Gesture-based Video Games to Support Fine-Motor Coordination Skills of Children with Autism

Children with autism have fine-motor coordination problems, which have a significant impact on the execution of activities of daily living. To practice their fine-motor coordination skills, they attend occupational therapy, which involves repetitive motor activities. However, sometimes traditional therapy can be perceived by children as tedious and boring. On the other hand, games-based therapy has shown to be effective and more fun. In this sense, gesture-based video games, digital games with gestural interaction as a game controller, might have the potential to support the fine-motor coordination skills of children with autism. In this paper, we present the design of a gesture-based video game to support the fine-motor coordination skills of children with autism, with the goal to contribute to the proper execution of activities of daily living, required for achieving independent living; and the process followed in the design.