By: Sullivan,  on the blog ‘Left Brain, Right Brain‘
I’ve read a lot about the benefits of the iPad over the past year. And, yes, it is a very good thing to add to the arsenal of tools to help disabled people. But the iPad is not the only new technology gadget on the market, and this was made clear in an article: Effectiveness of virtual reality using Wii gaming technology in children with Down syndrome.
Yep. The Wii. Here is the abstract:

Effectiveness of virtual reality using Wii gaming technology in children with Down syndrome.

Wuang YP, Chiang CS, Su CY, Wang CC.

Department of Occupational Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan. [email protected]
Abstract

This quasi-experimental study compared the effect of standard occupational therapy (SOT) and virtual reality using Wii gaming technology (VRWii) on children with Down syndrome (DS). Children (n = 105) were randomly assigned to intervention with either SOT or VRWii, while another 50 served as controls. All children were assessed with measures of sensorimotor functions. At post-intervention, the treatment groups significantly outperformed the control group on all measures. Participants in the VRWii group had a greater pre-post change on motor proficiency, visual-integrative abilities, and sensory integrative functioning. Virtual reality using Wii gaming technology demonstrated benefit in improving sensorimotor functions among children with DS. It could be used as adjuvant therapy to other proven successful rehabilitative interventions in treating children with DS.

See the full Article HERE on Left Brain/Right Brain