and I wont stand for you or anyone using this affliction as a means to garner attention for a toy.

[Shanster21]

ps watch this video http://www.xbox.com/en-US/K...

[Boody-Bandit]

This video, and all the others pertaining to this Lakeside Center, should've been linked to this article (or lack there of) in the first place.

But no, I had to go and research this center which this minimalistic article pertains too and low and behold? A plethora of information on the center, the employees, students and how Kinect is implemented into their daily routine.

Why didn't techtroid take the time and do a little bit of research themselves and actually use all the information so readily available from the multiple videos I found on this autism center? They could've killed 3 birds with one stone and created a very informative piece but instead butchered the reduced version of the video into a fraction of information that wasn't at all informative.

I stand by what I initially said about this article from techtroid and after viewing all the information I could find on this institute feel I am 100% vindicated in my original assessment. The title of this article on N4G does not fit the content written under it.

Next time before reporting on information nearly a year old? Maybe they will actually take their time and do a little bit of research instead of butchering what you have seen and leaving the reader scratching his head and asking how in the hell does this title fit this story, cause it didn't.

Go to yourtube and type in Kinect at Lakeside Center and you will see several VERY INFORMATIVE videos with detailed explanations as to how they use this device and what they feel their students get out of it.

Like I said , this piece was a disservice. But now that does not only pertain to Autism itself but the crew that video taped and reported on this place nearly a year ago and the Lakeside Center itself. A place that has people that devote so much time and energy into helping these children out.

Now as far as pertaining to my son. Kinect doesn't work for him because he was always surrounded by tech and gaming. He is a lot older than the children in these videos. That is the age that best works for introducing devices like Kinect.

They have been using PC programs with special needs children for years in classrooms. They interact with them using paddle devices to have a physical reaction create an audible and visual action on screen. So I don't doubt for a moment this is beneficial for children suffering this affliction but most of the kids I saw in this video were high functioning autistic children.

It's a shame a more credible report was not done on this story when it was first released. This would have made an interesting piece for Autism, Kinect and MS. MS has a chance to make an impact with this device for more than just gaming. Hopefully they will use it for all and not just focus on what will garner them the highest return on their investment.

[TGF_Zero]

For more information please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/K...