Kinect Helps Father Play With Autistic Son

[DustyDrB]

2 things I'm happy about:

1: This story: Let's see this on the nightly news. This is a touching story and has all the makings of the "lighter side of the news" type things they do from time to time save for one thing: it involves video games

2: The lack of bullheaded jerk posts in this thread. I thought Kinect is evil to most people here no matter what, but I'm astonished. Makes me want to hug someone. Way to go, Escapist.

 

[Asturiel]

2: The lack of bullheaded jerk posts in this thread. I thought Kinect is evil to most people here no matter what, but I'm astonished. Makes me want to hug someone. Way to go, Escapist.

It would be bad PR to bash this story, don't worry, they'll be back to bashing with the next news article.

OT: This is great, a nice little moment for a father and son. Kinect really should be re branded to something else with gaming on the side. Because results like this are heart warming, but it feels like Kinect won't really add much to the gaming world and could be potentially awesome elsewhere.

 

[Rad Party God]

Holy shit... did Microsoft actually did something right!??

Heh, I want to try Kinect, my sister has special needs too, she's not autist or something that severe, but she has problmes with her right side of her brain and has some troubles when trying to speak and order her thoughts correctly.

The Wii we got in our home is hers by right. She wanted it and we bought it for her. Though we were a tad bit dissapointed that she prefered to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Tatsunoko vs Capcom instead of Wii Sports or anything wich requires the strict use of the Wiimote (she's a fighting and racing nut and she almost always beats me).

Kinect seems interesting enough to try it with her, just to see if she actually wants to play some of these games without the need of any controller at all.

 

[tmujir955]

Hey, where did Fox go? Don't you want to report on the news?

....oh right.

 

[insanelich]

Calling bullshit on autism having anything to do with problems with a traditional user interface.

Heck, half of those things were designed by autistics for autistics, and I've seen far more normal people have problems with traditional controls than autistics with problems with 'em, even adjusted for the difference in number.

Get a group of autistics and a group of normal people, give 'em Emacs or Xbox Live, and see which group has more people struggling.

 

[duchaked]

if I had a young kid...it's be nice to start gaming with him via something like Kinect before he's old enough to handle a controller :3

 

[emeraldrafael]

I'm really Glad for this. Knowing a few autisic kids, it does my heart good to see something like this happen.

Plus it has the benefit to show how positive an impact games make. But you wont see that. Nope, you're just gonna see old codgers talking crap on a medium they dont get and will say this is the "rare occurence"

Good on you Microsoft, and good on your video games in general.

 

[samsonguy920]

Those so quick to say on how an average 4 yr old would have difficulty with a controller haven't been around the 2 to 3 yr olds I have who can put up a decent foray into a console or PC game. This is a brave new world where kids are learning electronics a lot sooner every day. I fully expect the day to come when we are saved from an alien invasion by a bunch of 8 year olds.
I wouldn't call Autism a disease myself, either, as everything I have read about it so far merely means that one's brain is just wired differently and it is difficult for the autistic person to translate what goes on to the mundanes. What sets us apart should never be considered a detriment. There has been evidence that some of those with autism are tapping into parts of the brain that most people (mundanes) never touch in their lifetime. If a way can be found where those autistics can truly translate what they perceive it could be a true benefit for many people.

Microsoft, i never though I'd say this but...

Spoiler: Prize Inside

http://freeinternetcookies.com/cookie/cookie.jpg

You've earned it

I wouldn't be so quick to give that to Microsoft as this was entirely incidental and I highly expect unintentional. If there is someone who deserves that cookie it is the dad for having the patience to raise a child with autism. But he already got that reward by finally finding an avenue where he can spend real bonding time with his son.
I expect MS to capitalize on this after the fact and when they do, you will feel so sick to your stomach.

 

[beema]

I must have a colder, blacker heart.

The first thing I thought of:

So, you're saying Kinect is for retards?

 

[Electrogecko]

I just have to say that is fucking awesome. Microsoft has inadvertently made a gaming controller that more people can use.

That was one of the goals of the motion control crusade in the first place. (at least it was for Nintendo)

Quite a heartwarming story indeed. "'I want to play with you, Daddy,' he usually just ends up watching his father play." That line is enough to make me cry.

I know I'm going to try to share my passion for gaming with my kids (if I have any). I just hope that they're not put off once they reach adolescence by the fact that they share a hobby with their old man.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Gave me chills. What a great story. I hope he and his son spend countless hours laughing and playing together, both on the Kinect and off.

 

[RainingCobalt]

I'm rather touched. Good for them!

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

If the dad says Kinect helped his kid overcome barriers stemming from autism, that's good enough for me. Every person on the Autism Spectrum is unique. There is probably no one who understands his son's struggles and triumphs better than this man. Do you know this kid well enough to confidently second guess his father's opinion? The man who will remember this moment for the rest of his life?

Good for them.

 

[SinisterGehe]

This is good story. Good leap for gaming as social media and way to shut up the mindless brawling OLD politicians.
But, this doesn't mean Kinect is something perfect and the future of gaming. Kinectic is for games that offer physical interaction. I can not see it as controller for FPS or RPG's. But for interactive gaming it would appear to be better than Nintendo Wii.

 

[Evilsanta]

Well il be damned, this really brightned up my day and it really warmed my heart.

Thank you for sharing this.

 

[The Cheezy One]

Awwww, thats sweeeet!
On a fairly disconnected level, its great advertising for games. But this takes a back seat to the kid being able to play with his dad!

 

[Twilight_guy]

Must. resist. urge. to. go all. mushy... will... failing...

GAHHHH! THAT'S AWESOME!!

Actually I have some idea how the guy feels. I had problems with small motor skills when I was young and otherwise simple things frustrated me a lot. I'm sure this is really making the guy's day for him and his son.

 

[ilspooner]

Thats really nice. Its good that they can laugh and play together. I bet video game haters will ignore this kind of story.

 

[One of Many]

Well, now I can't say anything bad about the Kinect for at least five days.

 

[Daniel Laeben-Rosen]

My apologies, I assumed when you said "difficulty understanding" you meant "dumb". I also apologise for the inflammatory and dickish use of the word 'wrong' in my previous post. I would say, though, that I used to work with autistic kids and pretty much all of them played video games with no difficulty whatsoever. One even played sudoku on a DS, though he was relatively "high functioning". It's the method of introduction that's the problem.
As you said, "wiggle that stick while pressing those two buttons to make your character do this" is confusing, even if the child hears it, but a better method is physical demonstration, i.e. showing them the buttons and helping them press them etc. Once they become interested, the understanding follows quickly.

That's ok, I probably didn't word it as smoothly as I could've. It was about 2am here when I wrote it.
I can't really fault you for having an almost pavlovian responce to something you care about. I do too about a number of subjects.

But yes, a physical demonstration is usually the best way to go. Or to get back to the article, incredibly simple directions like "Hold hand here - done", seems to work just fine.