This document discusses potential benefits and concerns regarding children with ADHD playing Minecraft. It summarizes research showing that video games can positively impact cognition, motivation, social behavior, and emotion regulation for children. Specifically, games may improve spatial skills, problem-solving, persistence, and social/emotional regulation. However, children with ADHD or autism are more at risk for problematic game use. Inattention is linked to problematic use, and role-playing games are associated with issues for those with autism. The document examines whether parents and educators have choice regarding technology and considers developmental trends in media use.

1. Should Children with ADHD Play
Minecraft? The Pros and Cons of
Technology Use for Children
with ADHD
CHADD Annual International Conference on ADHD
Randy Kulman, Ph.D.
President, Learning Works for Kids
Gary Stoner, Ph. D.
University of Rhode Island

2. Disclaimer
Randy Kulman is President of LearningWorks for
Kids, Inc. and a Cogmed provider.

3. Introduction
• Terminology- Games, Apps, Digital media,
screen time, technologies- interchangeable
• Making the best of technology--with concern
• Research-based, practical approaches
• Games, Tech, media are forms of digital play-
and play=learning for children
• We want you to have fun and learn today

4. Take-Aways
• Recognition of the extent of children’s involvement with
digital media
• Understanding the research on the impact of games,
apps, technology on kids with ADHD
• Concerns and cautions about digital media and ADHD
• What makes digital media so powerful for kids with
ADHD
• Real world strategies for video games and kids with
ADHD
• Generalization strategies to make popular games and
apps into teaching tools for executive and academic
skills

5. Finding Angry Birds and Amazing Alex
• How to find Angry Birds on your device:
• iPhone, iPad: Go to App store, search on
bottom of screen, type Angry Birds on top of
screen, go to Free version, tap and download
• Android Phone/ Tablets: Go to Google Play,
search Angry Birds go to Free version, tap free
and then download
• Do the same for Amazing Alex

6. Minecraft

7. Why Do Kids Love Minecraft?
• Gratification in building something
• Constant feedback and discovery
• Creative engagement
• Taking something from imagination and making it into reality
• Incredible opportunities for expansion (achievement) via
mods, videos, and programming (effort)

8. Why Do Kids Choose To Play Minecraft?
• It's easy to enter, do not need to use to use complex moves
to start
• Simple as block by block but the complexity increases with
more knowledge
• Opportunities for planning and vision
• Easy in the way the Legos is easy anybody can build a
house but challenges increase incrementally
• So much to learn from others, kids love to watch Minecraft
videos

9. It’s Not Just Video Games Anymore
• Games, apps, software,
and websites are
merging.
• Access, particularly
mobile and tablet-based,
requires a new type of
monitoring and
understanding.
• Academic and
classroom are increasing
requiring games and
technology.
• Screen-based technologies or digital-media use are more
encompassing terms than video games.

10. Do Parents, Educators, and Healthcare
Professionals Have a Choice?
• Many homework and supplementary
programs are available only on
websites.
• Libraries are still for research (but only
if you use the Internet to search).
• Everybody else is playing.
• 21st century skills require digital
literacy.
• Communication requires digital
technology.

11. Media Use Across Decades
• 1930s: Movies, print, radio.
 Children 9-12; 2-3 hours per day listening to radio
• 1960s: Movies, print, radio, television
TVs on 6 hours per day in homes
• 1980s: Cable, video game consoles, portable music players,
computers, VCRs
Elementary schools kids watch 2.3 hours TV per day
• 2010s: Internet, cell/ smart phones, DVRs, Tablets, handheld
video games

14. Developmental Trends across
Media

15. Percentage of 8-18 Year Olds
Who Own Each Item:
Among All 8-10 11-14 15-18
Ipod/mp3 player 76% 61% 80% 83%
Cell phone 66% 31% 69% 85%
Handheld video
game player
59% 65% 69% 41%
Laptop 29% 17% 27% 38%
Portable
CD/tape player
16% 9% 16% 20%

16. Percent of Young People in Each
Age Group Who Own a Cell Phone:

17. Recent scholarly perspectives on the potential benefits of
playing video games, as well as video games and children
with ADHD.

