A Cognitive-Sensory-Motor Gamepad for Therapy of Children with ADHD

Abstract

In this paper, a cognitive-sensory-movement gamepad is introduced, that can be used for therapy of children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The invented gamepad is built from “off the shelf” items that enable a player to control any video game that uses a mouse for input. The player can use his/her feet to control the game, instead of a mouse, which makes a game an all-body experience. The gamepad is tested on a sample group of 20 elementary school students who were referred to a psychiatric clinic for therapy and they have been diagnosed with ADHD by a psychiatrist; the subjects were randomly divided into two groups of 10 students. Conners rating scale (1960) was used to measure their attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms before and after the intervention. The experimental group participated in 10 intervention sessions of 60 minutes for 4 weeks, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The obtained data were analyzed using the Analysis of the Covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the experimental and the control group in attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms. Overall, the results indicated that the use of the Cognitive-Sensory-Motor Gamepad had a significant effect on the improvement of symptoms of ADHD in the participating students.