Families
ADHD DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A STRUGGLE ANYMORE.
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Non-medical alternative ADHD intervention
FUN mind controlled attention training computer games
- ‘Ryan’ has reduced his medication after 6 months training while still seeing his attention improving
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A British study utilising Games for Life technology and training has shown that children suffering from the behavioural disorder can control their Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms – simply by playing mind controlled attention training computer games that improve attention and train self-discipline.
Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Psychology supported children in Herts County Council schools, who were either diagnosed with ADHD or identified by their teachers as having attention problems, were asked to play Games for Life’s attention training games three times a week for 12 weeks, a session typically lasts for approx 30 minutes. Each session lasted for half an hour with the children tested to measure their attention before and after the experiment. At the end of the study, the researchers found that the children’s impulsive behaviour had improved by at least 25 per cent. (Click on our Webinar button to register see the games in action!)
‘The game trains children who have problems with attention to concentrate,’ explains Professor Karen Pine, who led the study.
‘Children with ADHD can’t sit still and find it hard to stick at any task. They never seem to listen and appear unruly or badly behaved. The condition makes it hard for them to curb their impulsiveness.
‘Traditionally, drug treatment has been the only real option. But these findings show that ADHD can be tackled simply by teaching self-control.’
ADHD is defined by two broad groups of behavioural problems: inattentiveness, and a combination of hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Common symptoms also include a short attention span, restlessness and constant fidgeting.
However, these carry serious side effects when taken long-term, including damage to the cardiovascular and nervous systems – and many parents are reluctant to medicate their children. Around 60 per cent of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to suffer from the condition as adults.
The games system, uses a helmet lined with electrodes, to monitor brain activity, which is connected to a computer.
‘The helmet picks up brain rhythms associated with concentration,’ explains Prof Pine. ‘This sends messages to what is effectively a computer games console, so the player can control the game with their mind.
‘The games are designed so that if the player concentrates for long enough they win. However, if their attention is broken the game freezes.
‘In one game the children had to get a deep-sea diver to descend to the seabed and retrieve treasure. To get him to dive, they had to focus their attention – he stopped moving if their mind wandered. It is a fun and very effective way of teaching these children to control their attention.’
One child who took part was eight-year-old Justis Wintz, from Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.
‘When Justis first started school, it quickly became obvious he had problems concentrating,’ says his mother Suzanne Delaney, 39, a mature student. ‘His teachers told us that he wouldn’t sit still and that he’d often blurt out inappropriate questions.
‘This didn’t surprise us – at home his temper was volatile. One minute he’d be playing, the next he was angry and throwing things at us. He was impossible to discipline.’
Suzanne and her partner Joseph Wintz, 41, a supervisor for London Underground, eventually had to move their son to a local special school. But since participating in the Play Attention study, they are delighted with his progress.
‘He is calmer and he doesn’t fidget as much,’ says Suzanne. ‘He now gets dressed with less prompting, gets his own juice and even washes up the odd saucepan, which he never did before. Since he’s changed so much in a relatively short time, our aim is for him to go into a mainstream secondary school.
You are encouraged to register for FREE WEBINAR to view Play Attention in action or call us at (0844-335-0252) to answer any of your questions.
