Abstract
The potential of virtual environments for teaching people with autism has been positively promoted in recent years. The present study aimed to systematically investigate this potential with 12 participants with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), each individually matched with comparison participants according to either verbal IQ or performance IQ, as well as gender and chronological age. Participants practised using a desktop ‘training’ virtual environment, before completing a number of tasks in a virtual café. We examined time spent completing tasks, errors made, basic understanding of the representational quality of virtual environments and the social appropriateness of performance. The use of the environments by the participants with ASDs was on a par with their PIQ-matched counterparts, and the majority of the group seemed to have a basic understanding of the virtual environment as a representation of reality. However, some participants in the ASD group were significantly more likely to be judged as bumping into, or walking between, other people in the virtual scene, compared to their paired matches. This tendency could not be explained by executive dysfunction or a general motor difficulty. This might be a sign that understanding personal space is impaired in autism. Virtual environments might offer a useful tool for social skills training, and this would be a valuable topic for future research.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.) (DSM-IV). Washington, D.C.: APA.
Berger, H. J. C., van Spaendonck, K. P. M., Horstink, M. W. I. M., Buytenhuijs, E. L., Lammers, P. W. J. M., & Cools, A. R. (1993). Cognitive shifting as a predictor of progress in social understanding in high-functioning adolescents with autism: a prospective study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23, 341–359.
Bernard-Opitz, V., Sriram, N., & Nakhoda-Sapuan, S. (2001). Enhancing social problem solving in children with autism and normal children through computer-assisted instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 377–384.
Blade, R. A., & Padgett, M. L. (2001). Virtual environments standards and terminology. In K. Stanney (Ed.), Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation and Applications. pp. 15–27. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brown, D. J., Neale, H. R., Cobb, S. V. G., & Reynolds, H. (1999). Development and evaluation of the virtual city. International Journal of Virtual Reality, 4, 28–41.
Charman, T., & Baron-Cohen, S. (1992). Understanding drawings and beliefs: A further test of the metarepresentation theory of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 1105–1112.
Chen, S. H. A., & Bernard-Opitz, V. (1993). Comparison of personal and computer-assisted instruction for children with autism. Mental Retardation, 31, 368–376.
Clancy, H. (1996). Medical field prescribes virtual reality for rehabilitation therapy. Computer Reseller News, 698, 76.
Cobb, S., Nichols, S. C., Ramsey, A., & Wilson, J. (1999). Virtual reality induced symptoms and effects (VRISE). Presence: teleoperators and virtual environments, 8, 169–186.
Cromby, J. J., Standen, P. J., & Brown, D. J. (1996). The potentials of virtual environments in the education and training of people with learning disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 40, 489–501.
Eynon, A. (1997). Computer Interaction: An update on the AVATAR program, Communication, Summer, 1997, p. 18.
Fombonne, E., Siddons, F., Achard, S., Frith, U., & Happe, F. (1994). Adaptive behavior and theory of mind in autism.European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3, 176–186.
Freeman, B. J., Del'Homme, M., Guthrie, D., & Zhang, F. (1999). Vineland adaptive behavior scale scores as a function of age and initial IQ in 210 autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 379–384.
Frith, U., Happe, F. G. E., & Siddons, F. (1994). Autism and theory of mind in everyday life. Social Development, 3, 108–123.
Ghaziuddin, M., & Butler, E. (1998). Clumsiness in autism and Asperger syndrome: A further report. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 42, 43–48.
Ghaziuddin, M., Butler, E., Tsai, L., & Ghaziuddin, N. (1994). Is clumsiness a marker for Asperger syndrome? Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 38, 519–527.
Happe, F. G. E. (1995). The role of age and verbal ability in the Theory of Mind task performance of subjects with autism. Child Development, 66, 843–855.
Heimann, M., Nelson, K., Tjus, T., & Gilberg, C. (1995). Increasing reading and communication skills in children with autism through an interactive multimedia computer program. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 459–480.
