My son loves video games! He has been playing on them since he was tiny, as his big brother has a Playstation. We also have a Wii, some old Nintendo consoles and some DS handheld consoles.
It is common for kids with ASD to become addicted to videogames. I think part of it is the freedom that they get from playing a character in a game. The can do all sorts of things that they cannot do in real life! Whilst I feel it is important to monitor the amount of time my son spends playing these games, I think the benefits can be enormous:
The games help his co-ordination as he learns to use combinations of buttons to achieve his on-screen goals.
The games help him to socialise with others in a multiplayer seting at home and give him a common ground with other children. He has to learn turn taking and sharing with his siblings.He talks about the games with other children at school, which helps his verbal and social skills and helps to break down barriers.
Games help him with maths and reading skills. He plays a Mario game and the character's speech comes up on the screen. He has to use his reading skills to tell what they are saying. This makes reading more fun for him than if he was in a formal school setting. The games also help his maths skills, as you may have a goal to collect a certain amount of objects, so he is making calculations in his head based on that goal.
Video games get a lot of bad press, but the right games, used in the right context, can be an real boost for an ASD child.
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