How does Pokémon Go help children with autism?

Pok mon GO is a game that allows you to catch Pokemon in the real world. But did you know that it has a positive impact on the lives of children with autism?

Does the game help children with autism?

If you followed the distribution of Pokemon GO, you probably know that this mobile game has captured the Internet and occupied an impressive part of the lives of so many people. And while you probably saw the statement that it has a beneficial effect on children, in particular, children with autism spectrum disorders.

Miracle of the new game

Sometimes children with autism spectrum disorders can be slightly abrupt in their behavior and do not accept anything new, in part because they are more prone to sensory overload than people who do not suffer from autism. As a result, they rarely look for any adventure, and also do not seek to start communicating with peers. However, it appears that the Pokemon GO game inspires some children with autism spectrum disorders for a little exploration of the outside world, and even more importantly - to communicate with other Pokémon fans in the process. As one grateful parent explained, getting his autistic son to be social and going out was always a challenge. Usually he does not want to be torn from his favorite computer games. However, Pokemon GO was the game that forced the child to go out.

Specialists in Autism

What is the secret? Can this game help children with autism as described in the news? To learn more on this topic, it was necessary to turn to specialists in autism. Anne Kirby of the University of Utah and James McPartland of Yale University decided to express their opinion. Both specialists agreed that this game can help in the socialization of children with autism, and also told how exactly this happens. Kirby reported that she asked for help from her research assistant Carly Taylor. Taylor knows a lot about Pokemon GO and during the research she had many opportunities to talk with teenagers suffering from autism, about the game, and also watch how they talk about playing with other children.

Unexplored territories

Before proceeding, it is necessary to understand that all statements regarding Pokemon GO games must be considered at a certain angle. It must be remembered that the game has appeared relatively recently, so far so far no one has studied its impact in detail, and all new and unusual technologies usually bring with them a sea of loud unconfirmed statements. In addition, it is impossible to demand from parents of children with autism that they calmly and coolly evaluate the effects this game has on their children. Parents are just happy to see that the game has a positive impact, and they are not professional scientists. Kirby explained it this way: "We are not sure if there will be any long-term changes, and if so, which ones. It's about the conversations that are being held about this game, as well as the interest of children in the march to the street, which is caused by this game. " So you need to perceive the situation soberly.

How can the game help children?

However, there are quite specific theoretical reasons why the game can help children with autism. Most of these children almost always develop some narrowly fixed fixations on certain subjects. And these objects are most often in the category of quantitative and technical. Therefore, one of the biggest problems experienced by children with autism is that it is very difficult for them to find friends not with autism who share their interests. After a two-minute conversation with the second-grader with a child with autism, during which the second will talk about how microprocessors work, the first will quickly lose interest.

Love of video games

As Kirby explains, children with autism disorders often like video games. This may be just their interest, but often the fact is that this interest allows them to part ways from the real world and move to another world. And games like Pokemon GO, in which the emphasis is on repeating the collection of Pokémon, studying their characteristics and so on, is even more likely to attract the child's attention to autism than any other computer game. And in this case a large number of children who do not suffer from autism are also addicted to this game. As a result, children with autism go to the streets to look for new Pokémon, where they come across other children who are doing the same, and as a result they have the opportunity to start a conversation on a topic that is interesting to everyone. Most pleasant social interactions are built on common interests. Pokemon GO is a common interest of millions of people with or without autism. Thus, this game becomes an ideal occasion to start communication, and it also provides children with autism with a topic in which they understand and which they can talk about with pleasure.

Conversations on the theme of the game

And while other conversations may have certain hidden and imperceptible rules and norms of decency that children with autism can not catch, the conversations that will occur in the process of searching for Pokémon will most likely be quite straightforward: "What kind of Pokémon you are What level does your coach have? Do you know any other places where you can find rare Pokémon? " There is no risk that the child will talk and talk, thus bothering the person, because at the moment everyone is crazy about Pokemon and everyone wants to talk and talk endlessly on this topic. This game is popular absolutely everywhere, so it can provide people with something that they have in common in the event that otherwise they would not be able to normally talk. And while games like "Maincraft" allow you to learn all the necessary strategies and tactics from video recordings on YouTube or from other Internet sources, in the case of Pokemon GO there is something unique that changes the whole property that people can do More and better if they communicate with other people directly to find out where to find the best Pokémon and how to collect them in large numbers. You can even say that you need to communicate with people on the street to develop in the game further.

Question of eye contact

Kirby also drew attention to eye contact, which causes most children with autism to feel uncomfortable. It is visual eye contact that is often the reason that such children do not want to contact other people. When Kirby talked to autistic children, as part of her research, she tried to keep as little eye contact as possible, without sitting directly in front of them or offering them anything they could look at (but something not too distracting, For example, a bottle of water). As a result, they can look at the bottle during the conversation, which makes them more relaxed. This game inspires people to go out and study the outside world, but you need to constantly pay attention to the screen of your phone. Thus, it offers children with autistic spectrum disorders an acceptable way to conduct social interaction, without forcing them to maintain constant eye contact.