10.20381/ruor-20553
Ornelas Barajas, Alejandra
A Serious Game for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
2017
Serious Game
Social Skills
Tangible User Interface
Graphical User Interface
Play Therapy
LEGO-Based Therapy
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Special Education
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
2017-07-13
2017-07-13
2017
en
Thesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36273
In this thesis, we propose a Serious Game (SG) for children with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that builds on the concept of LEGO®-Based Therapy that is aimed at improving social and cognitive skills. The proposed SG is composed of building blocks augmented with electronic modules that connect to a computing device that provides visual feedback. We investigate the effects of using the proposed computer SG by comparing it to a non-computer block-game during two empirical studies, one following an unstructured play approach and a second one with structured play by assigning roles to the players. For the first study, the proposed system showed an improvement in social interaction, collaborative play and exercise performance, as well as a decrease in solitary play. For the second study, the proposed system showed an improvement in social interaction, positive vocalizations and exploratory behavior. There was also a marked preference towards the proposed game. Furthermore, we perceived a decrease on the assistance needed when using the proposed system during both studies. Our results suggest that the proposed system can be a useful play therapy tool aimed for young children with ASD.