What video games does your child with #Autism like to play?

Kids love video games. Kids with #Autism seem to really be drawn to them as well and even more so. That’s certainly the case with my kids anyways. Frankly, you can’t escape them. Practically every store, both online and brick-and-mortar, sell video games in brightly lit aisles that draw kids in like moths to flame.

I thought it would be cool to share what our kids favorite video games are.  It can be difficult to find games that are age or developmentally appropriate for our kids on the #Autism spectrum. You can visit wepc.com for the history of video games and maybe play it with your kids

What games do your kids enjoy playing?  What system do you have?  What games do you enjoy playing with your kids?

This could be a great resource, especially with the holidays quickly approaching.

Let the discussion begin..  🙂

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This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me.

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Rob Gorski

Full time, work from home single Dad to my 3 amazing boys. Oh...and creator fo this blog. :-)
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ShaunParson

i thought kids with autism  wouldn’t play Warcraft beacuze they would get mad at people killing them

Esther1975

My son has asd and is nearly 12 I found this while looking for new games for him at the moment he plays wow and minecraft on laptop and assasins creed and halo on the Xbox I was looking for something to help him with social skills so if we could be any help to you as far as asd teens go my e-mail is esther_1975@hotmail.co.uk

Toni

My 4 year old autistic twins love to play World of Warcraft – they know how to fly, resurrect themselves, kill monsters and loot their kills.  They also love to play Wizard101 and Pizza vs. Skeletons (ipod).  I find any games that have a lot of color, tend to draw mine in.  We've also played the Wii and XBox 360 – all of the sports and dance games on the Wii, while the main game for our Xbox is Double Fine Happy Action Theater – this game is so much fun and great for all ages 🙂  I learned of it from an article on teachers using the xbox and this game to help autistic children interact with one another and I've seen with mine that they do tend to interact a little more while playing this game.

Rkulman

We are very interested to know the games that children with ASDs are playing for our research and game guides at learningworksforkids. I would appreciate any suggestions for games that seem to help children develop skills such as organization, planning, emotional control, or social thinking skills. I can be found a @Rkulman 

kat13

 @Rkulman I personally would like to see something out there for my daughter to help her with conceptual understanding of clocks, interpretation of  ruler measurements, as well as increase her reading comprehension. She reads at the great speeds, but re-iterating  just read story is very difficult. So I am not quite sure if it is comprehension is suffering or the ability to re-tell.

Rkulman

I am looking for parents of children with ASD to inform us about the games and technologies that their children enjoy and learn from.  We are developing guides to use popular games and technologies to improve executive functioning and academic skills.  We are also starting an interview study with teens on the spectrum to learn about their experiences with games and technologies.  If you have any ideas, please let us know, so we can share them with other parents.  I can be reached at learningworksforkids.com. 

Rkulman

I am looking for help from the parents of children with ASD to tell us about the popular video games and technologies that their children enjoy and learn from.  Our focus is on finding games that practice executive functioning and academic skills.  We are also beginning to conduct an interview study with ASD teens who can articulate their experiences in playing video games and using other digital media in their own lives. Our website is learningworksforkids.com and you can contact me there with with recommendations.

DeeBrake

well, for the longest time i have kept the games strictly educational. we had a v-tech learning system with many games. teaching colors and numbers, spelling and math. (i love that learning is fun) but lately as a reward for good behaviour, we have allowed our boy to play playstation games, he likes ATV FREESTYLE where he can just drive and learn jumps and tricks and prefers that over the race sequence. also likes HUMMER BADLANDS. we avoid fighting games for the most part, but i did buy him a BEN 10 game. at his young age, the playstation is a REWARD and not an every day thing

ReneeTobinDemuth

Holy cow it's probably easier to tell u what games he don't like to play…lol……he is so verbal when he plays I love to sit back and hear him talk to the TV/GAMES. XBOX….all the Lego games, spiderman games, zombie games, more of the superhero type games.

lostandtired

@ReneeTobinDemuth that's awesome. So video games bring him out of his shell?

kat13

Not a big fan of an bitten apples either, but my both girls just addicted to the iPod games. Same games actually that I have on Android tablet. 
 
PC wise, she loves Roblox online game. She plays for it for hours…

lostandtired

@kat13 very cool

Chloe123

Rob, I know you are not a fan of Apple, but I play the iPad. I LOVE my iPad. Some of my favorite game type apps are, Fairway Solitare, Angry Birds Space, Cooking games, art and drawing apps, and Puzzle School Pro. 

lostandtired

@Chloe123 great games. I don't dislike the iPad. I dislike Apples business practices. 🙂

Great feedback. 🙂

lostandtired

Have you folks tried Where's my water. It's a game for Android and I believe iOS. My kids love it.

TinaMarieCrain

Plants VS. Zombies and Mortal Combat, they play a lot on the computer and we also have Playstation 3 and a WII but they are on the computer more than the actual game consoles.  We use them to watch Netflix, lol!

lostandtired

@TinaMarieCrain my kids loved Plants vs Zombies. They also like angry birds as well.

hendersn

We must have the only kid with autism who does not like to play games on computer, play video games, or watch videos or TV.  He is completely indifferent despite our many attempts to interest him in one of these activities so that he could entertain himself in his down time.  He does like music and will listen to his iPod for short period of time.  He will sometimes watch/listen to others play Rock Band or Guitar Hero and we have bought a lot of songs from those games for him to listen to on his iPod.

lostandtired

@hendersn That's interesting. My kids at the opposite. I would love for them to be more into music.

I think that some kids shy away from video games and the because they are not always sensory friendly.

The intensity, flashing lights and loud noises may be a problem for some.

AryehBaruch

 @lostandtired  @hendersn as an aspie myself, I can vouch for the Pokemon games.It is interesting to note that the creator of Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri, is rumored to be a diagnosed aspie. a new version will be released in october, so it is in perfect time for the holidays. (Black 2 and White 2) (names reference yin/yang)

lostandtired

@AryehBaruch @hendersn good call. My kids love pokemon. 🙂

cathy

My son is 5 1/2 and has autism. When I first introduced him to the ipad.. he had no interested whatsoever. I finally realized it was because I was right there.. showing him how to play the games appropriately! I just left the ipad in the room with him, told him he could play it and showed him how to turn it on. After a few weeks of him playing games such as "sound drop" and "angry birds" inappropriately, (in other words, he wouldn't even try to make the birds hit the pigs, he would just shoot them up into the air)… he started playing the "right" way..lol, if there is a "right" way! In any event.. a few months later.. and now he loves to play all kinds of games on the ipad. Here are his favorite: sound drop, angry birds, art of glow, piano, hand drums. I don't have my ipad with me, so I don't remember the names a several more that are fantastic.. I will write more later. One of games has a cat that copies what you say and the other one has these round colorful things and when you touch them, they explode.. that one is his all time favorite.

Lost_and_Tired

Video games have really taken over in the mobile device arena anymore. They are fun, cheap and in endless supply. 🙂

lostandtired

We no longer have a game console. We do however play games on my PC that I built. We use an Xbox 360 controller to play games like Lego Batman 2 and Portal 2.

Emmett loves the all the Lego games and Elliott currently wrapped up in Portal 2. Using a 360 controller makes it both easier and more familiar for the boys.

Gavin doesn't do well with video games but is allowed to help his brothers on occasion, if they need help.