ASD and social skills through gaming

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What's so unusual about ASD?

A defining trait of ASD is a lack of appropriate social skills. More to the point, individuals with ASD are usually unaware of how others perceive them. (Carrington, Papinczak, & Templeton, 2003). Their inappropriate responses during a conversation and ever-present difficulties with socialisation often result in rejection that follows them through their lives, delivering little to no friendships and loneliness. It’s not surprising that this group are unlikely or unwilling to participate in social or community activities. (Shattuck, Orsmond, Wagner, & Cooper, 2011).

That’s a bit sad, what can we do?

Some surprising research has come to light with this unique cohort, highlighting their particular interest in and skill with screen-based media and computer-games. (Sundberg, 2018).

While some ‘serious’ and ‘educational’ games such as ECHOES have been created to focus on the development of social communication for individuals with ASD (Bernardini, Porayska-Pomsta, Smith 2014), the continued evolution of technology and digital communication means that more collaborative virtual environments (CVE) are providing opportunities for individuals with ASD to experience virtual interactions, thereby supporting the acquisition and use of communication and socialisation skills. (Moore, Cheng, McGrath, & Powell, 2005).

These virtual mediums include an assortment of web-based applications and social media and include platforms such as (but not limited to): email, Skype, Google^, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Second Life, and Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

What’s so great about a virtual environment?

The virtual environment has many options for interaction and creates a "safe" opportunity for social risk taking. In comparison to real-world encounters, there is an increased level of engagement and social interaction by members of the ASD community via virtual encounters. (Moore et al., 2005).

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) provide such an opportunity to engage socially without the challenges of face-to-face situations and allow participants to freely develop social connections and friendships without perceived risk. (Sundberg, 2018).

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How does this help in real life though?

MMORPGs provide a myriad of opportunities to interact with others and replicate social situations through the virtual environment. Individuals with ASD begin to infer emotions from the facial expressions of avatars in the games, receive and respond to feedback and develop new social and communication skills. These skills may transfer to other environments including face-to-face environments. (Sundberg, 2018).

Why is this so good? Well, ….

Young people with ASD often develop comorbid issues such as anxiety and depression associated with the ongoing and persistent battle with social skills. Furthermore, being excluded and so very different contributes to the dropout rate of ASD students in secondary and tertiary settings. However, given the changes occurring with digital communication and socialization, young adults with ASD now have an opportunity to be part of a community through MMORPGs that supports their communication needs and allows them to experience success and friendship, which makes it easier to translate these skills to their everyday lives. (Gallup, Serianni, Duff, & Gallup, 2016).

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References

Bernardini S., Porayska-Pomsta K., Smith T.J. (2014) ECHOES: An intelligent serious game for fostering social communication in children with autism. Information Sciences, 264, 41–60.

Carrington, S., Templeton, E., & Papinczak, T. (2003) Adolescents with Asperger syndrome and perceptions of friendship. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18, 211–218.

Gallup, J., Serianni, B., Duff, C., & Gallup, A. (2016). An exploration of friendships and socialization for adolescents with autism engaged in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 51(3), 223-237.

Moore, D., Cheng, Y., McGrath, P., & Powell, N. J. (2005). Collaborative virtual environment technology for people with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20, 231–243.

Shattuck, P. T., Orsmond, G. I., Wagner, M., & Cooper, B. P. (2011). Participation in social activities among adolescents with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. PLoS One, 6(11).

Sundberg, M. (2018). Online gaming, loneliness and friendships among adolescents and adults with ASD. Computers in Human Behaviour,79, 105–110.