Recommending Video Games to Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder for Social-Skill Enhancement Alisha Banskota Yiu-Kai Ng
[email protected] [email protected] Computer Science Dept., Brigham Young University Computer Science Dept., Brigham Young University Provo, Utah, 84602, USA Provo, Utah, 84602, USA ABSTRACT with their peer at different deficiency levels [19]. Despite the limi- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a long-standing mental condi- tation in social activity, individuals with ASD are highly interested tion characterized by hindered mental growth and development in video games as shown in different studies [14, 15, 18]. Children and is a lifelong disability for the majority of affected individuals. and adolescents with ASD spend more than two hours a day play- In 2018, 2-3% of children in the USA have been diagnosed with ing video games which is more than by typically developing chil- autism. As these children move to adulthood, they have difficulty dren or children with other disabilities [17]. Not just for children, in developing a well-functioning motor skill. Some of these abnor- adults with ASD have also reported to be engaged in video games. malities, however, can be gradually improved if they are treated These video games have positive impact on them as the adults find appropriately during their adulthood. Studies have shown that peo- video games to be entertaining, stress relieving, and creative [17]. ple with ASD enjoy playing video games. Educational games, how- Regular video games, however, are not designed especially for ever, have been primarily developed for children with ASD, which adults with autism in mind, even though games have been pre- are too primitive for adults with ASD.