14 ms·

Minecraft is helping children with autism make new friends (2016)

78 points by midnightcity 5y ago

hnbad 5y ago
Most "people with autism" prefer being called autistic by the way. The "with autism" label is mostly being pushed by parents of autistic children and autism organizations that aren't actually headed by any autistics (those also frequently use the "puzzle piece" symbol, which originates with Autism Speaks, an organization run by parents of autistic children that wants to find "a cure for autism", which some autistics consider a white washed form of eugenics).
- tobyhinloopen 5y ago
  It really depends who you’re asking. Some autistic people don’t like to be defined by their autism, hence “people with autism”. I personally think it’s just a weird discussion with no value. There is no universal term people are happy with - You can’t do it right. Whatever set of words you’re using, you’ll end up offending someone. It makes it hard to talk about autism, because the endless discussion how to call these people distracts from the real discussions.
  - mistermann 5y ago
    Alternatively, maybe it would help to have an "absurdly" in depth discussion, disassembling the phenomenon into tiny pieces that are seen differently by different people, and discuss why people see them differently, etc. And perhaps by doing a deep dive on this one subject, perhaps we'd learn something generic about ourselves that would be transferable to other subjects, similar to cross domain communication in science and engineering. It seems to me that we use a very different thinking style in anything involving the humanities than we do with materialistic & deterministic domains, where our approaches have proven themselves so successful.
- Knufen 5y ago
  What does "white washed form of eugenics" mean? Legitimately curious!
  - hinoki 5y ago
    Not GP, but I assume autistic people see the goal of a universal cure for autism (or even an accurate screening method for pregnancies) is the same as wiping out the existence of people like them.
    - erklik 5y ago
      > universal cure for autism Would the same view apply to every disability? For example, screening for Down Syndrome largely results in abortion. Is that also eugenics? Or is it not the same since Autism isn't a genetic disorder?
      - cameronh90 5y ago
        Some downs people/family also think the same about downs. Also deaf and others... Personally as an autist I wouldn't want to cure it for myself as it would be a large change in personality that I don't think I could integrate - but if I was to have kids, I'd rather they were "cured" of autism when young.
        odessacubbage 5y ago
        i would gladly cease existing if it meant autism would also cease to exist. the second part is negotiable.
      - DaedPsyker 5y ago
        In Northern Ireland there was a debate on that, a down syndrome activist had campaigned against it which was readily taken up by parties that had opposed abortion in the first place. I'm not sure if it passed fully or just the first stage but there was a bill introduced a ban on non-fatal disabilities.
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  There also seems to be increasing pushback by disabled people against person-first language in general. For example, from a blind person: https://mosen.org/person-first-language-it-does-more-harm-than-good/ https://mosen.org/person-first-language-it-does-more-harm-th...
- AussieWog93 5y ago
  Most "people with autism" have the tactical understanding to realise that policing others' language and enforcing political correctness is more likely to backfire than lead to acceptance.
  - IntelMiner 5y ago
    Speaking as a person with autism. I don't think it's implicitly "problematic" (as your terminology would deem it) to ask how to be described to other people
    - AussieWog93 5y ago
      I don't either. I do think it's "problematic" (not my terminology, but we'll roll with it) to speak on behalf of 70 million other people, though.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- AzzieElbab 5y ago
  The article is about kids. Kids, don’t care about these semantics
  - unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
    My child is all about these semantics and antipathy toward Autism Speaks.
  - sidlls 5y ago
    You might be surprised what autistic kids care about. I have one, and that kid has an amazingly well developed sensibility about certain things, far more advanced than his peers’ and even a good fraction of adults.
- breakfastduck 5y ago
  Talk about trying to find a reason to be offended about something. Wow. I have brown hair. I'd prefer to be called brown haired. But calling me a person with brown hair is perfectly accurate too. Give it a rest.
dcow 5y ago
This is from 2016. It probably needs a year tag. Definitely Minecraft has been know to help build friendships, at least among my friends. We’ve known this for a good while, to put it one way…
mike_hock 5y ago
Does anyone without autism play Minecraft?
- kitd 5y ago
  It wouldn't surprise me if the number ran into the millions.
kitd 5y ago
Slightly OT, but Minecraft was a godsend for my kids during lockdown. AFAICS, they made no distinction between playing with their mates in a virtual playground from playing in a physical one. The interactions seemed identical and definitely helped them socially in that time.
- michaelbuckbee 5y ago
  Minecraft was this for my kids as well, but the big surprise as far as "virtual playgrounds" to me was how incredibly social the games on Roblox are. I'd (to my detriment) kind of written off Roblox as really shallow, but the overall ecosystem of games pushes things in fascinating directions.
  - kgwxd 5y ago
    When my first kid was younger, I had written off Roblox as the worst predatory company on the planet (until Fortnite came along). I still think they're awful as a company, but my younger kid now also loves to play it, and his big brother taught him to ignore anything asking him for Robux, so I don't have to go through the endless fights over getting a digital hat for $20 USD, and I actually enjoy playing it with them.
codeulike 5y ago
The subject of the article, Autcraft, is still going strong I believe https://www.autcraft.com/ https://www.autcraft.com/
brimoore 5y ago
Children with autism or not, Minecraft has countless stories. There's a lot of friendship stories in here that lasted so many years. It is a hub in which many people can play and interact together to help your social skills.
tibbydudeza 5y ago
I can never be thankful enough to Minecraft and it's creator Markus Persson for helping my daughter discover the joys of online gaming and overcoming her social anxiety. She now plays Destiny 2 mainly but the other day as walked into the lounge I found her back in Minecraft. I remarked why she was playing that on her PS5 - she just smiled.

