Brittany Travers, a University of Wisconsin–Madison investigator, with a study participant during a training session for a video game that helps improve balance in teenagers with autism. (Andy Manis/UW System)
New research suggests that a balance-training video game could not only lead to improvements in posture for teens with autism, but it could also reduce symptoms of the developmental disability.
After six weeks of balance training using a specially designed Nintendo Wii game, adolescents with autism showed better stability in their posture and significantly reduced severity in symptoms related to social communication, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, according to findings published recently in the journal Brain Communications.
The study looked at 34 people with autism and 28 without, all between the ages of 13 and 17, who were randomly…
