Proceedings of the 1 st International Serious Games Symposium (ISGS) December 26, 2019, Tehran, Iran A Cognitive-Sensory-Motor Gamepad for Therapy of Children with ADHD Forogh Mahmoodi, Leila Kashani-Vahid Department of Psychology and Special Education, Azad University, Science & Research Branch Tehran, Iran f. mahmoodi90@y ahoo.com lkashanimoradi@gmail.com Abstract—In this paper, a cognitive-sensory-movement gamepad is introduced, that can be used for therapy of children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The invented gamepad is built from "off the shelf' items that enable a player to control any video game that uses a mouse for input. The player can use his/her feet to control the game, instead of a mouse, which makes a game an all-body experience. The gamepad is tested on a sample group of 20 elementary school students who were referred to a psychiatric clinic for therapy and they have been diagnosed with ADHD by a psychiatrist; the subjects were randomly divided into two groups of 10 students. Conners rating scale (1960) was used to measure their attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms before and after the intervention. The experimental group participated in 10 intervention sessions of 60 minutes for 4 weeks, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The obtained data were analyzed using the Analysis of the Covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the experimental and the control group in attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms. Overall, the results indicated that the use of the Cognitive-Sensory-Motor Gamepad had a significant effect on the improvement of symptoms of ADHD in the participating students. Keywords: Cognitive-Sensory-Motor gamepad, Attention Deficit, and Hyperactivity Disorder. I. INTRODUCTION Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, with worldwide prevalence estimated at 7.2% in childhood and adolescence [1]. ADHD symptoms are clustered in three different subtypes of presentation: inattentive (ADHD-I), hyperactive/ impulsive (ADHD-HI), and combined (ADHD-C). Inattentive behavior in ADHD includes avoidance or dislike of tasks, such as schoolwork or listening to lectures, that require sustained attention. On the other hand, hyperactivity/impulsivity encompasses excessive motor movements, such as restlessness, and self-control difficulties, such as excessive talking [2]. ADHD causes a significant Hadi Moradi, Ali Yekta-Parast School of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Tehran Tehran, Iran moradih@ut.ac.ir a.yaktaparast@gmail.com disruption in one's social, educational, and professional activities. The prevalence of ADHD affects about 9.1% of children from 2 to 17 years of age [3]. These children most commonly reported the following characteristics in the order to be diagnosed: hyperactivity, perceptual-motor disorder, emotional instability, general coordination impairment, attention deficit, impulsivity, memory and thinking impairment, specific learning disabilities, speech and hearing deficits, damage to executive functions, vague neurological symptoms, and electroencephalographic irregularities [4]. Moreno-Garcia, Delgado-Pardo, and Roldan-Blasco (2015) found that children with ADHD show deficits in visual and auditory attention deficits as well as in the regulation of sensory/motor activity as compared to children without a history of ADHD [4]. There are many factors in the treatment of ADHD depending on each case: 1) the severity of the symptoms, 2) the impaired cognitive and behavioral skills, and 3) family problems. In general, three therapy approaches are used: a) behavioral, b) cognitive-behavioral, c) and drug treatment approaches [5], [6]. Although drug treatments are used in most cases, with temporary improvements in children's behavioral and educational problems, these treatments have several limitations [7]. For instance, these treatments are not effective for all children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and may have long-term side effects on blood pressure and other aspects of children's development [8]. In addition, many parents are unwilling to medicate their children because they are often concerned with their safety, side effects, and medication-related risks [9]. On the other hand, the typical behavioral intervention approaches need to be directly conducted by therapists/experts. Thus, these approaches are expensive and limited to locations and times where the therapist(s)/expert(s) are available. 978-1-7281-6766-4/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA. Downloaded on May 24,2020 at 20:18:56 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.