The Choices Game: Staying Safe in Social Situations

4th International e-Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences: Conference Proceedings, 2019

Game takes place in school, in parks, in daycare places, early intervention programs, in therapeutic sessions and especially at home. It is an essential element of the development of all children and children with special needs. The use of game in the treatment and in the psychology of children with autism provides significant benefits for these children. Children with autism are extremely difficult to relate to others, especially to children of the same age in ordinary ways. Game is a wonderful tool that can help children with autism to participate in interactions. When it is used properly game can also allow children to discover their feelings, their environment, and their relationships with parents, siblings and children of the same age. Through play, children learn to communicate with others, express feelings, modify their behavior and develop problemsolving skills. They also learn various ways of building relationships with others. Game provides a safe psychological distance from their problems and allows them to express thoughts and emotions that are appropriate for their development.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2016

The area of decision making has much to offer in our effort to understand special populations. This pilot study is an example of just such a project, where we illustrate how traditional decision making tools and tasks can be used to uncover strengths and weaknesses within a growing population of young adults with autism. In this pilot project we extended accounts of autistic behavior such as those derived from "theory of mind" to predict key components of decision making in high-functioning young adults on the autism spectrum. A battery of tests was administered to 15 high-functioning college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on decision making competence (DMC) and other aspects of decision making related to known deficits associated with autism. Data from this group were compared to data from unselected college students receiving the same measures. First, as a test of a key social deficit associated with autism, the target group scored much lower on the Empathy Quotient scale. Traditional elements of decision making competency such as Numeracy and application of decision rules were comparable across groups. However, there were differences in thinking style, with the ASD group showing lesser ability and engagement in intuitive thinking, and they showed lower levels of risk taking. For comparisons within the ASD group, autobiographical reports concerning individual lifestyles and outcomes were used to derive a scale of Social Functioning. The lowest scoring individuals showed the lowest levels of intuitive thinking, the lowest perceived levels of others' endorsement of socially undesirable behaviors, and the lowest ability to discriminate between "good" and "bad" risks. Results are discussed in terms of interventions that might aid high-functioning young adults with ASD in their everyday decision making.

Self-determination and decision-making are acknowledged internationally as key rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006) and should play an important role in the development of educational plans and procedures. Not only is the chance for individuals with developmental disabilities to select their own tasks, leisure activities, or reinforcers a valuable way of enhancing rights-based education and personal dignity, but choice-making opportunities may also function as a useful clinical or educational tool if they actually improve the efficacy of programmes aimed at the acquisition of socially relevant behaviours and life skills or the reduction of challenging behaviours (Lerman, Iwata, Rainville, et al., 1997).

Emerging Programs for Autism Spectrum Disorder , 2021

Transitioning from teen to adult is challenging for most of us but for an autistic person with intellectual disability or learning difficulty (ID or LD), the period could change their course in life. It is at this stage of their life that they learn how to navigate our social world, they learn to adapt to changes yet retain their neurodiversity. Along the way they need to pick up new skills, learn to work and depend on new people apart from their parents. This is the journey we are describing, the tools we used and how we navigated this period with whatever tools were available early this century.

2010

Abstract. During our life, we are involved in a huge variety of activities and have to make many decisions. However, not all the users have the same capabilities. DecisionYmaking, as well as the tasks to be performed daily, can be trivial for some users and quite hard for others. This paper presents an adaptive game whose goal is to train users with cognitive disabilities to use public means of transport.

International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (iJAC), 2015

Nowadays ubiquitous technology can be a suitable way to motivate and engage children in interactive learning activities in order to promote their cognitive and social skills. Technologies, like augmented reality (AR), have the ability to catch the children’s imagination and to promote their attention, as they can experiment artificial, safe and fascinating environments. Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) usually have difficulty to recognize facial expressions and to understand associated emotions. We propose to design and develop an innovative GameBook to assist children with ASD to recognize and acquire emotions by engaging their attention and motivation, increasing their competence on this handicap. The GameBook will contain a story that can be read by text or listen by audio. The story will describe some scenarios and real world situations which will conduct the children to become involved on fictional contents associated with emotions. The child will have to interact ...

JMIR Serious Games

Background Positive results can be obtained through game-based learning, but children with physical disabilities have fewer opportunities to participate in enjoyable physical activity. Because intelligent serious games can provide personalized learning opportunities, motivate the learner, teach 21st-century skills, and provide an environment for authentic and relevant assessment, they may be used to help children and adolescents with different kinds of learning disabilities to develop social and cognitive competences. Objective The aim of the study was to produce and evaluate a suite of intelligent serious games based on accessible learning objectives for improving key skills, personal development, and work sustainability among children with learning difficulties. Methods We conducted this research between 2016 and 2018, with pupils aged 11 to 12 years with learning disabilities who were integrated into the mainstream educational system. We used a 4-step methodology to develop learn...

Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 2014

Self-determination and decision-making are acknowledged internationally as key rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006) and should play an important role in the development of educational plans and procedures. Not only is the chance for individuals with developmental disabilities to select their own tasks, leisure activities, or reinforcers a valuable way of enhancing rights-based education and personal dignity, but choice-making opportunities may also function as a useful clinical or educational tool if they actually improve the efficacy of programmes aimed at the acquisition of socially relevant behaviours and life skills or the reduction of challenging behaviours (Lerman, Iwata, Rainville, et al., 1997). The study reported here assessed whether or not choice affected effectiveness of an educational procedure for three children on the autism spectrum. Following a preference assessment, a number of discrete teaching trials were conducted with each child and, contingent upon targeted responses, either the child or the therapist selected one of three preferred reinforcer items. Reinforcer choice did not affect intervention effectiveness for two of the children, however performance and motivation improved for the third child. Results reaffirmed the importance of thorough preference assessments prior to intervention and showed that additional stimulus choice contingent on the target response may improve motivation and outcomes for some children.

Computers & Education, 2017

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Frontiers in Psychology, 2015

The area of decision making has much to offer in our effort to understand special populations. This pilot study is an example of just such a project, where we illustrate how traditional decision making tools and tasks can be used to uncover strengths and weaknesses within a growing population of young adults with autism. In this pilot project we extended accounts of autistic behavior such as those derived from "theory of mind" to predict key components of decision making in high-functioning young adults on the autism spectrum. A battery of tests was administered to 15 high-functioning college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on decision making competence (DMC) and other aspects of decision making related to known deficits associated with autism. Data from this group were compared to data from unselected college students receiving the same measures. First, as a test of a key social deficit associated with autism, the target group scored much lower on the Empathy Quotient scale. Traditional elements of decision making competency such as Numeracy and application of decision rules were comparable across groups. However, there were differences in thinking style, with the ASD group showing lesser ability and engagement in intuitive thinking, and they showed lower levels of risk taking. For comparisons within the ASD group, autobiographical reports concerning individual lifestyles and outcomes were used to derive a scale of Social Functioning. The lowest scoring individuals showed the lowest levels of intuitive thinking, the lowest perceived levels of others' endorsement of socially undesirable behaviors, and the lowest ability to discriminate between "good" and "bad" risks. Results are discussed in terms of interventions that might aid high-functioning young adults with ASD in their everyday decision making.