Cove (Music Journal)
LQ: 8.8
Recommended Age: 8+
Skills Used: Organization, Self-Awareness
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a developmental disorder defined by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity. A child is diagnosed with ADHD when he displays attention problems that significantly impair his performance in school, at home, or in other situations.
Many children who do not have diagnosable ADHD still experience mild difficulties paying attention, following directions, and staying on task. While these Alternative Learners may not need the same level of intervention that a child with ADHD does, many of the technological and academic strategies presented here can still be very helpful.
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Children with attention problems or ADHD are often highly engaged by video games and other digital media. As a result, they may tend to display less of the characteristic symptoms of attention problems or ADHD when involved with digital technologies. In part, this is due to how the features of digital media counterbalance their attentional, behavioral, and learning difficulties. The following chart demonstrates how and why video games and other digital media can be a powerful tool for learning in children with attention problems and ADHD.
Kids with ADHD or Attention Difficulties: | Video Games and Other Digital Media |
May become easily bored and unable to sustain attention. | Good video games and other digital media are often multimodal, requiring ever-changing skills and employing a variety of stimuli including video, sounds, words, and actions that help keep kids interested and engaged. |
Often require reinforcement or consequence that is immediate in order to stay focused on a task. | Video games provide clear and immediate feedback, constantly letting the player know what he is doing wrong and what he is doing right. |
Often require that their body or mind to be actively engaged. | Video games and other digital media are extremely engaging and many require physical and cognitive involvement. |
Usually have problems with following directions. | Video games teach by trial and error or through guided discovery, requiring the player to understand instructions in order to succeed. |
May struggle to learn new information and experience frustration or low self-esteem as a result. | Most negative feedback from video games and other digital media occurs privately. This causes less embarrassment and frustration while teaching the player how to handle these emotions. |
First and foremost, video games and other digital media display the capacity to capture the mind of children with attention problems. Parents and teachers of children with attention problems almost universally agree that these children can easily sustain their focus while playing video games, surfing the Internet, or using other digital media.
One common approach is using electronic media to directly teach content, such as software designed to teach math or reading skills. A less common, though perhaps even more effective, idea is to transform “fun” forms of digital media (video games, social networking sites, and other things that kids do on their own) into real-life teaching tools by using their inherent academic requirements to teach your child the skills she needs to improve.
For example:
While video games and other digital media can be helpful in engaging kids’ attention, there are a number of concerns about the use of these tools for children with ADHD and attentional issues.
As a result, we encourage parents to be very judicious about and monitor the use of digital media for children with ADHD and attentional issues. Consult the table below to see what you should watch out for, and how you can go about avoiding these problems.
Cautions | Solutions |
Children with ADHD or attention problems may become “hyper-focused” on video games and other digital media, neglecting other important responsibilities. | Require that your child complete all of her homework, chores, or other responsibilities before being allowed some digital play time. By making him put-off these fun activities until after her work is done, he won’t be able to use digital play as a means of procrastination. |
Kids with ADHD or attention problems often become so absorbed with activities they find interesting, that they may lose track of how much time they have spent on their digital play. | Use a timer if you need to limit your child with ADHD. Time management and having a sense of time are often significant deficits for children with attention problems. You can use online timers such as www.timer-tab.com or even an everyday kitchen timer to keep your child on track. |
Kids with ADHD or attention problems may choose to engage with digital play instead of the physical activities that are part of a healthy treatment process. | Exercise has been shown to improve Focus and learning in children with attentional problems. Tell your child to go out and run around before playing video games, and to play active games such as Wii Tennis or Kinect Adventures. |
Treating Attention Deficit Disorder requires more than just the digital strategies that we can teach you. A number of traditional strategies work very well in conjunction with the methods described at LearningWorks for Kids including, behavioral, educational, and medical approaches. These may include:
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