78 points by midnightcity 5y ago

Most "people with autism" prefer being called autistic by the way. The "with autism" label is mostly being pushed by parents of autistic children and autism organizations that aren't actually headed by any autistics (those also frequently use the "puzzle piece" symbol, which originates with Autism Speaks, an organization run by parents of autistic children that wants to find "a cure for autism", which some autistics consider a white washed form of eugenics).

tobyhinloopen 5y ago
It really depends who you’re asking. Some autistic people don’t like to be defined by their autism, hence “people with autism”. I personally think it’s just a weird discussion with no value. There is no universal term people are happy with - You can’t do it right. Whatever set of words you’re using, you’ll end up offending someone. It makes it hard to talk about autism, because the endless discussion how to call these people distracts from the real discussions.
- mistermann 5y ago
  Alternatively, maybe it would help to have an "absurdly" in depth discussion, disassembling the phenomenon into tiny pieces that are seen differently by different people, and discuss why people see them differently, etc. And perhaps by doing a deep dive on this one subject, perhaps we'd learn something generic about ourselves that would be transferable to other subjects, similar to cross domain communication in science and engineering. It seems to me that we use a very different thinking style in anything involving the humanities than we do with materialistic & deterministic domains, where our approaches have proven themselves so successful.
Knufen 5y ago
What does "white washed form of eugenics" mean? Legitimately curious!
- hinoki 5y ago
  Not GP, but I assume autistic people see the goal of a universal cure for autism (or even an accurate screening method for pregnancies) is the same as wiping out the existence of people like them.
  - erklik 5y ago
    > universal cure for autism Would the same view apply to every disability? For example, screening for Down Syndrome largely results in abortion. Is that also eugenics? Or is it not the same since Autism isn't a genetic disorder?
    - cameronh90 5y ago
      Some downs people/family also think the same about downs. Also deaf and others... Personally as an autist I wouldn't want to cure it for myself as it would be a large change in personality that I don't think I could integrate - but if I was to have kids, I'd rather they were "cured" of autism when young.
      - odessacubbage 5y ago
        i would gladly cease existing if it meant autism would also cease to exist. the second part is negotiable.
    - DaedPsyker 5y ago
      In Northern Ireland there was a debate on that, a down syndrome activist had campaigned against it which was readily taken up by parties that had opposed abortion in the first place. I'm not sure if it passed fully or just the first stage but there was a bill introduced a ban on non-fatal disabilities.
mwcampbell 5y ago
There also seems to be increasing pushback by disabled people against person-first language in general. For example, from a blind person: https://mosen.org/person-first-language-it-does-more-harm-than-good/ https://mosen.org/person-first-language-it-does-more-harm-th...
AussieWog93 5y ago
Most "people with autism" have the tactical understanding to realise that policing others' language and enforcing political correctness is more likely to backfire than lead to acceptance.
- IntelMiner 5y ago
  Speaking as a person with autism. I don't think it's implicitly "problematic" (as your terminology would deem it) to ask how to be described to other people
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    I don't either. I do think it's "problematic" (not my terminology, but we'll roll with it) to speak on behalf of 70 million other people, though.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
AzzieElbab 5y ago
The article is about kids. Kids, don’t care about these semantics
- unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
  My child is all about these semantics and antipathy toward Autism Speaks.
- sidlls 5y ago
  You might be surprised what autistic kids care about. I have one, and that kid has an amazingly well developed sensibility about certain things, far more advanced than his peers’ and even a good fraction of adults.
breakfastduck 5y ago
Talk about trying to find a reason to be offended about something. Wow. I have brown hair. I'd prefer to be called brown haired. But calling me a person with brown hair is perfectly accurate too. Give it a rest.

dcow 5y ago

This is from 2016. It probably needs a year tag. Definitely Minecraft has been know to help build friendships, at least among my friends. We’ve known this for a good while, to put it one way…

mike_hock 5y ago

Does anyone without autism play Minecraft?

kitd 5y ago
It wouldn't surprise me if the number ran into the millions.

kitd 5y ago

Slightly OT, but Minecraft was a godsend for my kids during lockdown. AFAICS, they made no distinction between playing with their mates in a virtual playground from playing in a physical one. The interactions seemed identical and definitely helped them socially in that time.

michaelbuckbee 5y ago
Minecraft was this for my kids as well, but the big surprise as far as "virtual playgrounds" to me was how incredibly social the games on Roblox are. I'd (to my detriment) kind of written off Roblox as really shallow, but the overall ecosystem of games pushes things in fascinating directions.
- kgwxd 5y ago
  When my first kid was younger, I had written off Roblox as the worst predatory company on the planet (until Fortnite came along). I still think they're awful as a company, but my younger kid now also loves to play it, and his big brother taught him to ignore anything asking him for Robux, so I don't have to go through the endless fights over getting a digital hat for $20 USD, and I actually enjoy playing it with them.

codeulike 5y ago

The subject of the article, Autcraft, is still going strong I believe https://www.autcraft.com/ https://www.autcraft.com/

brimoore 5y ago

Children with autism or not, Minecraft has countless stories. There's a lot of friendship stories in here that lasted so many years. It is a hub in which many people can play and interact together to help your social skills.

tibbydudeza 5y ago

I can never be thankful enough to Minecraft and it's creator Markus Persson for helping my daughter discover the joys of online gaming and overcoming her social anxiety. She now plays Destiny 2 mainly but the other day as walked into the lounge I found her back in Minecraft. I remarked why she was playing that on her PS5 - she just smiled.