Wii Purchases Bring Therapeutic Benefits Into Homes

New Wii Consoles flew off the shelves at retail outlets during the pre-holiday shopping sales. During one week in December, Walmart offered a $50 gift card for lucky customers who found Wiis in stock. So now many have a chance to experience Wii at home. In a UK paper an article explains ways to avoid injury when playing new games in the comfort of your own home.
New Wii owners, including those with chronic conditions express various ways they hope to use Wii in 2010. One Wii enthusiast with a spinal cord injury uses Wii to build arm strength. In an article entitled Wiiiiii!: Adaptive Exercise That’s Actually Fun the author offers good suggestions for therapeutic uses of Wii applications as well as suggestions for simple ways to make Wii applications more user friendly for this population.
New Wii owners with Multiple Sclerosis also recognize therapeutic value in Wii Sports and Wii Fit activities. Having Nintendo Wii in one's home allows the participant to pace themselves to avoid fatigue while playing many great games. Many Wii games increase flexibility and endurance.
Families with special needs children bought Wiis for home use. These families look forward to increased social interaction with their children. Social interaction in a safe environment may help improve social skills for these children. Wii activities offer opportunities for spontaneity; this area often challenges children with autism and other developmental delays. Also, during these cold winter months, the Wii offers an easy way to add more physical activity into a child's routine, providing an outlet for energy and the possibly of reducing negative behaviors such as tantrums.
While playing Wii participants need to follow safe practices to avoid injury. Players might also want to add wrist weights to increase the challenge. Parents might also want to speak with their child's occupational therapist for ideas for increasing challenge by altering positioning while playing certain Wii Sports activities.