18. • Identify and discuss potential benefits of playing
video games in 4 areas of functioning:
• Cognition
• Motivation
• Social behavior
• Emotion regulation
Granic, I., Lobel, A., and Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). The benefits
of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69 (1), 66-78.

19. • “A small but significant body of research has begun to
emerge, mostly in the last five years, documenting these
benefits. … these findings suggest that video games provide
youth with immersive and compelling social, cognitive, and
emotional experiences. Further, these experiences may have
the potential to enhance mental health and well-being in
children and adolescents… Whereas adolescents and adults
often use self-disclosure and direct discussion with close
friends to resolve emotional issues, children use play to work
them out through pretend-based narratives enacted either
alone or with others. Links between children’s propensity to
play and their development of cooperative skills, social
competence, and peer acceptance have also been empirically
established”
Why might video game play be
beneficial?

20. There is empirical evidence documenting positive
effects of video game play on cognition,
including:
– Spatial skills
– Problem solving skills
– Creativity
Cognition

21. • The design of many video games, seems
perfectly suited for promoting and teaching an
effortful, persistent, approach to problem solving
(e.g., motivation) and task completion
Motivation

22. • “In summary, although playing games is often
considered a frivolous pastime, gaming environments
may actually cultivate a persistent, optimistic
motivational style. This motivational style, in turn, may
generalize to school and work contexts. … certain
types of games will more likely foster these healthy
motivational styles, while others may not…Game
designers are wizards of engagement. They have
mastered the art of pulling people of all ages into
virtual environments, having them work toward
meaningful goals, persevere in the face of multiple
failures, and celebrate the rare moments of triumph
after successfully completing challenging tasks”
Motivation (cont.)

23. • “… among the top reasons individuals cite for using
diverse forms of media are to manage their moods
and to enhance their emotional states. Gaming may
be among the most efficient and effective means by
which children and youth generate positive feelings.
Several studies have shown a causal relation
between playing preferred video games and
improved mood or increases in positive emotion”
Emotional benefits of gaming:

24. • “experiencing positive emotions may help broaden the
number of behaviors one perceives as both possible and
motivating and may build social relationships that provide
support for goal pursuit and coping with failure. …Games do
not elicit only positive emotions; video games also trigger a
range of negative ones, including frustration, anger, anxiety,
and sadness. But…. the pretend context of video games may
be real enough to make the accomplishment of goals matter
but also safe enough to practice controlling, or modulating
negative emotions in the service of those goals. Adaptive
regulation strategies such as acceptance, problem solving,
and reappraisal have repeatedly been linked to less negative
affect, more social support, and lower levels of depressive
symptoms… These same adaptive regulation strategies seem
to be rewarded in gaming contexts because their use is
concretely and clearly linked to goal achievement”
Emotion regulation (cont.)

25. • …In these virtual social communities, decisions need
to be made on the fly about whom to trust, whom to
reject, and how to most effectively lead a group. Given
these immersive social contexts, we propose that
gamers are rapidly learning social skills and prosocial
behavior that might generalize to their peer and family
relations outside the gaming environment
• Players seem to acquire important prosocial skills
when they play games that are specifically designed to
reward effective cooperation, support, and helping
behaviors
Social Behavior Enhancement:

26. • “Social skills are also manifested in forms of civic
engagement: the ability to organize groups and lead
likeminded people in social causes. A number of
studies have focused on the link between civic
engagement and gaming. For example, one large-
scale, representative U.S. study (Lenhart et al., 2008)
showed that adolescents who played games with civic
experiences (e.g., Guild Wars 2, an MMORPG, or
massive multiplayer online role-playing game) were
more likely to be engaged in social and civic
movements in their everyday lives (e.g., raising money
for charity, volunteering, and persuading others to
vote).”
Social behavior (cont.)

27. WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Children with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with ADHD are at risk for
problematic video game use. However, group differences in media
use or in the factors associated with problematic video game use
have not been studied.
WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Boys with ASD and ADHD
demonstrated
greater problematic video game use than did boys with typical
development. Inattention was uniquely associated with problematic
use for both groups, and role-playing game genre was associated
with problematic use among the ASD group only.
Mazurek, M. O., & Engelhardt, C. R. (2013). Video game use in
boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, or typical
development. Pediatrics, 132(2), 260-266.

