Doing Play: Competency, Control, and Expression

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the personal experiences of children with cerebral palsy engaging in a virtual reality play intervention program. The study involved in-depth, focused interviews that were conducted with 19 participants aged 8-13 who had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. A constant comparative inductive method of analysis was used, and several themes emerged. Findings were interpreted using the theory of flow, the theory of self-efficacy, and the model of playfulness in virtual reality computer interactions. The three themes uncovered in the data include (a) doing play, (b) it's my way that matters, and (c) how I see me. The sub-theme safety also emerged. Findings from this study showed that children with physical disabilities are often limited in their play experience compared to their peers without physical disabilities. Children perceived engagement in a virtual reality play intervention program as an enjoyable experience which increased their self-competence and self-efficacy. Participants experienced a sense of control and mastery over the virtual environment and were provided a safe way to explore and challenge their abilities. Participants perceived experiencing flow and reported perceived physical changes and increased social acceptance from both peers and family. These findings provide evidence that virtual reality continues to show promise as a pediatric rehabilitation play intervention tool.

Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives

“…It has been proposed recently (Voiskounsky, 2004(Voiskounsky, , 2005(Voiskounsky, , 2006 to teach adolescents the fundamentals of computer ethics in order to help the younger generations, including the talented young computer geeks/nerds (Babaeva & Voiskounsky, 2002), to overcome a temptation of joining the communities of computer criminals. This proposal rests on the existing studies of the patterns of the flow experience within the hackers' community and on the psychological theories of human moral development Quite a humane direction for research in cyberspace is the application of the flow experience methodology for the psychological rehabilitation of the disabled and traumatized (Gaggioli et al, 2003;Miller & Reid, 2003;Reid, 2004;Riva, Castelnuovo, & Mantovani., 2006). Although the theory and methodology of such rehabilitation is still under discussion (Gaggioli et al, 2003) and far from being perfectly qualified -no full clinical records are available at the moment -the practice leads to certain valuable recommendations, especially about the ways of providing help for children with cerebral palsy using virtual reality systems (Miller & Reid, 2003;Reid, 2004).…”

“…This proposal rests on the existing studies of the patterns of the flow experience within the hackers' community and on the psychological theories of human moral development Quite a humane direction for research in cyberspace is the application of the flow experience methodology for the psychological rehabilitation of the disabled and traumatized (Gaggioli et al, 2003;Miller & Reid, 2003;Reid, 2004;Riva, Castelnuovo, & Mantovani., 2006). Although the theory and methodology of such rehabilitation is still under discussion (Gaggioli et al, 2003) and far from being perfectly qualified -no full clinical records are available at the moment -the practice leads to certain valuable recommendations, especially about the ways of providing help for children with cerebral palsy using virtual reality systems (Miller & Reid, 2003;Reid, 2004). Moreover, the Virtual Reality Play Intervention Program has proved to be useful in engaging disabled children in enjoyable experiences and thus making the quality of their lives better (Miller & Reid, 2003).…”

“…Although the theory and methodology of such rehabilitation is still under discussion (Gaggioli et al, 2003) and far from being perfectly qualified -no full clinical records are available at the moment -the practice leads to certain valuable recommendations, especially about the ways of providing help for children with cerebral palsy using virtual reality systems (Miller & Reid, 2003;Reid, 2004). Moreover, the Virtual Reality Play Intervention Program has proved to be useful in engaging disabled children in enjoyable experiences and thus making the quality of their lives better (Miller & Reid, 2003). The virtual reality-related approach to research and rehabilitation seems to be parallel, as it has been recently stated (Gaggioli, 2005;Riva et al, 2006), to the ambient intelligence approach -within both of them the investigators combine the cognitive (referring to the resources of attention) and the emotional (referring to enjoyment) parameters of behavior into a unified conception.…”

Robotic Solutions in Pediatric Rehabilitation

“…Everyday activities such as walking, crawling, or stretching are a struggle for these children. A child's physical impairments can lead to a low perception of self-efficacy and self-competence due to having difficulties engaging in play activities (Miller and Reid, 2003). To address these issues, proposed therapy routines for CP patients will focus on walking, stretching, and positive reinforcement for motivation.…”

Interactive computer play – what happens when the game is over?

“…It poses the question of whether an individualized ICP is more suitable as an accessible leisure activity for children interested in computer games rather than one of continuing therapy. ICP exercises are generally perceived positively by children, young people, and their families, 1,5 and may facilitate participation, turning home training into a social activity to be enjoyed with family and friends.James et al's findings stress the importance of continuing to provide goal-directed, task-specific therapy interventions in combination with intervention approaches using ICP. Further research is needed that combines goal-oriented and task-specific interventions with ICP, determines the effective therapy dose, and addresses the development of sensitive outcome measures specific to ICP.…”