Autism and Asperger's in Second Life

University of Derby Centre for Psychological Research Autism Asperger’s and Second Life Simon Bignell [email_address]

Acknowledgements

Introduction
What is Second Life?
Who uses Second Life?
The unique properties of Second Life
Autistic Disorder
Asperger’s Disorder
SL-Labs at University of Derby
Current projects
Future projects
The potential of Second Life for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

USA
Harvard University
MIT
University of Texas
Francisco State
New York University
Vassar College
Trinity University
University of Buffalo
+ many more
UK
Oxford University
Nottingham University
Staffordshire University
Leicestershire University
Paisley University
+ many more

Introduction
In real life I am Simon Bignell
I am a lecturer in Psychology at University of Derby in the UK.
I teach a module at Derby University called “Autism, Asperger’s and ADHD”.
I have been using Second Life for teaching and educational research and more recently looking at Autism and Asperger’s in Second Life.

‘ Second Life’ is an extremely successful 3D online virtual world, where users can navigate, interact, and view the world through their own customised avatar - a digital representation of themselves.
Users communicate via typed chat and pre-recorded animations and more recently real-time voice.
More elaborate animations allow more complex behaviours, such as gestures providing a rich source of non-verbal communicative cues.

Second Life is a widely acclaimed online 3-D virtual world with hundreds of thousands of users built and owned by its residents.
Since 2003, it has grown explosively and now is inhabited by millions of people from around the globe.

Statistics
Total residents: 9,147,000.
Avg. approx 50-60K online
91 different countries.
43% female.
Avg. Age 32 years
Advances of Note
Currency exchange system.
530L$ = £1 approx.
Streaming media.
Voice chatting enabled.
Education Discounts.
Off Shoot – Teen Second Life.
Higher public acceptance, especially for education
Who uses Second Life?

The unique properties of Second Life
Allows anonymous social interaction
Safe and Secure
Provides high levels of social interactivity but without complex linguistic and social-behavioural processing necessary for face-to-face conversations.
Levels the playing field for people with disabilities

The DSM-IV includes five types of disorder under the term ‘ Pervasive Developmental Disorder’ PDD .
Autistic Disorder*.
Rett’s Disorder.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.
Asperger’s Disorder*.
Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified*.
* Mainly these form the Autistic spectrum ASD.
What Is Autism?

What Is Autism?
The triad of impairment summarises the difficulties of the autistic child but the actual manifestation of these can vary.
Restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour. Impairment in social interaction . Impairment in verbal and non verbal communication.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
A continuum that…
“… ranges from the most profoundly physically and mentally retarded person ... to the most able, highly intelligent person with social impairment in its subtlest form as his only disability. It overlaps with learning disabilities and shades into eccentric normality.”
Lorna wing

What Is Asperger’s Disorder?
The triad of impairment summarises the difficulties of the Autistic child but the actual manifestation of these can vary. Asperger’s may be a subtler form of ASD.
Restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour. Impairment in social interaction . Impairment in verbal and non verbal communication. Peculiarities in verbal and non verbal communication. Wing and Gould’s triad of impairments

Teaching
What would the ideal classroom look like?
The secret was there all along…
‘SL-Labs’…slabs! Exposed learning spaces…

Example
Spidergram Planner (by Eloise Pasteur)

SL-Labs at University of Derby
The University has two Islands and has been using Second Life for over three years.
We have several teaching sites and many SL projects from our Games Development and Psychology students.

Current projects
Teaching in Second Life
Evaluated the use of Second Life for teaching and learning in Higher Education.
The project was one of the successful 'Land Grants' on Education UK Island.
A group of first year Psychology undergraduate students participated in an optional and supplementary Second Life component of our 'Psychology Skills' module.

The Design
A blend of 'in-world' enhanced educational student-led group sessions for learning alongside conventional e-learning material.
Traditional text-based content was blended with student-focused methods, the result being a shift from isolated study and tutor-led instruction to student-led highly interactive group learning.
Students were overall, responsible for the final teaching methods used, whilst guidance was provided by a facilitator in the form of materials and direction for group discussion and activities.

Development
We learn best by doing (with a little planning)
Woops, we got carried away…
Too big! Too fast!
We had a go…at custom made environments
Pilot - Revise and regroup – that’s better
A brain wave occurred!!!!
“We don’t need all this stuff around us!”… Can we strip it all back to the essentials? What is essential for an effective learning environment?

Current projects
Social Communication Skills of people with Asperger’s and high-functioning Autism in virtual worlds
People with Autism can have considerable communication difficulties in social situations and higher level language skills, such as inferring intentions or mental states from others, are often impaired.
This project seeks to investigate if Second Life can be of use to them in developing social and communicative skills.

Current projects
People with Autism often have communication problems.
They often choose to communicate in ways that allow them to slow down the process, for example email, text, internet messaging and social networking web sites.
Typed vs. Spoken Communication
Face to face communication bandwidth is of the order of 150 to 200 words per minute.
Typing for most is 15 to 20 wpm, therefore e-communication is approx 10 times slower than F2F or voice.

Current projects
They can provide high levels of:
social interactivity
without complex linguistic and social-behavioural processing necessary for face-to-face conversations.
There is no direct empirical evidence that supports this link but it may explain why many people with Autism are reported to find 3D virtual worlds rewarding.
If found the implications for provision of cost-effective ‘virtual’ interventions for people with Autism are considerable.

Future projects
Autism Simulator
We have planned a project that will demonstrate to the sensory sensitivities of people with Autism
Light
Noise
Touch
Obsessions
Associated comorbiditiy

Second Life provides an opportunity for:
Collaboration and community.
Sense of community
Social skills rehearsal
Safety to make mistakes
A space to make friends and personally develop
A place to share information
A place to simulate social interactions of real life
Research and interaction.
The potential of Second Life for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Summary Simon Bignell (Avatar: Milton Broome) s.bignell@derby.ac.uk Blog: http://miltonbroome.com
Projects in Second Life are…
Challenging, requires planning and continual development
Possibly requires relinquishing control to the facilitator
Enthusiasm and belief in the platform as a tool not a game
Support from scripters and builders
A reflective and action-oriented approach to projects
Lots and lots and lots of time to ensure it has value for all
If Second Life doesn’t improve things don’t use it!
For Autism…
Offers a new space for social skills rehearsal
A community and place to learn in a safe environment
Potentially a therapeutic environment

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Autism and Asperger's in Second Life

by Simon Bignell

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