28. • METHODS: Participants included parents of boys (aged 8–
18) with ASD (n = 56), ADHD (n = 44), or TD (n = 41).
Questionnaires assessed daily hours of video game use, in-
room video game access, video game genres, problematic
video game use, ASD symptoms, and ADHD symptoms.
• RESULTS: Boys with ASD spent more time than did boys with
TD playing video games (2.1 vs 1.2 h/d). Both the ASD and
ADHD groups had greater in-room video game access and
greater problematic video game use than the TD group.
Multivariate models showed that inattentive symptoms
predicted problematic game use for both the ASD and ADHD
groups; and preferences for role-playing games predicted
problematic game use in the ASD group only.
Mazurek (cont.)

29. • WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Concerns as well as
hopes regarding electronic games have led researchers to
study the influence of games on children, yet studies to date
have largely examined potential positive and negative effects
in isolation and using samples of convenience.
• WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Results from this nationally
representative study of children 10 to 15 years indicated low
levels of regular daily play related to better psychosocial
adjustment, compared with no play, whereas the opposite was
true for those engaging in high daily play.
Przybylski, A. K. (2014). Electronic gaming and
psychosocial adjustment. Pediatrics, 134 (3), 716-722.

30. • METHODS: A large sample of children and adolescents aged 10 to
15 years completed assessments of psychosocial adjustment and
reported typical daily hours spent playing electronic games.
Relations between different levels of engagement and indicators of
positive and negative psychosocial adjustment were examined,
controlling for participant age and gender and weighted for
population representativeness.
• RESULTS: Low levels (less than 1 hour daily) as well as high levels
(more than 3 hours daily) of game engagement was linked to key
indicators of psychosocial adjustment. Low engagement was
associated with higher life satisfaction and pro-social behavior and
lower externalizing and internalizing problems, whereas the opposite
was found for high levels of play. No effects were observed for
moderate play levels when compared with non-players.
Przybylski (Cont.)

31. • “Electronic games might best be thought of as a new
variety of toys offering a range of distinct play
experiences and not a new embodiment of traditional
media entertainment. Other aspects of gaming, such
as children’s motivations for play and the structural
affordances of different kinds of gaming contexts, must
be investigated to further our understanding of how
exactly they impact on children’s well-being and
behavior and inform improved evidence based
guidelines for electronic play.”
Przybylski (Cont.)

32. • ABSTRACT. Young people with developmental disorders
experience difficulties with many cognitive and perceptual
tasks, and often suffer social impairments. Yet, like typical
youth, many appear to enjoy playing videogames. …
Durkin, K. (2010). Videogames and young people with
developmental disorders, Review of General Psychology,
14(2), 122-140.

33. • Why should videogames appeal to children with disorders,
who often struggle with many other tasks?
• Even if the games do have attractions for these individuals,
how do their conditions affect their abilities to engage with
them?
• What is the nature of their uses and experiences with the
medium?
• Can their interactions with games help us to learn more about
their disorders, needs and potentialities?
• Is game playing advantageous to them or harmful?
• Could their interests be built upon for developmental,
cognitive, educational, social, or therapeutic benefit?
Durkin (Continued); Questions posed:

34. • Exploiting videogames to support and extend the development of
young people with disorders, and to enhance their leisure time, is an
attractive prospect not least because it affords means of delivering
or supplementing interventions and of stimulating play in a relatively
cost-efficient manner. It is not a substitute for other forms of
support, nor is it likely to prove a panacea for all the difficulties
that these children face. Overall, considerable evidence indicates
that videogames can be as engaging for children with disorders as
they are for other players, and several studies indicate benefits in
respect of cognitive or social functioning. There is little evidence to
indicate that children with developmental disorders are harmed by
playing videogames, though a cautious interpretation could be that
this is partly because the question has not been addressed
extensively.
Durkin (Continued) :

35. • Clinical and anecdotal observations -
too much!
• No evidence of difference concerning
frequency or duration of play between
ADHD and typically-developing children
ages 10 to 12.
• Similar enjoyment for the same types of
games (Bioulac 2008).
• South County Child and Family
Consultants Data
How Much Do They Play?

