On the tablet, a small character asks the child to recognize a word or reproduce a melody by clapping their hands. This interactive video game, produced by the French company Poppins, aims to teach “dys” children, aged 7 to 11, to better manage their disorders, such as dyslexia, dysphasia or dyspraxia. A first that is all the more promising since, for the moment, there is no real treatment for these conditions.
“Before, he invented words”
The device is currently being tested by the AP-HP and the results of a clinical study published Tuesday show progress in reading accuracy and speed. Thanks to this game, Emmanuelle David, whose son is dyslexic, saw a spectacular improvement after a few weeks. While he has difficulty reading and writing because of his disorder, she assures that he now makes fewer spelling mistakes. But not only that: “Reading errors are much less frequent. Before, he invented words, when writing he forgets letters much less.” His last dictation? “20/20!, rejoices his mother. We’ve come a long way. In his first dictations, he made 24 mistakes.”
This progress is notably possible thanks to the music present in the game, which helps improve brain connections. “These dyslexic children have particularities at the cerebral level and in particular an arcuate fasciculus, which connects the anterior and posterior areas of the brain, which is less developed. However, this arcuate fasciculus plays a fundamental role in phonology,” explains neuropsychologist Catherine Grosmaître.
Downloadable on phone and tablet, the game allows parents to begin care at home, whereas it takes on average a year and a half to get an appointment with the speech therapist. However, “dys” disorders affect 8% of the French population, including 1.3 million children.