A Serious Game for the Daily Care of Autistic Children in Times of Covid-19

Abstract

Autism (autism spectrum disorder – ASD) is characterized by changes in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Most autistic children need different types of intervention, whether behavioral, linguistic, social, or occupational, among others. Since the emergence of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, the lives of millions of people have been drastically impacted: schools closed, commercial establishments closed, lockdown, and remote work. Children with ASD have experienced a series of changes in their lives, in addition to those mentioned, since they had their appointments reduced or canceled and, after a few months, changed in the online version. Masks became mandatory for many months until greater flexibility was obtained, which still faces ups and downs. These children had to adapt to living in a different environment than they lived in long ago. For example, wearing masks makes it difficult to understand people’s words. This project presents a serious game to train the child’s ability to understand the words now said by people wearing a face protection mask without the possibility of the visual resource of facial mimicry. Nine speech therapists and fourteen diagnostic children with ASD validated the game. The children tested the game during one of the online speech therapy sessions. Both groups answered a satisfaction questionnaire the speech therapist carried out, which was adapted to their characteristics. The evaluation results with both groups provide evidence that the game was well accepted.
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