Gamification Applied to Autism Spectrum Disorder

2022 ◽  
pp. 163-186
Author(s):  
Vítor Simões-Silva ◽  
António Marques ◽  
Catarina Pinho ◽  
Diana Gonçalves Pereira ◽  
Joana Ferreira Oliveira ◽  
...  

Gamification is a recent technique in software development that allows the application of game principles to non-game contexts and environments. In an increasingly technological world, gamification has now higher popularity, and it is currently used in several technologies. One of the health conditions where gamification can bring great benefits is in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is a persistent neurodevelopmental disorder that can be characterized briefly by deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication, difficulties in interaction, and manifestation of stereotyped movements or interests. In the case of ASD, the programs, software, or the mobile applications should focus on the development of intrapersonal (such as motivation) and interpersonal (social skills) skills. Therefore, gamification can be useful in cases of ASD, but it is necessary to increase the analysis of the potentialities and needs for improvement of technologies and applications available on the market.

Author(s):  
Kanwajit Kaur ◽  
S. Pany

Autism spectrum disorder(ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that arises due to the abnormal development of the brain. ASD children mainly deficit in social and communication skills. Computer based intervention has been identified as one of the most prominent method to improve social skills of autism spectrum disorder children. Computer based intervention such as serious game, virtual reality, robotic, neurofeedback and multitouch interfaces have been developed to support children with ASD. This paper analyses and reflects all the previous researches carried out in computer based interventions for children of ASD to improve social skills since 2010.This literature review addresses two systematic research questions: How the computer based intervention is used or developed and the effectiveness of computer based intervention for autism spectrum disorder children in improvement of social skills. Therefore, the specific objectives of this paper are described as; to review the computer based interventions which were used to improve social skills of autism spectrum disorder children; and to analyse the findings of the previous work.The analysis of different studies revealed that computer based games are popularly used to improve the social skills of the ASD children and it is also observed that computer based interventions proved to be the useful interventions to improve the social skills of autism spectrum disorder children.


Author(s):  
Joanna Clothier ◽  
Michael Absoud

AbstractNeurodevelopmental impairments have been recognised as a major association of paediatric kidney disease and bladder dysfunction, presenting challenges to clinicians and families to provide reasonable adjustments in order to allow access to investigations and treatments. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in social interaction/communication and repetitive sensory-motor behaviours. Mental health, learning and physical co-morbidities are common. There is emerging evidence that ASD and kidney disease have some overlaps with genetic copy number variants and environmental factors contributing to shared pathogenesis. Prevalence rates of ASD in kidney disease are currently not known. A high index of suspicion of underlying ASD is required when a young person presents with communication difficulties, anxiety or behaviour that challenges, which should then trigger referral for a neurodevelopmental and behavioural assessment. We discuss practical approaches for providing care, which include understanding methods of communication and sensory, behavioural and environmental adaptations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Joanna Hie Ping Ting ◽  
Kee Jiar Yeo

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication, social interaction and sensory sensitivities. Social skills are one of the common deficits displayed by children with ASD. However, the level of impairment exerted by children with ASD relies on the disorder severity. Social skills are critical to successful social-emotional, communication and cognitive development. Specific social skills deficits include difficulties in initiating interactions, maintaining social reciprocity, sharing attention, taking another person’s perspective, and inferring the interests of others. In this study, social skills consist of social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation and autism mannerism. This study aimed to uncover the conceptualization of social skills from the parents’ perspective, thus providing an indication of education on the topic of ASD.


F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1217
Author(s):  
Han Foon Neo ◽  
Chuan Chin Teo ◽  
Quan Fong Yeo

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that affects brain development. The prevalence of ASD is one in 68 children. Low social motivation is the main cause in developing social communication skills deficiency. As a result, it is becoming difficult for them to express themselves, to be able to manage social interactions, and they lack the ability to comfort others and even share their own feelings. This study aimed to design a mobile application based on augmented reality (AR) focusing on social interactions and communication aspect for children with ASD. The scope is in emotion recognition, which makes use of emotional icons to help them improve their social skills, more specifically on helping them to recognize various emotions. The emotions are represented by emojis inspired by Dr. Paul Ekman who has created the basic six emotions, namely happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and angry. Additional emotions such as confound face, winking with tongue, cold sweat, blowing kiss, flushed, sleepy, disappointed, and winking are included. AR is able to gage the children’s attention when they view the animated emojis. The application enables the children with ASD to be more willing in recognizing different emotional expressions and improve their social skills by expressing their own feelings. The scope of the study is limited to emotion recognition. It is developed based on literature reviews without guidance of any certified ASD specialist. AR is an interactive technology that places digital information in our physical world in real time, providing precise registration in all three dimensions. Existing literature proved that the traditional face-to-face teaching methods have failed to increase the interest and ability of ASD children because the teacher has full control in the classroom. This study adds value to the existing works to incorporate AR as additional intervention in treating ASD children.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Parsons ◽  
Fiore D'Aprano ◽  
Matthew Hughes ◽  
Annie Parish ◽  
Nasia Outsikas

