To this end, they have recently launched a pilot study to test different versions of the intervention with 45 adults with either Asperger's syndrome, high-functioning schizophrenia or brain injury, as well as 45 children with either autism or Asperger's syndrome, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or brain injury. While Chapman's work to date has involved mostly people with Asperger's and autism, the team wants to expand its scope to see if a similar intervention could help people with other conditions that include a social-deficit component. Meanwhile, an adult may enter an apartment where she must confront her roommate's sloppy housekeeping.Ĭhapman, chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas ( is developing the project with her colleagues, brain-imaging specialist Daniel Krawczyk, PhD, also at the center, and schizophrenia expert Carol Tamminga, MD, in the university's department of psychiatry. But he may encounter two children already engaged in conversation, which can both raise his anxiety and-with the therapist's help, if necessary-propel him to use skills he has difficulty with, such as initiating small talk or seeking out another friend. A boy with Asperger's who has difficulty making friends, for instance, may enter a lunchroom where his task is to find a lunch mate. More avatars, created with the help of the client's friends, relatives or other clinicians, can inhabit the scenes as well.ĭepending on the issues a person needs to work on, various challenges arise. The therapist's avatar-backed by a real therapist watching from a different room-enters the scene when the client needs help. (The area-which is simply a location within the cyberworld-is secured so patients can't enter the main part of Second Life, which Chapman believes could be overly confusing and disorienting for them.) As in Second Life, both patient and therapist create avatars, or virtual representations of themselves. With a therapist's guidance, patients enter a protected area in Second Life designed to help them practice communicating and negotiating in realistic settings. Cognitive neuroscientist Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, is working to help them with a virtual, interactive platform that fosters their ability to communicate more comfortably and effectively with others. For people with Asperger's syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders, social interactions can prompt excruciating anxiety.
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