According to a recent study, action video games have been found to improve the reading ability of dyslexic children from the ages of 7-13. The test involved taking dyslexic children and having them play 12 hours of action video games over a 2 week period. These children showed remarkably improved reading abilities that lasted for around 2 months after the video game session. The idea behind this was that in action video games there is an array of stimuli on the screen and you must learn to focus on certain points to be able to play. Similarly, when reading there are words all over the page and the kids could now focus on the section they were supposed to be reading. The same test was done but with a game that did not have constant “mayhem” and the children showed no improvements in reading ability. Psychologist Dr. Andrea Facoetti has said that these are credible results and that action video games are a legitimate way to improve the reading ability of dyslexic children. The video game they used was “Rayman Raving Rabbids”.

Photo taken by Niall Kennedy
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