Why video games are good for you.
As homeschoolers we've learned to trust our son with his education- when he leads th' way his progress and learning is evident. He's taught us that you can learn anything from anything. Video games, it turns out, are no different. For one, it's brought our family together more. Before Donkey Kong we'd go over to grandma and grandpa's house and fynn would just kinda bounce around th' place, discontent, disruptive. He didn't really know what to do with himself. Now we all laugh and cheer and encourage and comfort him together. We're all sharing moments together, with him, and that's priceless. Also, he's learning how to self regulate. This is huge, his fits are like seizures, (in fact, i'm not sure they are not seizures) they come upon him at th' slightest provocation and can render our entire household useless for an indefinite amount of time. When th' storm passes he's really sorry, he just can't help it he says, it's like th' fuss just takes me over he says. It's really hard to watch him go through these episodes, hurting himself and others in th' process, and being unable to stop. An online video game freezing up can trigger one of these fits. So can just having a hard time with th' game. But lately we've begun to notice something unusual. When he's starting to get frustrated, instead of doing nothing and letting it escalate till he explodes, he'll stop th' game and do something else, like go on th' swing for a while, or watch a video of th' game on youtube. This gives us so much hope. He's learning, on his own, how to stop a meltdown before it happens. We've tried everythinG in th' book and some things not in th' book to get him to this point, and nothing has even hinted at working. Who knew it'd come from a video game?
So now he's trying to learn how to make his own video game. He's got it all planned out, drawn out, figured out. He's learning how to program- he says by th' time he's thirteen he'll have it made. We think that's pretty cool. He's setting long term goals for himself, and working hard towards them. He's learning. It's making him happy, and that is our ultimate goal for him, to be happy. When your child suffers so much, and you see his face light up at something, that's what you hang onto. That's what gives you hope. A smile. Find what it is your kids love to do, and do it with them. Trust them. You'll be amazed at what you find.
