How A Minecraft World Has Built A Safe Online Playground For Autistic Kids



In the process, they may be demonstrating the kind of filtered, structured environment in which more and more socialisation will occur as online and offline worlds collide.



I was able to learn more from members of the Autcraft community through my research. I found they use a combination of modifying the software of Minecraft itself (called "modding") and social structure or rules.



Autcraft uses Minecraft to do four key things for autistic children: it gives them structure, creates a safe social space, lets them filter their experience in various ways, and helps them unleash their imaginations.



A structured playground



The Minecraft game world is structured to begin with, as the game contains boundaries and rules that players must follow. Autcraft has added software plug-ins that make the game world easier, especially for younger players.



For example, players may mark out their own plots to ensure that they and selected friends are the only ones allowed to build on them. This prevents other players from changing their houses or other creations without permission.



Autcraft has a social structure in addition to its "physical" structure. This is a set of rules that all members of the Autcraft community must adhere to, along with norms about friendliness and helping others. These norms are built into the game through tools such as community chests where players can leave things they no longer need for others to use.



Autcraft uses the game world of Minecraft as a safe social space.Just Another Wordpress Site After school, children often play with their friends in Minecraft. Often, these friends are only available through the game and not the real world. Hanging out in Minecraft looks like hanging out in the playground. Some children are building, while others play hide and seek and others just hang out and chat via text chat.



Filtered interactions



Minecraft, as a game, filters and simplifies things in ways that can be helpful for autistic players. Characters are very crude representations. They have no facial expressions or body language. Communication is done via text or character movements (such a jumping around or giving out items).



Even though the text chat can sometimes be overwhelming, even for a researcher like myself, it's still a simplified version of human interaction which makes socializing less stressful and easier for autistic youth.



Autism sufferers often need to adjust their sensory intake in order to meet their needs. Volume and brightness can easily be adjusted in Minecraft, and players also vary their sensory intake by moving their characters around. I witnessed one player place their character underground, to create a small visual sensory break.



Autcraft has also created virtual sensory rooms which offer a range of sensory inputs.



For many players, it is equally important to let loose their imaginations.



In Autcraft I saw buildings that looked like giant pink ponies, statues of people the size of buildings, Doctor Who's TARDIS, and everything in between. Sometimes, community members worked in isolation, but sometimes they would work together to form teams to accomplish building goals.



I interviewed autistic youth who would take on leadership positions to lead their friends to finish large castles and create whole villages together. For children who have difficulty communicating, making friends, and learning in a classroom environment, this is a very big deal.



What is the future?



Minecraft is much like a playground in the physical world. This allows for deeper involvement for the player and deeper learning.



This is especially true for the autistic youth of Autcraft, who use the accessible interface of Minecraft to help support their social play-without some of the barriers that can make offline play difficult for them.



Filtered ways of interacting and socializing will become more common as virtual and physical spaces merge. It is possible that the previously tenuous distinction between "virtual", and "real", life will dissolve further. Worlds such as Autcraft will just be part of daily life. Explore further



This article is republished via The Conversation under Creative Commons licensing. Read the original article.