thanks in advance for overlooking capitalization and the use of the letters i and g. Either my keyboard or hands are having their little PMS moments today (you know, PIcky Motherboard Snags) and I may miss a few as I try to correct this post.
I was writing a post over on klmno's thread about software when I realized we haven't actually discussed this, at least not in my memory and not this way.
I know many of us have our struggles and our smoother times with regard to video games. While they can be a big problem, they can also be a big help. With this in mind, what aspects of video games have helped your kids? What specific games or types of games have helped and why? How did you use the games to maximize their effectiveness? Has one video game system or platform been more helpful than others? How and Why?
VIdeo games played on gameboy/gamecube were a big help for thank you. His hands work in a strange way. It is hard for him to use both hands to do a task. He does NOT pick up things with both hands unless he needs both hands to pick up one object or stack of objects. From early on, it took great concentration for him to be able to pick up one toy with his left hand and another with his right. He had a tough time coordinating them to do these things at the same time. Gameboy was a HUGE HUGE HUGE help with this. We later bought both the GameCube and the Wii as much as investments to help with this issue as for family entertainment.
thank you also has trouble with bending his fingers as he does something. I can't really describe it except where you or I would fold our fingers around something by bending at each knuckle, he doesn't do this. He has made huge progress, but it is not something that comes naturally to him, not by a giant size long shot. If anything, as he tries to use his fingers for something like picking up a dropped coin or piece of paper, his fingers seem to bend backwards. It is one thing that the OTs had a really hard time working with him on. As it is tough to play gameboy with-o bending your fingers, it really has helped with that also. Wiz was also helped by video games in these ways, but his problems in this area were not nearly as bad as Tyler's.
One computer game that we all love is called Sherlock. It is by Everett Kaser Software (www.kaser.com) and is wonderful. I found it around 15 yrs ago and still am not bored. It is a logic puzzle, similar to the logic puzzles sold in magazine form. You figure out what items belong to which people and where those people are based on clues. You can use only 3 people and variables (people are included as a variable), up to 8. They have quite a few other variations and types of puzzles, including one where you are at a dinner party with Moriarty and he is poisoning someone. You must figure out who Moriarty is and who he is poisoning. These puzzles use a bit more of your brain than solitaire, but they can also be quite relaxing.
We used these to teach basic logic and how to work through a problem one small step at a time. I spent days playing with j where we talked through each clue and how it changed the puzzle. I started out just verbalizing what a clue meant and then showing what it changed. After she got the method down, we have had hours of fun playing together. It is not a 2 party or competition game, so one of us moved the mouse and clicked things, and the other watched, but we both talked through what we saw and what we thought it meant.
Wiz didn't take as much explanation of the steps because by the time I found it he had already been doing logic puzzles for fun for several years. We used this to help build a relationship and to learn to talk through our thoughts rather than assuming the other person understood them with-o us saying anything. That helped me almost as much as it did Wiz. It allowed us to work on a small task or problem together and to learn to listen rather than to just talk and talk. It also reinforced some very basic logic problem solving and thinking tools for him (and me, of course but not as much). At the time we started, we were working on his belief that women were evil and demons and stupid so they HAD to be controlled in every way and forced to do only what the man wanted. He was still in third grade! He was able to develop a respect for my ability to use logic to solve the puzzles. We were also able to slowly challenge those thoughts about women based on the logic skills he was developing. Sure, they were simple 'If a=b and b=c then a=c' types of logic, but it got Wiz to start really thinking about what all these things he was believing and saying truly meant and how my actions and reactions just didn't fit into his perceptions and beliefs of how things were. It also got him to spend time with me, something he was refusing to do unless I spent substantial amts of money on him and did/purchased what he wanted only. If I even mentioned J or got something as a treat for her? He would FREAK and insist that she had ruined the entire outing or whatever simply because he thought that I had a fleeting thought about her. Using the logic skills, we were able to begin to change that pattern.