Hobson, R.P. (1993). Autism and the Development of Mind. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hughes, C., & Russell, J. (1993). Autistic children's difficulty with mental disengagement from an object: its implications for theories of autism. Developmental Psychology, 29, 498–510.
Hughes, C., Russell, J., & Robbins, T. W. (1994). Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism. Neuropsychologia, 32, 477–492.
Leekam, S. R., & Perner, J. (1991). Does the autistic child have a metarepresentational deficit? Cognition, 40, 203–218.
Mitchell, P., Saltmarsh, R., & Russell, H. (1997). Overly literal interpretations of speech in autism: Understanding that messages arise from minds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 685–691.
Moore, D. J. (1998). Computers and people with autism/asperger syndrome. Communication, 20–21.
Moore, M., & Calvert, S. (2000). Brief report: Vocabulary acquisition for children with autism: teacher or computer instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 359–362.
Moore, D. J., McGrath, P., & Thorpe, J. (2000). Computer aided learning for people with autism-a framework for research and development. Innovations in Education and Training International, 37, 218–228.
Moore, D., & Taylor, J. (2000). Interactive multimedia systems for students with autism. Journal of Educational Media, 25, 169–177.
Neale, H. (2001). Virtual environments in special needs education: Considering users in design. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Nottingham, U.K.
Nichols, S. C. (1999). Virtual reality induced symptoms and effects (VRISE): Methodological and theoretical issues. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Nottingham, U.K.
Ozonoff, S. (1995). Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Card Sort Test in studies of autism. Neuropsychology, 9, 491–500.
Ozonoff, S., Strayer, D. L., McMahon, W. M., & Filloux, F. (1994). Executive function abilities in autism and tourette syndrome: An information processing approach. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1015–1032.
Parsons, S., Beardon, L., Neale, H. R., Reynard, G., Eastgate, R., Wilson, J. R., Cobb, S. V. G., Benford, S. D., Mitchell, P., & Hopkins, E. (2000). Development of social skills amongst adults with asperger's syndrome using virtual environments: the 'AS Interactive' project. In P. Sharkey, A. Cesarani, L. Pugnetti & A. Rizzo (Eds.) 3rd ICDVRAT, Sardinia Italy. University of Reading, pp. 163–170.
Parsons, S., & Mitchell, P. (1999). What children with autism understand about thoughts and thought bubbles. Autism, 3, 17–38.
Parsons, S., & Mitchell, P. (2002). The potential of virtual reality in social skills training for people with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 46, 430–443.
Pennington, B. F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive functions and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 51–87.
Rothbaum, B. O., & Hodges, L. F. (1999). The use of virtual reality exposure in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Behavior Modification, 23, 507–525.
Silver, M., & Oakes, P. (2001). Evaluation of a new computer intervention to teach people with autism or Asperger syndrome to recognize and predict emotions in others. Autism, 5, 299–316.
Sparrevohn, R., & Howie, P. M. (1995). Theory of mind in children with autistic disorder: Evidence of developmental progression and the role of verbal ability. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 249–263.
Strickland, D. (1996). A virtual reality application with autistic children. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 5, 319–329.
Strickland, D., Marcus, L. M., Mesibov, G. B., & Hogan, K. (1996). Brief report: Two case studies using virtual reality as a learning tool for autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 651–659.
Swettenham, J. G. (1996). Can children with autism be taught to understand false belief using computers? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 157–165.
Trepagnier, C. G. (1999). Virtual environments for the investigation and rehabilitation of cognitive and perceptual impairments. NeuroRehabilitation, 12, 63–72.
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). The Psychological Corporation.
Wilson, B. A., Alderman, N., Burgess, P. W., Emslie, H. C., & Evans, J. J. (1986). Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndome. Thames Valley Test Company: Flempton, Bury St. Edmunds.
Wilson, P. N., Foreman, N., & Stanton, D. (1998). A rejoinder. Disability and Rehabilitation, 20, 113–115.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Parsons, S., Mitchell, P. & Leonard, A. The Use and Understanding of Virtual Environments by Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 34, 449–466 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JADD.0000037421.98517.8d
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JADD.0000037421.98517.8d