36. • 10- to 12-year-olds in France are
exactly like their peers (Bioulac
2008)
• Milwaukee study of teens, same
amounts with more variability
(Fischer and Barkley 2006)
• More video-game play than music,
in contrast to peers (LearningWorks
for Kids 2011)
• 90% of ADHD rather than 80% of
TD kids spend more than one hour
a day on computer (Linginerni,
2012)
Do children with ADHD play video games
the same amount as their TD peers?

37. Activity Mean (N = 65) Standard Deviation
Watching TV 2.8 .96
Reading or doing homework 1.37 .96
Playing outdoors or sports 2.31 1.34
Talking/texting on cell phone .63 1.10
Doing homework on the computer .51 .83
Listening to music 1.86 1.26
Using the Internet 1.49 1.31
Playinng organized sports 1.05 1.32
Playing video games 2.05 1.27
Playing with toys/board games 2.14 1.40
On a typical weekend or vacation, about how much time does your child
spent with the following technologies and activities:
LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study
0
None
1
<30
2
30-60
3
60-120
4
>120 minutes

38. Activity Mean SD
1. Playing video games 1.59, N = 64 1.87
2. Doing homework 5.89, N = 64 2.24
3. Having a conversation with you or other 4.14, N = 64 2.16
4. Doing chores 5.51, N = 64 2.42
5. Watching TV 2.32, N = 64 1.96
6. Reading 3.67, N = 64 2.34
7. Playing with Legos or blocks 2.23, N = 62 2.12
8. Playing with action figures/dolls 2.30, N = 63 2.16
9. Playing on the Internet/computer 1.94, N = 64 1.76
LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study
How often does your child show signs of ADHD such as loss of focus, fidgeting, and
disorganization while: (Scale 0 to 9 with 0 meaning never, 9 always)

39. • Time spent with technology on a typical weekend
or vacation
 Mean = 306.92, SD = 116.64
• Time spent with non-technological activities on a
typical weekend or vacation
 Mean = 228.31, SD = 96.87
LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study

40. Approach Percentage
1. No access to games or the Internet 3.1
2. Only on weekends and vacations 10.9
3. After homework is completed 40.6
4. Limited number of hours a day 14.1
5. Do well in school and play games 14.1
6. No specific rules 17.2
Parenting strategies with children with ADHD:
1. Do you monitor the length of time your child plays with video games and is on the
computer?
Never Sometimes Often Always
6.2% 18.8% 28.1% 46.9%
2. What best describes your approach to setting limits for your child with digital
media?
LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study

41. • May not always perform as well as their typically-developing
peers (Lawrence, et al 2002)
• May process information somewhat slowly on video games.
(Lawrence et al. 2002, 2004).
• Perform as well as their peers in simple games but problems
applying executive and problem-solving skills to complex
video games (Lawrence et al. 2004).
• Less success when navigating challenges, developing novel
problem-solving (Lawrence 2004)
• Perform poorly in neuropsychologically-based game
mechanics such as working-memory and cognitive-flexibility
tasks
How do children with ADHD perform on
video games?

42. • More than one hour a day is associated with short term
increased signs of inattention (Taharoglu)
• Increased difficulty in transitioning and stopping video-
game play, resulting in more oppositionalism
• More video-game time is associated with increasing signs
of inattention (Mazurek and Engelhardt 2013 study)
• Video-game play can be associated with video-game
addiction related to Dopamine release in the brain (Han
and colleagues 2009)
Problematic behavior in video-game play
in children with ADHD

43. • Total time spent with screen media is positively associated
with attention problems (Swing, Gentile, et al. 2010).
• Four-year-olds watching Spongebob can have an
immediate negative effect on children’s executive-
functioning skills (Lillard 2011).
• Television/Video-game use along with exposure to violent
content not predictive of attention problems or grade point
average (Ferguson 2010)
• Are digital media the cause of increasing rates of ADHD?
Do Video/Computer Games and Television Impact
Attention Span?

