Teacher Connects To Autistic Student Through SWTOR

So… Many…. Jokes… Must resist…
Oh god, I’m dying

I know professionals who work with austic students - they are some of the most dedicated and innovative thinkers in the public sector. For an education system that is considered to be failing on multiple levels, this news is positive for our students (1 in 50 are diagnosed with austism in 2012) and for the video game culture.

Once again I would like to congratulate Gamebreaker for covering such a wide spectrum news. It shows this community collectively has a big heart, and that’s more than one can say about most online communities these days.

Bioware made a huge deal about the importance of story in their game and this article reminded me of an NPR piece where caregivers found that they could connect better with Alzheimer patients by asking them make up stories about images or sights.   The patients became more coherent by engaging them in the story-making process. I think there’s a good chance that when this teacher was talking to her student much of it was stories about what his character had done in the game.

There something about storytelling that psychologists need to explore.   Video games have become so polished not just at telling stories but allowing players to engage in the story process that if they can prove there is a psychological benefit, I’m sure video games will play a role.

And wouldn’t that be wonderfully ironic after the media has spend decades demonizing video games as a horrible influence bend on corrupting children (most of whom have grown up on video games by now and society is still functioning).

As someone who has grown up with 2 autistic brothers I commend both the student and teacher. My one brother is on the lower functioning side of the autistic spectrum. Meaning it isn’t just about lack of communication skills and being socially awkward but more of a handicap. Has trouble speaking, communicates with a “Speak and Spell” device, self stimming, needs to be taken care of in some form or fashion for the rest of his life, etc. Where with this child seams to lean more to the social awkwardness an lack of communication skills of the Asbergers side of the spectrum. My other younger brother is Asbergers so I understand that side as well.

About 2 years ago I thought it would be fun to see how he did on the computer. He knew how to type some what with his communication device so I figured it wasn’t that big of a jump to use a keyboard. He took to typing really quick although the mouse gave him problems at first. I made a quick little “game” in flash with 3 colored squares and he had to click the right one. After some practice with that he was enjoying the computer more and more.

Now hes a pro. He loves puzzle games mostly (portal 1 and 2 are is favorites), loves Torchlight, LoL, just to name a few. He also likes MMO’s in his own way. He dosent actually want to quest but he loves gathering, crafting, and companion pets .

So now my 2 brothers and I play games together on a regular basis. Right now we play SWTOR but are looking forward to GW2 as well as MoP. Both of them are really excited by pet battles. To me video games, if used in the right way, can be a great therapy tool to help children develop skills that other wise wouldnt be. Again I commend the student for doing his best and the teacher for thinking outside the box.