Virtual Floortime Using Games to Engage Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

1 in 88 children is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Specific software, virtual worlds, and games may be used to improve social and language skills. These tools may be combined with the DIR/Floortime therapeutic model that encourages parents, teachers, and therapists to engage these children through their own (sometimes limited) interests. Applying this framework, this paper suggests the creation of a workshop modeled after the Computer Clubhouse, as developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which would take advantage of the children's sometimes above-average analytic and visual abilities. Participants would produce their own video games with Scratch or other age-appropriate tool. In this way, children on the autism spectrum could pursue their interests in computers and games while strengthening their creativity and problem-solving skills: areas that are sometimes difficult for those with the disorder.