Video games as developmental therapy

I feel lucky in some ways that I grew up with home video games, starting with the Atari 2600. I had few physical skills as a child (as in, sucked at sports), and I credit games with helping those fine motor skills.

Now, as a dad with a kid having some developmental challenges, I'm seeing the same opportunity with Simon. Diana has been playing an older puzzle game with him called ilomilo, where two characters must meet across a 3D landscape by getting around obstacles. I've been playing Lego Jurassic Park with him.

It's a good news, bad news thing. The good news is that his control is getting better very quickly, and his problem solving with virtual spacial perception is surprisingly robust. The bad news is that you can see the delays in muscle development, as his tired little hands start to grasp the controller in strange ways.

All of this still seems strange in the context of my childhood, when some people argued that video games were a worthless scourge on society. Screens are second nature to kids now, and in the right proportions, an essential tool.