A full-body interactive videogame used as a tool to foster social initiation conducts in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: Game-based interventions that involve the use of technology have shown to facilitate motivation and learning processes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The purpose of this observational study project was to conduct a feasibility study to compare the amount of social initiation conducts performed during a full-body interaction videogame versus the amount of social initiation conducts occurred during a free-play activity in children with ASD. We hypothesized that the videogame could elicit a higher number of these conducts and therefore could be proposed as a tool to promote social initiation skills. Method: A total of 15 children (ages 4-6) participated in four sessions with two sections: playing with the videogame Picos Adventure and free play time. Social skills conducts were codified according to an observational scale. Results: Results show that the videogame elicited more social initiation conducts than free play in children with ASD when they were playing alone or playing with a peer. Furthermore, it showed to be as effective as free play in promoting social initiation while playing with parents. The videogame was also effective in reducing repetitive behaviors and increasing gestures. Conclusions: Considering all these results, the videogame could be considered as an appropriate tool to foster social behaviors but future work is needed in order to obtain further data that supports this hypothesis. Finding new attractive types of treatment would be useful to complement more traditional therapies.