its purely genetic, as far as i knowJester Lord said:Im just curious about what causes autism. A friend of mine has had 3 kids and they're all autistic. Does it have anything to do with genes? If anyone knows then may you please tell me. Great article by the way.
some of the greatest minds in history are believed to have autism.Dom Camus said:The interesting thing is that as well as the known disorders regarded as being on the autistic spectrum there are other conditions which are seemingly related. Mathematical ability, for example. And indeed aptitude for technical detail generally. Evidence suggests the children of mathematicians and scientists more likely to have various autistic spectrum disorders, for example.
As you might expect, this is an area of ongoing research.
I actually wrote a different piece a while back about a program at the University of Texas - Dallas center for Brain Health, which has a program that uses Second Life to teach people with Asperger's about social skills in a way very much like what you've described. I had originally included a bit about the program in this article, but had to cut it for word count. Link (.pdf) [http://brainhealth.utdallas.edu/news/documents/GameofLife.pdf]Charlie-two-zero said:Probably the most important point I might make is that especially with the online nature of most games these days it is a pressure free social environment where the game is the focus. And Autistics have the potential to be VERY good gamers so they already get a modicum of respect. Something that can quite often vanish in real life encounters because of some other difficulties. The skills learnt from say "Joining a WoW guild" can be extrapolated (with help from mum and dad) into gaining friends in the real world.
My nephew actually talks about wanting to be a "video game maker" in the future, as a career. I think his parents and teachers have talked to him about what he might want to be when he grows up. And my husband is a programmer, so he has talked to my nephew a lot about what he does for a living and what kinds of things he studied in school to get there. My nephew is also a great writer, and he writes his own stories all the time -- his second-grade class had indoor recess all last month due to bad weather, and he wrote and illustrated four books during his recess periods. I'm trying to convince him that it's as fun to write about games as it is to make them, but so far, no luck.Dom Camus said:Does your nephew literally discuss wanting to one day design games? Or is it that he wants to make games right now and this has been interpreted in that way by his family? I ask because my experience has been that autistic children at his age have trouble discussing events in the future unless they're repeated from known events in the past.
To be glib, I guess you could say he has the type he has -- you know as well as anyone how unique people on the spectrum can be.tthor said:great article
what type of autism does your son have?
I review games for another site, so I'll be getting a review copy of TS3. You better believe I got my name on the list as soon as the release date was announced. I'm a girl gamer; I'm contractually obligated to be obsessed with The Sims. Seriously! I signed a paper.Endangered Puma said:Some recommendations: "The Sims 3" comes out in a few weeks(which basically does what you said for The Sims, but captures it a bit more)...
This [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/badcock08/badcock08_index.html] may help you.Jester Lord said:I'm just curious about what causes autism. A friend of mine has had 3 kids and they're all autistic. Does it have anything to do with genes? If anyone knows then may you please tell me. Great article by the way.
I've often said that I'd rather my kids spend an hour playing a video game than an hour in front of the television. Now that we as a society have decided that kids can learn from TV shows like Sesame Street, it's time we afforded the same funding and respect to video games that teach.Labyrinth said:This [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/badcock08/badcock08_index.html] may help you.
Fantastic article, as has been said before. It's warm without being sappy and very well written.
I think that video games are much better for this kind of thing than say, television. They're interactive and have the social learning skills mentioned in the article. This sort of thing I just don't see in television, where it's more like spoon-fed images.
In the future I can see things like the Sims being used as learning tools in centres for autistic children and the like. Probably a more sheltered variation, if it did occur, but it clearly has great potential to help remove many of the barriers endured by autistic people.