A framework for the development of an assessment tool for children with disabilities

Abstract

We describe a framework for the development of a gaming environment for the assessment of children with a spectrum of disabilities (GE-CDA tool). A typical case example is that of Cerebral Palsy (CP). We follow an evidence-based approach to identify the required domains which need to be addressed in the GE-CDA tool. Three different axes are considered, namely the domain of disability (cognitive, physical, psychological and behavioral), the function to be assessed for those domains (i.e. hand-eye coordination, working memory capacity) and the assessment method for each one of the functions. We plan to use Minecraft to develop the assessment tool, since it supports activity based mini-games (fishing, archery, maze, puzzles, etc.) and also allows for modifications, serving as an ideal platform for our GE-CDA tool.