201: Hard-Wired for Gaming

[D-Ship]

Unlike most of the posters here, I cannot say that I have an autistic cousin of whom this reminds me...but, like everybody else, I CAN say this article was a great read, and I regret missing it the first time it was published!

It's articles like these that shrug aside the tired stereotype of the antisocial gamer, smacking the uninformed upside the head and crying, "LOOK! There are people playing video games in order to immerse themselves in the social world - not escape from it!"

 

[Blow_Pop]

Very good article. My mom works with developmentally disabled children plus she has me and my little brother. My brother has so many learning disabilities its not funny. I have ADD and OCD. Both of us are good at video games. She has 2 or 3 autistic kids in the class she works in. They adore me when I come in to bring her stuff which is not often. As much as they like their patterns, I somehow randomly appear in them. I don't question it, not my place. Unfortunately due to it being a school they don't get many video games but they get a few. Kids like that are so much fun to work with and interact with.

 

[atomicmrpelly]

What a great article! I would normally never be interested in reading a 3 page article on gaming but this was really interesting!! Thanks.

 

[DM master]

Wow that was amazing. Thankyou for that
Ive never really known anything about autism and now im just looking through wikipedia to see what it is.

I hope your gaming with Pierce goes well.

 

[Killerbunny001]

Very nice article. Never thought of gaming as a therapy for this sort of thing but it sounds really useful.

Question : What happens if you get an autistic person into a strategy game ? I`m thinking Starcraft or Warcraft 3 ? If their brains work and categories as you describe in the article they can be awesome at these games. WCG has pretty big cash prizes....

 

[Darktau]

My brother is autistic (and diabetic, lucky him.) and I also find that playing video games with him is a good way to calm him down, and he also tends to connect with people more easily when playing a game with them .

 

[MasterChief892039]

It's great you found a mutually enjoyable way to connect with and teach your son.

I've always found autism fascinating. I think of it less as a disorder and more of a separate way of thinking (although I may be biased considering I'm about 90% sure I have high functioning autism).

 

[wammnebu]

Sounds like autistics might be better adapted for the 21st century than the rest of us

 

[Sandytimeman]

I can kind of sympathize with this kid, I have Aspergers Syndrome. It took me 5 years out of home school and in college / on my own. To figure out about socialization, I even had a breakdown in college, which is what prompted my therapy and diagnosis. Some of the things in this article really rang true for me. I still have an entire room of my parents house devoted to legos which are separated by size, color, and shape.

I understand almost all expressions but sometimes sarcasm or fake out (where someone says something with a sarcastic meaning and holds a serious expression and no heavy indicator in their voice I'll completely buy it.) will slip by.

I was really inspired by your methods of parenting, I hope in the future your son will be raised to be a fully functional member of society.