Desenvolvimento de serious game como auxiliador no processo de aprendizado das atividades de vida diária em crianças com espectro autista

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disorder that occurs frequently among people (OMS, 2021), being characterized by different attitudes caused by specific behavioral deficits. As a result of the adversities found in autistic individuals, the therapy procedure is individualized and involves professionals from different areas, that is, each autistic person will have their therapy organized according to their needs. Among the difficulties encountered by autistic people and explored in therapy, there are activities of daily living. This study aims to develop and evaluate a tool that can help autistic children in carrying out these tasks. To achieve this, a serious game will be developed. This type of game can be characterized as an electronic game with educational objectives. This approach was chosen due to the popularization of electronic games and their use for purposes beyond entertainment. Before the game development, open interviews were carried out with professionals that have experience with autistic children, in order to generate qualitative data for analysis to define the game scope and functionalities.The game was developed using the Unity game engine, based on the MDA Framework. It was defined that the serious game would help the learning of dressing according to the season or the situation activity, so, functionalities were created focused on this scope and also that could be adaptable according to the particularities of each autistic child. Subsequently, after the development was done, the game was tested and evaluated by professionals, through a questionnaire. In this questionnaire, the serious game was well evaluated, proving acceptance by professionals.