While the gaming is usually seen as a distraction by parents, it has come to light they may be able to help kids. By capturing their attention, a new study suggests that action video games may be beneficial to children with dyslexia.
The interpretation of dyslexia.
Credit: Jackie Weber Projects
At the University of Padua and the Scientific Institute Medea of Bosisio Parini in Italy, Andrea Facoetti says, “Action video games enhance many aspects of visual attention, mainly improving the extraction of information from the environment.” With this notion his team went on to test reading proficiency in children who had played action video games versus those who had played non-action video games.
The children who had played action video games showed an increase in accurate reading rate as well as improvements on other attention tests.
Though Facoetti’s study does not prescribe video games as a treatment for dyslexia, it certainly raises a new and innovative way to treat and prevent dyslexia in children.
Facoetti also added that his study by no means recommends unsupervised hours of video games.
As dyslexia represents from 80-90% of learning disabilities in Canada, having new approaches to its prevention and treatment are promising.
Children & Video Games
Credit: Getty Images, from Parents Connect
Will children be learning while having fun in the years to come? That sounds that the perfect recipe to me.
