After reading our post about the benefits of Minecraft for children with autism, a mother approached me about an issue her son was experiencing while playing the popular online game Team Fortress 2. In an effort to shield her son from the violence portrayed in this game, she had purchased a pair of goggles that her son could wear that would turn the bullets and explosions shown in the game into bubbles and confetti. Unfortunately, when the other players saw her son wearing these goggles, they made fun of him. Eventually her son got so frustrated he quit.

It is a shame when a child is bullied under any circumstances; however, this particular scenario offers a unique learning opportunity. Oftentimes, traditional bullying occurs when parents and teachers are not around to witness the event. In the case of cyberbullying within online games, it is possible for a parent or teacher to sit with the child and even record play sessions to help the child work through these situations.

While some children may not mind a parent or teacher watching over them while they are playing their favorite online game, other children may be reluctant or act more reserved under such supervision. If this is the case for your child, consider using a program like Online Broadcasting Software (OBS) to record the child’s play sessions. This program can record video and audio of gameplay on a computer with minimal setup. It can also record gameplay on an Xbox but the setup is quite a bit more involved. Recording these interactions provides a unique view at unfiltered dialogue between children and offers a chance to help a child navigate through difficult situations that we wouldn’t otherwise witness.

Here are some important points to focus on when reviewing play sessions with a child:

General Online Security

This is not an issue specific to cyberbullying; however, it is important that children are not disclosing any confidential or personally identifiable information to strangers online. It is important to have a set of rules about what the child is and isn’t allowed to talk about online.

Identifying Bullying

Children with autism have difficulty understanding social cues and concepts like sarcasm. It is possible for a child to misinterpret joking as bullying, and vice versa. Take a look at whether the players are targeting the child specifically or if they interacting with everyone the same. Observe whether the players are destroying structures for fun or singling out the child’s structures. Even if you do not find the interactions to be bullying, having the opportunity to explain social situations and cues to the child is extremely valuable.

Dealing with Bullying

Once the child can identify bullying, the next step is to figure out a course of action. Another unique advantage of working on bullying in online communities is trial and error. Brainstorm possible solutions with the child that he or she can try out. This helps the child work on problem solving skills and makes the child a part of the solution. Having your child try different strategies to deal with bullying in the real world can be risky and have devastating results; however online, there are always new servers and games where the child can try different tactics to deal with these issues.

In Part II of this post, I will be delving into real incidences of cyberbullying and helping children through these occurrences.

The post How to turn Cyberbullying into a Learning Opportunity: Part 1 of 2 appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.

I’m always amazed at how proficient children are with technology. Children that can’t even walk yet know how to unlock a phone and get to their favorite app. Knowing how to navigate a phone or tablet is great for children but can also be an issue if there is content on the phone you don’t want them to have access to. If you want them to play a specific game or app and not have access to the internet or youtube you can use iOS’s Guided Access feature. In the video I give a quick walkthrough of how to get to the settings and limit time and access to other apps.

The post Limit Time and Access on iPad Using One Easy Setting appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.

What makes Minecraft so fun to play (and also why it is a perfect game for children with autism) is there are no rules, no clear objectives, and no winning or losing. Kids are free to create and experiment in the world as they wish. For younger children developing early play skills, a lot can be worked on in the realm of Minecraft, including imitation, taking turns, observational learning, and pretend play. Setting up a server and playing Minecraft with a child is a good way to work on these skills that can be difficult to target in real world situations.

If playing Minecraft as a reward or reinforcer for a child you are working with, you can turn this downtime into a virtual play session and work on crucial skills. This requires some setup and an additional computer; however, imagine being able to engage the child in their world, a world that the child is imagining and creating – more importantly, a world where the child wants to engage. You and the child can work together to build structures or even play hide-and-seek. Exposing the child to games like hide-and-seek or tag in Minecraft can help the child when he or she encounters these games in the real world.

For older children with autism who struggle with socialization, Minecraft can be a great bridge or conversation starter. Since Minecraft is so popular, the game can provide a virtual place for socialization and interaction between children with autism and typically developing peers. Also, since many children with autism excel with technology, Minecraft being no exception, there’s an opportunity for children with autism to help their peers and reveal their expertise. This can be a great equalizer between children with autism and their typically developing peers to help improve self-esteem and foster new friendships.

One highly important precaution to consider when setting up and maintaining these online worlds is monitoring content and conversation. Cyberbullying is prevalent in online communities and can turn any positive environment into a negative one. Fortunately, the Minecraft community has had some amazing people step up and facilitate environments where negativity is not tolerated. The Minecraft server Autcraft, for instance, was established by a father of a child with autism and is a place where players need to be “whitelisted” or approved to play. There are also rules of conduct that are enforced by moderators. Autcraft is a great place to start if you are concerned about who or what may be on the other side of the computer.

If you’ve never played Minecraft before, I encourage you to give it a shot. It will open up a whole new world of possibilities for introducing new skills and concepts to children with autism.

Have you used Minecraft when working with a child? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Benefits of Minecraft for Children with Autism appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.

1. Scavenger Hunt

If you are working on object labels or lessons like features or functions, you can create lists for the child to take pictures of around the house. If the child can’t read, you can stay with him or her and read the labels out loud. You can even time the child and have them try to beat their record!

