Case study: using a virtual reality computer game to teach fire safety skills to children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effectiveness of a computer-based virtual reality (VR) game in teaching five children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) fire safety skills and to generalize these skills to a real world simulation.


METHODS
Children participated in a study by using a multiple baseline, multiple probe design. Before the game, no child could correctly describe what actions to take during a home fire. A computerized game allowed them to learn the recommended safety steps in a virtual world. Skill learning and real-world generalization were tested immediately after the intervention and at 1-week post-test.


RESULTS
All children reached 100% accuracy on the computer intervention, defined as successfully completing each of the safety steps. At the 1-week follow-up, all the children were able to perform the steps correctly in a real world simulation.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that this method of intervention warrants further study as an educational delivery system for children with FAS.
Padgett
Lynne S
LS
Marcus Institute, A Division of Kennedy-Krieger of Emory University, 1920 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA. lpadget@emory.edu
Strickland
Dorothy
D
Coles
Claire D
CD
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003201:Computers; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012449:Safety; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games