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Friends, A team of faculty designers working with psychologists at the National eTherapy Centre and team of design students recently created a suite of online therapeutic games designed to help autistic children develop independent life skills. We've had the web site up and running successfully for a while now. It's been working well in Australia, and now we're sharing it with the rest of the world. Normally, I wouldn't send a press release to academic colleagues, but this release tells the story and gives you the URLs. For me, this is a terrific example of design research -- and a great example of interdisciplinary research. The design group in our faculty worked with psychologists at the National eTherapy Centre in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences to do something good for people based on empirical research and careful testing. This is also a perfect example of what Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman mean when they speak of "design as being in service." You can play the game for yourself by going to Whizkid Gamesat: http://www.whizkidgames.com/ For more information a video presentation is available at: https://www.stateofdesign.com.au/finalists/Premiers-Design-Awards/page-2010-Winners/whizkid-games-1279768044 If you play the games -- and I have -- remember that these games are therapeutic. If you can play this game through the eyes of an autistic child, you'll find that they open a new world to you. We can't really see the games as autistic children see them, but the designers and psychologists that created this game used the power of imagination sharpened by research to visit the world as they experience it, and came back with a set of games to help autistic children live better in the world that we navigate so easily. Please share these games with those who may find them of value. Best regards, Ken Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS Dean, Faculty of Design Swinburne University of Technology Melbourne, Australia -- WhizKid Games A suite of online therapeutic games is now available to help children with autism develop independent life skills. Swinburne University Faculty of Design and the National eTherapy Centre developed Whizkid Games to address the lack of ‘early intervention’ resources available for autistic children. “E-health is a global issue to which design can contribute viable cost effective resource alternatives,” said lecturer and lead designer James Marshall. “Whizkid Games illustrates how universities and design research can develop new job opportunities and provide innovative solutions to global concerns.” Project co-creator Prof. David Austin, a psychologist with the National eTherapy Centre and Swinburne Autism Bio-Research Initiative (SABRI), said he became passionately interested in autism when his son Joel, 7, was diagnosed as autistic. His research found that conventional teaching methods work for mildly autistic children but fail in moderate to severe cases. Conventional methods include reading, verbal instruction and praise. “These formats don’t resonate with autistic children, because of reliance on verbal cues and instruction,” said Prof. Austin. “These kids are not good at sitting patiently and listening to instruction, and they’re not motivated by the same things as other kids.” Prof. Austin worked with Marshall and 80 digital media design students to develop Whizkid Games in cohesion with autistic children’s natural affinity for computers. Design students visited Bulleen Heights Autism School to speak with teachers and to observe the activities that autistic children struggle with everyday. Games like ‘Ron Gets Dressed’ and ‘Rufus Goes to School’ address specific requirements by generating intuitive game play which translates into everyday life skills. Design student Jonathan Miller noted the challenges of the project. “Symbolic rewards, like points for completing game milestones, are meaningless to an autistic child. Stimulating rewards like music or a dancing character are more meaningful - but human faces can be intimidating. It’s wickedly complex.” Developed in the short time frame of only 16 weeks, the project required over 25,000 hours of research and development, time rarely possible in the commercial sector with vast amounts of experimentation. “Whizkid Games solves a serious problem in a light-hearted playful way,” says Swinburne Design Dean, Ken Friedman. “This is serious play, and it promises to enlarge the community by integrating autistic children and their families into the flow of social life.” Since the launch of Whizkid Games in December 2009, the resource has been an instant hit with the community of autistic children. The National eTherapy Centre has enjoyed a 600 per cent increase in web traffic. The games resource has won several prestigious design awards, including the Premier’s Design Award celebrating exemplary design initiatives from Victoria, Australia. Whizkid Games is available at: http://www.whizkidgames.com/ For more information, a video presentation is available at: https://www.stateofdesign.com.au/finalists/Premiers-Design-Awards/page-2010-Winners/whizkid-games-1279768044