Abstract Background, Aims and MethodsAdults with ASD have difficulty in learning vocational and social skills, which often translates into low employment rates. Video self-modelling (VSM) is an effective educational technique for low functioning individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, with the ability to teach challenging vocational skills as well as basic social skills. Procedures and Outcomes The present study examined the use of video self-modelling to teach these skills to a 22-year-old adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Target behaviours categories included (1) reading order forms, (2) transporting goods, and (3) engaging with customers. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the videos in teaching these target behaviours. The dependent variables were the percentage of tasks completed correctly, and quantitative prompt dependency using a least to most prompting strategy. Results and Conclusions Results showed that VSM modestly improved reading order forms and transporting goods, and moderately improved engagement with customers. ImplicationsThis intervention resulted in the successful employment of an adult with ASD in a job that he specifically desired, whilst teaching him skills he specifically struggled with. As such, VSM should be considered for others wanting to learn combined social and vocational skills.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (40) ◽  
pp. 6771-6786
Author(s):  
Geir Bjørklund ◽  
Nagwa Abdel Meguid ◽  
Maryam Dadar ◽  
Lyudmila Pivina ◽  
Joanna Kałużna-Czaplińska ◽  
...  

As a major neurodevelopmental disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) encompasses deficits in communication and repetitive and restricted interests or behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Its etiology may come from either a genetic, epigenetic, neurological, hormonal, or an environmental cause, generating pathways that often altogether play a synergistic role in the development of ASD pathogenesis. Furthermore, the metabolic origin of ASD should be important as well. A balanced diet consisting of the essential and special nutrients, alongside the recommended caloric intake, is highly recommended to promote growth and development that withstand the physiologic and behavioral challenges experienced by ASD children. In this review paper, we evaluated many studies that show a relationship between ASD and diet to develop a better understanding of the specific effects of the overall diet and the individual nutrients required for this population. This review will add a comprehensive update of knowledge in the field and shed light on the possible nutritional deficiencies, metabolic impairments (particularly in the gut microbiome), and malnutrition in individuals with ASD, which should be recognized in order to maintain the improved socio-behavioral habit and physical health.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohei Kitagawa ◽  
Kensuke Matsumura ◽  
Masayuki Baba ◽  
Momoka Kondo ◽  
Tomoya Takemoto ◽  
...  

AbstractAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by core symptoms of impaired social behavior and communication. Recent studies have suggested that the oxytocin system, which regulates social behavior in mammals, is potentially involved in ASD. Mouse models of ASD provide a useful system for understanding the associations between an impaired oxytocin system and social behavior deficits. However, limited studies have shown the involvement of the oxytocin system in the behavioral phenotypes in mouse models of ASD. We have previously demonstrated that a mouse model that carries the ASD patient-derived de novo mutation in the pogo transposable element derived with zinc finger domain (POGZWT/Q1038R mice), showed ASD-like social behavioral deficits. Here, we have explored whether oxytocin (OXT) administration improves impaired social behavior in POGZWT/Q1038R mice and found that intranasal oxytocin administration effectively restored the impaired social behavior in POGZWT/Q1038R mice. We also found that the expression level of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) was low in POGZWT/Q1038R mice. However, we did not detect significant changes in the number of OXT-expressing neurons between the paraventricular nucleus of POGZWT/Q1038R mice and that of WT mice. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that POGZ binds to the promoter region of OXTR and is involved in the transcriptional regulation of OXTR. In summary, our study demonstrate that the pathogenic mutation in the POGZ, a high-confidence ASD gene, impairs the oxytocin system and social behavior in mice, providing insights into the development of oxytocin-based therapeutics for ASD.


Author(s):  
Bettoni Roberta ◽  
Valentina Riva ◽  
Chiara Cantiani ◽  
Elena Maria Riboldi ◽  
Massimo Molteni ◽  
...  

AbstractStatistical learning refers to the ability to extract the statistical relations embedded in a sequence, and it plays a crucial role in the development of communicative and social skills that are impacted in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here, we investigated the relationship between infants’ SL ability and autistic traits in their parents. Using a visual habituation task, we tested infant offspring of adults (non-diagnosed) who show high (HAT infants) versus low (LAT infants) autistic traits. Results demonstrated that LAT infants learned the statistical structure embedded in a visual sequence, while HAT infants failed. Moreover, infants’ SL ability was related to autistic traits in their parents, further suggesting that early dysfunctions in SL might contribute to variabilities in ASD symptoms.


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