44. Cautions Solutions
Children with ADHD or attention problems
may become “hyper-focused” on video games
and other digital media, neglecting other
important responsibilities.
Require that your child complete all of her
homework, chores, or other responsibilities
before being allowed some digital play time. By
making him put-off these fun activities until
after her work is done, he won’t be able to use
digital play as a means of procrastination.
Kids with ADHD or attention problems often
become so absorbed with activities they find
interesting, that they may lose track of how
much time they have spent on their digital
play.
Use a timer if you need to limit your child with
ADHD. Time management and having a sense
of time are often significant deficits for children
with attention problems. You can use online
timers such as TabTimer.com or even an
everyday kitchen timer to keep your child on
track.
Kids with ADHD or attention problems may
choose to engage with digital play instead of
the physical activities that are part of a
healthy treatment process.
Exercise has been shown to improve Focus and
learning in children with attentional problems.
Tell your child to go out and run around before
playing video games, and to play active games
such as Wii Tennis or Kinect Adventures.

45. Angry Birds

46. • Birds are used as
projectiles to hit pigs that
are protected by
structures.
• Players plan out each shot
and predict the
consequences of his shot.
• Each level is set out
uniquely so the player to
flexibly change strategies.
Angry Birds

47. • Cogmed Working Memory Training
• Action video games for improving
selective attention (Green and
Bevalier)
• DDR and Improved reading
• Headsprout and ADHD kids
• Computer -based math programs
and ADHD
• Other studies, eg Interactive
metronome, Play Attention, Brain
Train Products, Lumosity, Posit
Science’s BrainHQ
• LWK research on EFS
Research-based Technological
Recommendations

48. • Apps and Video Games
“made” for ADHD
• Tend to be psychoeducational
or simply not fun
• Select technologies based
upon a child’s individual needs
• Engagement which increases
attention and persistence to
the task is important
• Technologies with near transfer
or direct connections to a skill
are best
• Practice, intensity, and
limitations are important
Recommendations for Video Games and Technologies
for Children with ADHD

49. • It is engaging and sustains attention.
• It practices a specific skill the child needs to improve such
as focus, planning, or time management.
• It promotes persistence of effort and a willingness to
overcome obstacles.
• It is complex and interesting enough to result in duration
and intensity of game play.
• Generalization of game-based skills can be applied to the
real world.
What makes a game or app a good
teaching tool for children with
ADHD?

50. Strategies for Improving Executive
Functioning Skills and Attention
• Traditional behavioral, classroom, and cognitive strategies
• Medication and brain-based strategies
• Organizational, study skills, and executive function coaching
approaches
• Meditation, mindfulness training, yoga
• Physical exercise
• Technology-based interventions

51. What Skills Can You Learn from Video
Games and Technology?
• Focus and attention
• Knowledge acquisition
• Social awareness
• Spatial reasoning skills
• Fluid reasoning skills
• Executive functions and executive control

52. What Tech Tools are Used to Teach Attention
and other Skills?
• Working memory training programs- Cogmed
• Neurofeedback/ biofeedback
• Action-based video games
• Attention trainers- Akilli, Play Attention
• Brain Training suites such as Lumosity and Fit Brains
• Apps and games designed for special needs kids with Autism
ADHD, LD
• Popular games, apps, and technologies

53. How Popular Games and Apps Improve
Executive Functions
• Support, primarily apps where a
skill is scaffold it by the
functionality
• Practice – primarily with games with the
scale is used repeatedly in order to
achieve goals
• Mastery, primarily apps and
games that built in
generalizability and practice

54. Why Use Popular Games, Apps and Technologies
to Improve Executive Functions
• Engagement, fun, attention, and persistence
• Many games use the same types of activities and exercises that
are used in brain training games
• Game mechanics- adaptive, challenges adapt to mastery level
• Variability- an opportunity to practice similar, but complementary
skills with different games
• Quality and depth of many of the games
• Low-cost and accessibility

55. Limitations of using popular games and
technologies to prove executive functions
• Lack of peer-reviewed research
• Difficulty in tracking engagement and progress in the game and relating
it to real world skills and improvement
• Skills that are practiced may be less focused or lack intensity and
duration
• Extraneous information and objectives that occur within the game
• Focuses on fun and not skill development
• Attitude of educators and researcher is often negative and skeptical
• No evidence of generalizability

