New Autism Researcher / Game Developer

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Hi, I am net to the community! I have been interested in Autism since I started studying the science of teamwork (as a cognitive neuroscientist) and got the opportunity design video games to measure teamwork in TD and Autistic populations (can google my name to see pubs).

I am really interested in taking the games that we typically use to measure teamwork skills (synchronization, imitation, complementary action, action prediction, modelling others, social attention, etc), and developing a suite of games that can measure and ENHANCE social skills in Autism.

I would love to hear everyone's opinion on the use of video games as a possible touchstone to developing better social skills. I know this can be a controversial issue, with some thinking games are bad and others thinking games are good!

I hope to hear from anyone interested in this project!

Best,

Roger
twitter: RogerNewNor
facebook: Autism Video Games Project

Hey there, that sounds like a great idea, so it's like a test too, so it could in effect somewhat diagnose people who have yet to be diagnosed or be used to promote awareness of the condition. So say if I play the game, get say a bad score, it will (in the process) advise and teach me about how to act or what to say in certain situations? Reflecting on my use of the word 'act', it's possible to pretend to know how to behave in certain situations but it will still be jaunted and seem unnatural as NTs behave in these situations with little thought, it comes 'naturally'; so I wonder if it will be beneficial, I'd be interested in knowing how it goes.

Hi Chivers, thanks for your enthusiasm! Yes, it could be used to diagnose VERY specific social impairments (specific to each game).
You can check out the project here, maybe even contribute to get the Rewards.
https://experiment.com/projects/can-we- ... -in-autism
If it is funded, I will certainly be posting here about the results! (We plan to test it at the Autism Academy of SC.)
Roger

I couldn't figure this one out for the life of me until you posted that link. I grew up playing video games in solo mode, and always liked the lack of social interaction it provided. Didn't realize you were talking about multiplayer mode. I'm game, sounds like a fantastic idea!

Keep us posted on how the progress towards your goal goes, I'm very interested in seeing this succeed!

I am a strong proponent of the use of technology in understanding and improving the lives of people on the spectrum. With Yale university nearby, I often get to read about new research being done in the study of autism. If I remember correctly, some researchers working with brain imaging found that the area of the brain that "lights up" when NT individuals see a human face does not light up for people with autism. However, that area does light up when people on the spectrum play video games. I apologize if that is a crude laymen s interpretation of it, but that's kind of how I think it works. Your work sounds fascinating.

Hi there, thanks for the comment! Yes, Dapretto and colleagues showed in 2006 that the right inferior frontal gyrus, part of the human Mirror System, under-responds to human faces in Autism. I would love to see what brain areas light up while children on the spectrum play these games. Thanks for pointing out that part about the video games!
The VP of USC will now match any contributions to the project to make these video games at : (so tell your friends!)
https://experiment.com/projects/can-we- ... -in-autism
Best,
Roger