Video Gaming Effects on Youth with Autism

Video gaming is a popular and unique form of entertainment that encourages gamers to become part of the game. Collectively, video gamers spend 3 billion hours per week where they engage on a deeper level physically, mentally and emotionally. In Australia, 68% of the population play video games, counting both youth and adults. This widespread use of video games led scientists to conduct researches on how video games can affect the brain and behaviour of a person.

According to psychologist C. Shawn Green of University of Wisconsin, the brain’s physical structure changes when playing video games. It also helps children improve their manual dexterity and computer literacy especially on youths with autism. A recent study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders conducted at the University of Wisconsin- Madison showed that youths with autism managed to improve their balance by playing a video game designed to address their balance challenges. Apparently, people with autism spectrum disorder have difficulties with balance and postural stability.

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In addition, video gaming affects the player’s attention and visuospatial skills. Research has proven that gamers portray improvements in several types of attention including selective and sustained attention, and are more work efficient than non-gamers. It also increases a person’s ability to identify visual and spatial relationships among objects.

Moreover, playing video games are actually beneficial for youth with or even without autism.  It improves the hand-eye coordination, situational awareness, social interaction which are a difficulty for autistic people. According to a study by the journal Current Biology, video gaming helps dyslexic children to read faster and with better accuracy. The downside of video games, however, is it can be addictive. Lack of supervision may also lead to aggression and violence. There are some video games that teach players wrong values where violent behaviour, vengeance and aggression are rewarded.