I’ve been working with children who are in difficult situations for five years. One of the things that is different from the way I work and the way that most of my co-workers work is that I love technology. I’ve got a smart phone, an MP3 player, a palmtop, and tons of other little electric gadgets that I love to use. I’ve actually found that using these types of things in therapy sessions with kids, or even just when I’m trying to take them out for a bit, can actually help to break down the barriers a little bit.
Children today are a lot more tech savvy than they were 20 or 30 years ago, and they know how to use this technology in a lot of different ways. For instance, when an adult looks at a Nintendo DSi, they probably see a video gaming system. A kid, however, will see not only a gaming system, but all of the other things that the system can do, along with thinking to themselves all of the times that having the system would come in handy.
The System
A teenager, for instance, won’t be thinking about the games that they can play right off as much as they’ll be marveling over the fact that they can buy Nintendo DSi and can have a little digital camera. They will know that they can use that little camera to take photos of their friends, and will quickly discover the different photo editing that they can do right on the system, making it easy to take pictures of their friends and do silly things with them.
A teen girl will see the camera and will also long to buy Nintendo DSi in order to use not only that but also the music player that comes with the system. She will probably figure out faster than any adult how to load up tons of songs on the little SD memory card that goes into the system and will be able to listen to music when her parents tell her that she can’t.
The only problem that most teens will have, from the looks of it, is trying to figure out where to get one. The reviews have all been stellar and the sales in Japan so far have been amazing, meaning that it will probably be difficult to find right off in the United States, especially since most of them will be trying to get one in stores in person.
I know that a lot of therapists, once they learn about what the machine can do, will be able to utilize it during their therapy sessions. They can have a client make a photo diary in order to see how they’re feeling during the week and can use it to get closer to the client. This little machine is sure to be a huge hit in the US, and I, personally, can’t wait to get a hold of one.
James B. – New York, NY
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