Computers in the zone of proximal development: implications for evaluation
Computers & Education
Researching computers and education — glimpses of the wider picture
Computers & Education
Scaffolding: design issues in single & collaborative virtual environments for social skills learning
EGVE '02 Proceedings of the workshop on Virtual environments 2002
Extending Locales: Awareness Management in MASSIVE-3
VR '00 Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality 2000 Conference
Applications of Temporal Links: Recording and Replaying Virtual Environments
VR '02 Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference 2002
A Front-Ended Approach to the User-Centred Design of VEs
VR '02 Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference 2002
Using Virtual Environments in the Assessment of Executive Dysfunction
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
IDC '08 Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Interaction design and children
Computers in Human Behavior
ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society
Developing methods for understanding social behavior in a 3D virtual learning environment
Computers in Human Behavior
Participatory evaluation of an educational game for social skills acquisition
Computers & Education
Exploring motion-based touchless games for autistic children's learning
Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
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Previous research has shown that computer-based tasks can motivate people with autism and encourage learning. As a computer-based medium, Virtual Environments (VEs) offer a potentially useful tool for social skills training for people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, there are some concerns over whether people with ASDs can understand, use and interpret the technology appropriately. This paper adopts a qualitative case-study approach to report observations of, and comments from, two adolescent boys with ASDs, gathered during a series of sessions using a virtual café and bus environment. Although there were signs of repetitive behaviours, literal interpretation of the scenes, and that the VEs were treated as not having real-world relevance, these were not the dominant modes of responding. Instead, participants seemed to interpret the scenes meaningfully and appreciated the opportunities to discuss appropriate social responses with a facilitator sitting alongside. They enjoyed using the VEs and provided specific examples of how the VEs had helped, or could help, them in the real world. This gives encouraging support for the idea that VEs can be used and interpreted meaningfully by at least some students with ASDs. The paper concludes with some considerations for the future development of VEs for members of this population.