56. Improving Generalization by Building it into the
Games
• New games such as IF (If You Can)
o For improving social awareness and self-control skills
• Innovations in technology to create
brain change such as a Akili and
other potential tools
• Cogmed working memory training
• Luminosity/ other brain training tools
• Still very limited and the critics of
brain training tools are quite vocal

57. Strategies for using popular games and apps
to improve executive functioning skills
• Typically requires more than game play alone
• Modeled after the SharpBrains method of effective brain
training
• Training engages a specific brain-based
skill such as speed of processing or
working memory
• Training targets an area of weakness,
assessed by tools such as the TEAS
(Test of Executive and Academic Skills)
• Adaptive- games and prescriptions increase the demands on
cognitive resources

58. Strategies for using popular games and apps to
improve executive functioning skills- 2
• Dosage and intensity -needs to be sufficient
minimum dose of (Approx 15 hours per target
area over eight weeks)
• Choose games that target slightly different
aspects of the same skill, similar to doing a
variety of exercises to build biceps
• Continued long-term practice is necessary to maintain benefits
• Additional training outside of the game using metacognition and
practice opportunities improves generalization

59. Implementing a game and app
prescription
• Assess the executive functioning skills
• Choose a variety of games that practice targeted skills, or apps to
support the skills
• Create a prescription of games and apps that is age appropriate,
adaptable, enduring, and intense
• Provide specific instructions on how much to play
• Use generalization and metacognitive strategies proven to be
successful in the classroom to promote real world learning
• Identify a variety of sub skills that can build on the initial
prescriptions
• Detect, Reflect, and Connect

60. LearningWorks for Kids Prescription Model

61. • Existing games are generally not designed
to promote skills in children with ADHD.
• Existing games focus on other things, while
using important thinking skills.
• Metacognitive skills are not built into
existing video games.
• Generalization and strategic teaching skills
are not built into existing game.
Why do children with ADHD not become
scholars after playing video games?

62. • Game play alone results in modest improvements in real-
world executive skills
• Children with learning and attention problems have
problems in generalizing strategies
• Kids like to talk about playing video games and may be
willing to learn from that
• Games prompt partnering and motivation to learn
executive skills
• Practice and rehearsal of executive skills
How well do game based skills
transfer to the real world?

63. • The key to success is effective teaching or mediation
(can be done in the game)
• Teachers (including peers, parents, and imbedded
instruction) make the connection between game-based
learning and real-world skills
• Actual learning requires knowledge of the skill,
understanding how and when to use it, and practice
across many situations
BUT…games are not enough!!!

64. What can we do to make video games a
more productive learning experience for
children with ADHD?
• Build generalization strategies, practice skills
outside of the game
• Consider duration and intensity of game play
to practice skills
• Mediated learning, including parents,
psychologists, educators, and peers
• Utilize a differentiated instructional model that identifies the specific skills
that a child with ADHD needs to improve
• Teach skills and then practice them in game and technology play
• Talk about gameplay and skills, metacognitive approaches

65. • Talk before, during, and after gameplay. Choose
gameplay goals with your child.
• Have fun playing the game with your child!
• Reflect on gameplay, emphasizing the use of
the targeted thinking or academic skills.
• Direct your discussion to how these same skills
are useful in daily activities.
Play Together

66. Building a Home

67. • Explain the benefits of digital play, and introduce
the skills being exercised in the game.
• Encourage non-digital activities that use the
same skills.
• Regularly connect game-based skills to things
your child is struggling with in the real-world.
• Try different games and skills
Make it Work

68. Amazing Alex
– Physics-based puzzle game
where players create chain
reactions using everyday
items
– Skills of planning, flexibility,
and focus
– Foresight and working
memory in order to succeed
– Attention to detail is important
in order to obtain perfect
score across many levels
Games for practicing executive skills

69. Amazing Alex

70. Age Amount of Time
0 to 24 months not at all
2 to 5 years 30 to 60 minutes a day (joint
media engagement the rule)
6 to 9 years 30 to 60 minutes a day
(parents select games)
10 to 13 years 30 to 60 minutes a day (parents
monitor game selection)
14 years old older 30 to 90 minutes a day
(emphasize social gaming)
How Much Should Your Child with
ADHD Play Video Games?

