Using the Wii Therapeutically in a School Setting: PART 2

Therapists working with the K-8 population, including students with diagnoses across the Autism spectrum, will also need to address perceptual processing problems including:

• right-left discrimination (ability to distinguish or identify left and right directionality)
• form constancy (recognition of objects or shapes as the same regardless of size, spatial orientation, or texture)
• position in space (recognition of the spatial orientation of objects in relationship to the surrounding environment)
• body scheme (perception of one’s own body arrangement in relationship to self and environment which facilitates the individual’s ability to orchestrate purposeful movement through space and focused manipulation of objects)
• figure ground (ability to discriminate or isolate a particular object or shape surrounded by or embedded in a varied background)
• depth perception (ability to recognize three dimensions in objects and self while  perceiving the relationships among and judging  the distances between these objects and/or self)
• spatial relations (ability to sense one’s position or place within the environment in relationship to other objects or people as well as the ability to perceive the relationship of one’s own body parts to each other)
• topographical orientation (ability to plan out a route and follow a route through recognition of landmarks, perception of landmark relationships and directional memory)

 Wiihab using activities and games found on the Wii Sports menu, used in conjunction with other more traditional approaches, targets problems children may have with perceptual processing, especially body scheme.     Do any of you have experience using Wii in a school program?  A group of students in NewJersey used Wii with a 13 year old with cerebral palsy.  Wiihab can also be a great tool for the school based therapist for addressing frequently encountered cognitive problems and psychosocial problems.  The next post will clarify those issues.