Objectives: The objective of this exploratory study is to evaluate the benefit of using the kinect in a psychomotor rehabilitation towards these children. More specifically, it is to determine whether, on one hand, the kinect is a motivating learning for these children, and on the other hand, whether psychomotor learning can be acquired with this technology.
Finally, a secondary objective is to assess whether:
-The mere repetition of the use of the Kinect without rehabilitative intervention allows to improve performance in games used.
-Improving the games scores can result in changes on the psychometric level
Methods: 4 children with severe intensity ASD associated with moderate to severe intellectual disability participate in this study.These children have roughly equivalent developmental levels .
Psychomotor skills were initially assessed using standardized tests in the areas of motor skills, executive functions and imitation. A retest composed of the same instruments will be made at the end of the program
A kinect game has been proposed for 15 minutes during 12 sessions of psychomotor rehabilitation. This game implements the following skills:
• Anticipation
• Motor Coordination
• spatial recognition.
These areas of expertise were not trained specifically during rehabilitation sessions except when using the Kinect. An observation checklist was developed to assess the development of these skills in the protocol, as well as the level of motivation on the basis of a checklist of observable behaviors.
To provide a baseline, the kinect game has been first offered to children without guidance. Systematic quotation of the observation frame made it possible to assess their ability to learn independently.
A phase of play with psychomotor guide was then introduced at meetings No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 according to the children. Systematic quotation of the observation scale was used to assess the evolution of skills under the guidance and the effect of therapist.
At the end of the protocol, a re-test of psychomotor skills has been proposed to determine whether the development of skills sought by the game resulted in an improvement of psychomotor skills
Results: We aim to check several assumptions:
-Children with severe intensity ASD are motivated to psychomotor learning through the use of kinect
-The guidance and support of the therapist are needed to improve their success in the game and improve updated skills
- Improved game scores reflects the development of psychomotor skills which can be demonstrated by the retest of targeted abilities
Conclusions: Regular use of the KINECT is likely to improve psychomotor skills of children with ASD if it is mediated by a therapist