MindHabits Online Demo: Useful Serious Game for Social Skills Group Activities

I'd like to share the on-line demo of MindHabit's suite of serious games that I've found useful in my work with teens and young adults who need support in the area of social-emotional skills. 


What I like about the online demo is that it adjusts to the player's responses. This feature made it fun to use during the last few social skills groups I facilitated at work, since it could be played by students with a range of cognitive abilities. I had students take turns playing the game using a SMARTboard, and found that all of the students paid attention to what was going on. In my opinion, using the interactive whiteboard supported "off-the-shoulder" learning among the students who were not at the board. 


MindGames is available for Windows and Macs, and the full version is just $19.99 and provides 100 game levels.  The full version tracks progress and includes four games.


Here's some information from the company's website:  
"Based on social intelligence research conducted at McGill University, these stress busting, confidence boosting games use simple, fun-to-play exercises designed to help players develop and maintain a more positive state of mind." 
 "Based on the principles of social intelligence: Inhibition - uses game mechanics to promote positive habits; Association - connects personal info to positive feedback; Activation - uses personal references"

You are playing the MindHabits Trainer online demo. Your progress will not be logged beyond this session. Copyright © 2008 MindHabits inc. All rights Reserved.

Upcoming: 

• Interview with Guillaume Largillier about Stantum's multi-touch tablet.
• Collaboration with Stevens Institute of Technology, focusing on a serious game project to support learning of "on-the-job" social skills for teens and young adults with autism spectrum disorders and related challenges.
• More news about large interactive displays, multi-touch, and gesture applications/installations.
• Cross-platform/device interactive "TV".
• Cathy Davidson's new book:  Now You See It: How The Brain Science of Attention Will Transform The Way We Live, Work, and Learn (Viking)

Quick Link: TechPsych post about transition/job skills resources for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Quick Link:
TechPsych post about transition/job skills resources for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders:http://techpsych.blogspot.com/2011/08/resources-for-transition-and.html

Today I hooked up a Wii to the IWB in the school's therapy room. Next - a Kinect?! (Angels are welcome to help us expand the school's "games" programs for students with special needs)

Today, I hooked up our school's Wii to the newly-installed IWB in the therapy room for the first time, and used it during a session for for a social-skills activity with two students who have autism spectrum disorders.  The students helped each other to create their own "Mii" avatars.  I had them play the bowling game, and was impressed how this activity elicited social conversation between the students, with minimal effort on my part.

Most of students in the program at Wolfe are in grades 6-12. They have cognitive, language, and motor delays.  A good number of the students also have autism spectrum disorders. Some have multiple special needs.

We have found that when our students are provided with interactive activities displayed on the large screen of an IWB, they tend to increase their level of attention to their peers and also communicate more with one-another, as well as with the teachers and staff.

By using an IWB for games at school, we are extending the reach of how this technology can be used with students who have more complex special needs.   By providing a means  for our students to learn to play positive games, we help them develop important physical, social, and leisure skills that they can use outside the school setting with non-disabled peers and siblings.  My hunch is that the games will also help promote cognitive/problem solving skills, too.

NOTE:
The funds to purchase the Wii were donated to our school, but did not cover additional games or accessories. We'd like to purchase Rock Band and Wii Fit. We'd also like to expand our program and purchase an Xbox with a Kinect.   An iPad or two would be OK, too : )

If there are any angels out there who'd like to donate funds for our "games" program at Wolfe, please contact me through my Google profile. I will connect you with the appropriate person.

Game designer/developers/researchers/students:
If you are interested in volunteering your efforts to work on a basic cooperative, pro-social game for the Kinect, SMARTTable, or interactive whiteboard, please contact me.

Back to school: Video clips that help students with autism learn and feel calm at the same time!

One of the schools I serve as a school psychologist has a number of students with severe autism.  Over the past year or so, each classroom was outfitted with a new interactive white board (IWB). We've found that multimedia content displayed on these large screens is much more engaging than what is viewed on computers with much smaller displays.
The exciting news is that some of the students who have minimal interest in computers pay a great deal of attention to activities on the IWBs.  Students who have self-stimulatory or repetitive behaviors that interfere with their ability to engage in traditional activities don't seem to exhibit these patterns nearly as much when the focus is on the IWB.   In my opinion, IWBs are great tools for reaching and teaching young people who have autism spectrum disorders!

I'm in the process of creating a variety of short video clips that teachers can embed in learning activities that also provide a way for students to reduce their levels of anxiety, agitation, and/or repetitive behaviors.

The following videos are my first experiments, and are not as polished as I'd like.  They are best viewed on a large-screen display or IWB, set to high definition.  Although various students have viewed these videos a few times this week, they were a great hit. In some cases, we found it useful to loop the video, especially for students who require repetition of content.

The videos were shot using a small hand-held Panasonic HD camcorder, and quickly edited in iMovie. The music was either taken from the iMovie music library or created using riffs in Garage Band, an Apple iLife product.

Enjoy!

Lily Pond and Music

In this video, I used a few subtitles to direct the viewer to points of interest, such as the little grasshopper hiding in the pink lily and a dragonfly, which appears near the end of the video.

Butterflies and Flowers Set to Music

I set this version to piano music for a student who listens to piano music as a coping strategy. I plan to create another version with other genres of music. This particular score was created with piano riffs from Garage Band.

Up Close at the Charleston Aquarium - with relaxing music


Even the most inattentive students paid maximum to this video when it was looped!  I think they liked the variety of sea life, especially the turtles.  Tip:  If you plan to capture video at an aquarium, plan to visit at a time where there are few visitors!

I can't wait to take my video camera to the Atlanta aquarium.


Minnows and Music


The minnows swimming around in the murky green tank are a little boring, but things get slightly more exciting when the bait-shop owner feeds them. The music makes up for what the video lacks. The students didn't mind at all.

Jellyfish at the Discovery Place Aquarium, Charlotte, NC - with music

I'd like to visit Discovery Place at a less-crowded time and re-capture the jellyfish in action from a better vantage point.
UPDATE
I'd like to see if there are similar videos set to music by William Orbit.
I found this video on YouTube of William Orbit's "Sea Green", set to video created by a fan:


Below is "Surfin", great for chilling - needs some video...


(Cross-posted on the TechPsych blog)