These are some of my thoughts on the benefits that video games have brought into my family. What are your thoughts about this? How have video games helped your family?
I was writing a post over on klmno's thread about software when I realized we haven't actually discussed this, at least not in my memory and not this way.
I know many of us have our struggles and our smoother times with regard to video games. While they can be a big problem, they can also be a big help. With this in mind, what aspects of video games have helped your kids? What specific games or types of games have helped and why? How did you use the games to maximize their effectiveness? Has one video game system or platform been more helpful than others? How and Why?
VIdeo games played on gameboy/gamecube were a big help for thank you. His hands work in a strange way. It is hard for him to use both hands to do a task. He does NOT pick up things with both hands unless he needs both hands to pick up one object or stack of objects. From early on, it took great concentration for him to be able to pick up one toy with his left hand and another with his right. He had a tough time coordinating them to do these things at the same time. Gameboy was a HUGE HUGE HUGE help with this. We later bought both the GameCube and the Wii as much as investments to help with this issue as for family entertainment.
thank you also has trouble with bending his fingers as he does something. I can't really describe it except where you or I would fold our fingers around something by bending at each knuckle, he doesn't do this. He has made huge progress, but it is not something that comes naturally to him, not by a giant size long shot. If anything, as he tries to use his fingers for something like picking up a dropped coin or piece of paper, his fingers seem to bend backwards. It is one thing that the OTs had a really hard time working with him on. As it is tough to play gameboy with-o bending your fingers, it really has helped with that also. Wiz was also helped by video games in these ways, but his problems in this area were not nearly as bad as Tyler's.
One computer game that we all love is called Sherlock. It is by Everett Kaser Software (www.kaser.com) and is wonderful. I found it around 15 yrs ago and still am not bored. It is a logic puzzle, similar to the logic puzzles sold in magazine form. You figure out what items belong to which people and where those people are based on clues. You can use only 3 people and variables (people are included as a variable), up to 8. They have quite a few other variations and types of puzzles, including one where you are at a dinner party with Moriarty and he is poisoning someone. You must figure out who Moriarty is and who he is poisoning. These puzzles use a bit more of your brain than solitaire, but they can also be quite relaxing.
We used these to teach basic logic and how to work through a problem one small step at a time. I spent days playing with j where we talked through each clue and how it changed the puzzle. I started out just verbalizing what a clue meant and then showing what it changed. After she got the method down, we have had hours of fun playing together. It is not a 2 party or competition game, so one of us moved the mouse and clicked things, and the other watched, but we both talked through what we saw and what we thought it meant.
Wiz didn't take as much explanation of the steps because by the time I found it he had already been doing logic puzzles for fun for several years. We used this to help build a relationship and to learn to talk through our thoughts rather than assuming the other person understood them with-o us saying anything. That helped me almost as much as it did Wiz. It allowed us to work on a small task or problem together and to learn to listen rather than to just talk and talk. It also reinforced some very basic logic problem solving and thinking tools for him (and me, of course but not as much). At the time we started, we were working on his belief that women were evil and demons and stupid so they HAD to be controlled in every way and forced to do only what the man wanted. He was still in third grade! He was able to develop a respect for my ability to use logic to solve the puzzles. We were also able to slowly challenge those thoughts about women based on the logic skills he was developing. Sure, they were simple 'If a=b and b=c then a=c' types of logic, but it got Wiz to start really thinking about what all these things he was believing and saying truly meant and how my actions and reactions just didn't fit into his perceptions and beliefs of how things were. It also got him to spend time with me, something he was refusing to do unless I spent substantial amts of money on him and did/purchased what he wanted only. If I even mentioned J or got something as a treat for her? He would FREAK and insist that she had ruined the entire outing or whatever simply because he thought that I had a fleeting thought about her. Using the logic skills, we were able to begin to change that pattern.
These are some of my thoughts on the benefits that video games have brought into my family. What are your thoughts about this? How have video games helped your family?
