Office Life: Autistica Play Jam

The 4 emotions (sadness, anger, happiness and fear) were determined as these emotions have been identified as universal across cultures and are therefore fully accessible to all groups of people (Quiros-Ramirez & Onisawa, 2015). 

Tasks of the game were adapted from evidence-based social skills interventions for individuals with autism. For example, Liu et al (2013) reported enhanced social and communication skills for individuals with autism after completion of a workplace intervention. Tasks of the intervention included completing office-related jobs such as clerical work, office cleaning or goods packaging,  with debriefing sessions at the end of day. The debriefing sessions are implemented as a way of helping participants understand social behaviours they encountered throughout the day. “End of day” reflection as part of the game mirrors the debriefing concept and intends to assist the player in understanding appropriate social behaviours  in common office environments.  

Individuals with autism also typically demonstrate hypersensitivity which is defined as over responsiveness to sensory stimulation (Black et al., 2017). Therefore, hypersensitivity was taken into account by allowing the player to have control of sound and light.

References 

Black, K. R., Stevenson, R. A., Segers, M., Ncube, B. L., Sun, S. Z., Philipp-Muller, A., ... & Ferber, S. (2017). Linking anxiety and insistence on sameness in autistic children: The role of sensory hypersensitivity. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(8), 2459-2470.

Liu, K. P., Wong, D., Chung, A. C., Kwok, N., Lam, M. K., Yuen, C., ... & Kwan, A. (2013). Effectiveness of a Workplace Training Programme in Improving Social, Communication and Emotional Skills for Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disability in Hong Kong-A Pilot Study. Occupational Therapy International, 20(4).

Quiros-Ramirez, M. A., & Onisawa, T. (2015). Considering cross-cultural context in the automatic recognition of emotions. International Journal of Machine Learning and Cybernetics, 6(1), 119-127.