Game Aid for Autistic Players to Exhibit Emotions Using Visual Cues

A game of images: Dixit, an award-winning board game, could serve as a suitable platform for individuals with autism to articulate their feelings and experiences. By selecting cards featuring illustrations that resonate with them, participants can share personal anecdotes and explore complex topics such as identity, anxiety, and misunderstandings within society.

First published by the French firm Libellud, Dixit encourages players to choose one of 84 cards that best fits a title proposed by the designated storyteller. As part of a recent study, researchers invited 35 autistic participants to choose a card representing autism and discuss their rationale behind their selection.

Analysing the responses, researchers discovered three primary themes:

Challenges: Autistic participants selected cards that symbolized the struggles faced by neurodiverse individuals, including symptoms of autism and their repercussions like anxiety and isolation.
Strengths: Participants also chose cards that highlighted unique traits of autistic people, which set them apart and enable excelling in specific areas.
Society: Participants also used their card choices to emphasize how societal perceptions of autism create a barrier between neurotypical and autistic individuals, exacerbating existing challenges.

Researchers believe that Dixit has the potential to be particularly effective for autistic individuals because it allows participants to use cards to evoke emotions about their condition, instead of finding inspiration independently. Moreover, such games could stimulate open dialogue and mutual understanding between autistic and neurotypical individuals.

The study was spearheaded by Dr Gray Atherton and Dr Liam Cross from the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, and it was published in Discover Psychology. Dr Atherton, the study's lead author, stated, "Using a game like Dixit to talk about complex and personal issues can result in a breakthrough for some individuals with autism."

Dr Cross added that the study sheds light on the benefits of gamified approaches for discussing difficult subjects and advocated for its potential use in schools to facilitate conversations on complex topics like grief, bullying, and divorce.

In the UK, community groups for autistic adults have used Dixit as part of a larger study investigating the association between autism and board gaming. Previous research within the same program showed that people with autism were overrepresented in the board gaming community and valued modern board games as a social outlet within a structured space[2].

This unique approach of discussing complex topics like 'autism', 'anxiety', and societal perceptions, as demonstrated in the game Dixit, can be further harnessed for promoting 'mental-health' and 'health-and-wellness' in educational settings, such as 'education-and-self-development' programs and 'personal-growth' workshops.
The use of neuroscience news, like the study on Dixit and autism, can facilitate 'science'-based conversations that shed light on various aspects of 'neurodiversity', fostering a better understanding of the 'psychology' behind autism and promoting empathy and inclusivity in society.
Dr Cross, co-author of the study on using Dixit for autistic individuals, stresses the potential benefits of applying gamified approaches in schools to stimulate open dialogue and mutual understanding on sensitive topics like 'grief', 'bullying', and 'divorce', thereby cultivating a supportive and inclusive learning environment.
As the study on Dixit reveals, neurodiverse individuals often express their feelings and personal experiences through visual stimuli like images, making games like Dixit an effective tool for encouraging self-expression and communication in individuals with 'autism'.
The encouraging findings of the study, published in Discover Psychology, highlight the transformative potential of board games like Dixit in fostering emotional intelligence, social skills, and empathy, ultimately contributing to overall 'personal-growth' and quality-of-life improvements for individuals with 'autism'.