arrival

Hi Stray,

I don’t personally know of any camps but local Autism Charities sometimes offer weekly youth clubs which might be worth checking out as, even though your young person is high functioning, an ASD Youth Club would be more supportive and understanding of their social and communication needs than a regular youth club. Have a look about to see what Autism charities are offering in your local area.

I tend to have a very positive view about gaming and I would personally tread very gently before labelling something a (negative) obsession when it could simply be a (positive) passionate interest, although I do appreciate that too much of anything can be harmful. However, if your young person is having a hard time with school, family and friends, online gaming may currently be offering him a real lifeline, a means of safely escaping an otherwise difficult reality that he is currently facing in his real life.  

I have been told of the benefits of online gaming so many times by so many young people with ASD. They tell me that online gaming gives them a real sense of accomplishment and achievement when they meet aims, progress their gaming levels and achieve objectives in their games. This can really boost their self-esteem, particularly if in other areas of their life, such as at school, they may be failing at tasks being set.

The regimented nature of the games too is often also experienced really positively by young people with ASD. ASD young people can often struggle with unstructured free time and can find it hard to make their own entertainment and therefore computer games can offer a welcome relief from these pressures too. The games tend to have clear rules, clear methods and clear objectives, all of which are often experienced as relaxing and a much needed break from the relentless, stressful, and often overwhelming unwritten rules and confusing hidden agendas of real life. I have lost count of the times I have been told by young people with ASD that they wish real life were more like a PC game, ‘logical, simple and completely comprehensible.’

Online gaming also allows many young people to talk to other people which they may not otherwise feel able to do face to face. The game itself often provides a shared interest and a specific focus for their conversation which they might otherwise struggle to have with other young people their age in real life. In addition, because it’s not face to face communicating, conversations online are often more direct, straightforward, and are therefore far less threatening and less dependent on the confusing hidden social rules that conversations in real life invariably contain. My thoughts being that it is better that he communicate with other people online than not communicate or talk to others at all.

In my experience, stopping a child playing computer games does not necessarily improve their ability or willingness to engage with others in the real world as both activities require different skills, the latter of which the young person may not have or has not yet fully grasped. What might be lovely could be if the parents learn to play the games too, so they can share in their child’s interests. 

It is equally highly possible that the skills this young man is demonstrating during his gaming may well lead to a very fruitful career in future life, such as coding. I would therefore always try to work positively and supportively with whatever interests a young person has.

One of the biggest concerns I would have would be to ensure that he is fully aware of online safety. Here is a link to the NSPCC who have lots of resources about keeping kids safe online that his parents might want to share with him.

 https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Best of luck.

Hi Stray,

I don’t personally know of any camps but local Autism Charities sometimes offer weekly youth clubs which might be worth checking out as, even though your young person is high functioning, an ASD Youth Club would be more supportive and understanding of their social and communication needs than a regular youth club. Have a look about to see what Autism charities are offering in your local area.

I tend to have a very positive view about gaming and I would personally tread very gently before labelling something a (negative) obsession when it could simply be a (positive) passionate interest, although I do appreciate that too much of anything can be harmful. However, if your young person is having a hard time with school, family and friends, online gaming may currently be offering him a real lifeline, a means of safely escaping an otherwise difficult reality that he is currently facing in his real life.  

I have been told of the benefits of online gaming so many times by so many young people with ASD. They tell me that online gaming gives them a real sense of accomplishment and achievement when they meet aims, progress their gaming levels and achieve objectives in their games. This can really boost their self-esteem, particularly if in other areas of their life, such as at school, they may be failing at tasks being set.

The regimented nature of the games too is often also experienced really positively by young people with ASD. ASD young people can often struggle with unstructured free time and can find it hard to make their own entertainment and therefore computer games can offer a welcome relief from these pressures too. The games tend to have clear rules, clear methods and clear objectives, all of which are often experienced as relaxing and a much needed break from the relentless, stressful, and often overwhelming unwritten rules and confusing hidden agendas of real life. I have lost count of the times I have been told by young people with ASD that they wish real life were more like a PC game, ‘logical, simple and completely comprehensible.’

Online gaming also allows many young people to talk to other people which they may not otherwise feel able to do face to face. The game itself often provides a shared interest and a specific focus for their conversation which they might otherwise struggle to have with other young people their age in real life. In addition, because it’s not face to face communicating, conversations online are often more direct, straightforward, and are therefore far less threatening and less dependent on the confusing hidden social rules that conversations in real life invariably contain. My thoughts being that it is better that he communicate with other people online than not communicate or talk to others at all.

In my experience, stopping a child playing computer games does not necessarily improve their ability or willingness to engage with others in the real world as both activities require different skills, the latter of which the young person may not have or has not yet fully grasped. What might be lovely could be if the parents learn to play the games too, so they can share in their child’s interests. 

It is equally highly possible that the skills this young man is demonstrating during his gaming may well lead to a very fruitful career in future life, such as coding. I would therefore always try to work positively and supportively with whatever interests a young person has.

One of the biggest concerns I would have would be to ensure that he is fully aware of online safety. Here is a link to the NSPCC who have lots of resources about keeping kids safe online that his parents might want to share with him.

 https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Best of luck.