There was a news story I saw on TV earlier this week, and then I found more information on the internet about it. The Center for BrainHealth in Dallas uses avatars in a virtual world to help autistic children learn to cope socially. They claim that four or five sessions are comparable to two or three years of real world training. Coffee shop get togethers and job interviews are examples of social situations that are presented. It helps the students recognize emotions and facial expressions, and it could be their gateway to social interaction.
This blog is currently used for my Educational Product Development INST 5330 graduate class at UCM.
WOW! That is a fantastic idea. Having worked with Autisitic children learning those social skills before they have to practice them in real life could be so beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Whoever thought of this is brilliant. I am goingto bring ot up to some of the special education teachers at my school to see if they have heard of this and maybe it would be something to help the kids out! Thanks for sahring...
ReplyDeleteI think we all could use those for social training!!!LOL
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! This is a great idea! I love all the info that flies around amongst all of you. I've been learning a lot too this semester from all the blog posts!!
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