Sample Lists:

Objects: Cup, ball, desk, pencil, clock, etc.

Features: Something with a nose, something with hair, etc.

Functions: Something you can drink with, something you can use to eat, etc.

2. Cause and Effect Videos

Teaching cause and effect is challenging because of the difficulty involved in breaking down and separating out cause and effect during real time events. One way to deal with this is using the camera to take a video of an event. Play back the video with the child, pausing time to time to talk through what is happening and the relationship between the two events.

3. Perspective Taking/Knowing

Perspective taking is an important skill for children with autism to learn but it is often very difficult to teach. One way I’ve worked on this was using the camera to show my perspective. I was playing hide and seek with one of my kiddos and his feet were sticking out from below the curtain. I took a picture of what I saw and we talked about how I knew where he was hiding. We also discussed what he would need to do to be more hidden.

4. Conversation Training

FaceTime and Skype video chat are useful for practicing conversation. Since technology is more engaging for some children, the use of video chat can help them focus more on the conversation at hand. I’ve used video chat with a kiddo and his eye contact actually improved during these conversations because he was less distracted by other things.

5. Gross Motor Modeling

Gross motor skills are difficult for some kids and the use of video modeling in addition to physical prompting can help them learn these skills quicker. If you don’t have a third person available when working on gross motor skills, you can take a video of yourself performing the action, play the video for the child, and then help physically prompt them as they try to mimic what they are seeing.

How have you used a smartphone’s camera to create learning opportunities?

The post 5 Ways to Use Your Smartphone’s Camera to Create Learning Opportunities appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.

At the start of the app, the user is presented with a table of four characters, two humans, a cat, and a bull. After choosing a character, the user makes the character food picking from a large selection of ingredients that can be prepared in a variety of ways. Each character has different tastes and their reactions to the food express their preference, disgust or indifference.

It is easy to work on inferring likes/dislikes, cause and effect, and preferences with this app. For starters, ask the child how the character feels after eating each food item based on the character’s reaction. For instance, if the cat makes a happy face after eating a boiled lemon you can ask, “Did the cat like it?” Once you’ve done a few of these, you can go back to the main screen and ask questions about the preferences of each character. You can ask which characters liked or disliked certain foods.

As you are working through these questions, there are always opportunities to vary your language to include categories, colors and negations. Instead of always naming the ingredient, try referring to the ingredient by its category and/or color. For instance, instead of saying, “broccoli,” you might say, “the green vegetable.” You can also work on negations by asking the child to pick an ingredient that is “not a fruit,” for example.

Selecting the ingredients is only part of the fun to be had with this app. The user also has loads of options to prepare the food (cut, blend, boil, fry, microwave, and more). This adds another layer to likes/dislikes as well as the option to target cause and effect skills. For example, one of the characters doesn’t like meat unless it is blended and cooked into a patty.

You can also work on knowing with your kiddo. While observing the reactions of the characters ask, “Did they like it/how do you know?” There isn’t a whole lot more to expand on here but it is a small opportunity to generalize this skill.

If you are working on following instructions with the child, you can chain a few steps together to carry out in the kitchen. You can ask the child to choose a specific ingredient and preform precise steps to prepare it.

Toca Kitchen provides a lot of opportunities for learning and as a bonus the reactions of the characters are pretty entertaining (especially the bull). There’s a parent section in the top left that provides basic information about the app. Toca Boca also makes an app called Kitchen Monsters that uses the same concepts but features monsters as the characters. That app is free but only available for iOS at this time.

Have you played Toca Kitchen? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

App: Toca Kitchen

Price: $2.99

Available on: the App Store, Google Play, Windows, and Amazon

Developer: Toca Boca

Targeted Skills: Actions, Categories, Cause and Effect, Colors, Following Instructions, Foods, Knowing, Likes/Dislikes, Negations, Preferences

The post The Benefits of Playing Toca Kitchen for Children with Autism appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.

When I started as a therapist many years ago, the reward (or reinforcer) for finishing activities was usually a preferred toy of some sort. Blocks, paper airplanes, and plastic dinosaurs are examples of the types of toys kids wanted back in the day. These activities were great because they offered a chance to interact with the child, work on appropriate play skills, and generalize the skills and language that the child had learned during those more structured trials.

However, as tablets and mobile phones increased in popularity and accessibility, these devices quickly became the preferred activity of many of the children I worked with. After completing an activity, kids wanted to play a game on the phone, take pictures with the camera, or watch a video on YouTube. While highly motivating for the child, time spent on the phone meant lost learning opportunities. A child playing on a tablet or phone doesn’t get the chance to socialize with someone else, practice play skills, or generalize the skills and language that he or she had learned.

This is the common perception but this doesn’t have to be the case.

While a child may lose the chance to work on some of the motor skills associated with building blocks or throwing a ball, the wide array of apps and games available provide many (if not more) learning opportunities as long as you know how to use what’s out there.

This blog will focus on finding and highlighting the ways existing apps can be leveraged to target many of the skills and language that are so important to generalize.

If you have an app that your child loves, send us an email at

appreview@pixelationlabs.com.

 We will take a look at the app and find new ways to use it to generalize skills and language.

The post Finding New Uses for Existing Technology appeared first on PixelAtion Labs.