71. • Concerns regarding time management and time blindness
• Difficulty with shifting and transitions from one activity to
another
• Tendency to become overly focused on video-game play
• Oppositional tendencies
seen with children with
ADHD
• Child’s sense of success
and reward in playing
video games
• Parent’s sense of peace
and reduction of conflict
Why It Is Difficult to Set Limits on
Game Play with Children with ADHD

72. • Be firm, consistent, and engaged.
• Be flexible when it serves your purpose
• Consider schedules
• Curation
• Consider the Individual
and Developmental
level
• Be in control of the tech
• Be sensible, look at
your own media use
• Start with a “Play Diet”
Strategies for Setting Effective Limits for
Children with ADHD

73. • Control the controller
• Limit access to content such as violence or
sexual themes
• No access during the school week
• Parents own the technology
• Time limiting tools such as timers, screen
managers
• Strategies best for younger children, kids with
addictive tendencies, and inappropriate use
Limit Setting-Parental Control of Access

75. • Include large doses of physical, social, creative, and
unstructured play
• Make other forms of play more attractive
• Model a balanced play diet
• Screen based technologies should not be the “to go”
activity
• Keep your kids very busy with other activities
• Foster the development of alternative long-term interests
• Strategy is preferred method as it focuses on overall
health
Create a Healthy Play Diet

76. Make a Schedule
• An hour a day
• After homework is done
• Only on weekends and vacations
• Anytime and anywhere
• Never
• Good for kids who struggle with school or find
screen-based time too rewarding

77. • Only educational games
• Differentiation based upon an individual child’s
characteristics
• Level of digital nutrition as judged by the parent
• Choose games and apps suggested by your
kids
• Best for kids who can’t choose appropriately or
those with specific academic needs
Curation of Content

78. • Play games together both at home or online
• Follow your own sensibilities about violence or
other inappropriate content
• Choose games to foster shared family interests
such as sports or classic board games
• Model appropriate amounts of screen-based
activities
• Good for families who use technology with their
kids
Family Sensibilities, Modeling, and Playing with
Your Child

79. • Maturity rather than age-based
• Children under the age of five need ongoing supervision
• Elementary school children-some independence but not
owners of technology
• Tweens may choose own technology but need
supervision from parents
• Teens-Autonomy requires taking responsibility and good
decision making
• Teens need more access to digital and social media
• Important approach for all kids
Developmental Considerations

80. • Working-memory games, both
formal training and casual games
• Planning games that require
setting long- and short-term
goals
• Apps that help with
organizational and time-
management skills
• Developmentally rather than chronologically age-appropriate
• Genres rather than specific games
• Active games, the more active and vigorous movement the better
• Puzzle games- Help with time management and focus
What Types of Games and Apps Should a
Child with ADHD Use?

81. • Practice-Guided and
regular rehearsal of new
skills in an interesting
manner
• Master- Owning the skill
, knowing how, when,
and where to use it
• Support- External structure, scaffolding to help self
regulation and learning
How Games and Apps can Help

82. Evernote

83. • A smartpen that records voice notes that is connected to
written notes
• Child takes notes on digitally-equipped paper and when
going over those notes can listen to
• Recordings of lectures
• Helps with children who
struggle with working
memory
• Very helpful for children who
process information or have
slow clerical motor speed
LiveScribe

84. LiveScribe

85. • 50+ peer review studies -
demonstrated to improve
reading, math, and sustained
attention
• Generalization is improved
by using additional tools and
strategies in conjunction with
Cogmed
• Research-based, clinically-proven computer program to
improve working-memory capacities of
• Targeted regimented exercises
• Demonstrated to promote structural changes in the brain
based upon principles of neuroplasticity
Cogmed Working Memory training

86. Cogmed Working Memory training

88. • Players use tennis rackets and can get vigorous
exercise
• Self-control and flexibility required while playing
the game
• Primarily the game is good
for children with ADHD,
as it promotes vigorous
exercise using complex
body movements when
done properly
Wii Sports: Tennis

89. Wii Sports: Tennis

91. Thank You
• Randy Kulman, Ph.D
• randy@learningworksforkids.com
• @lw4k on Twitter
• www.pinterest.com/lw4k
• www.learningworksforkids.com
• Gary Stoner, Ph.D.
• Gstoner@uri.edu