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Title
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Experiences of neurodivergent people when playing an educational video game about their own diagnosis
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Author
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Abstract
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| This paper discusses how participants with diagnoses of autism, psychosis, or OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) experienced playing an educational video game about that same diagnosis. Rather than having participants make a specific assessment of the video game they played, the gameplay was used as a creative task to trigger reflection on their experiences with neurodivergent perceptions and knowledge. Central was the phenomenological question of what it means for someone to play a video game intended to communicate to outsiders a vision of neurodiversity that also represents (parts of) their lived experience. The study is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 adult participants. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, three main themes were formulated: (1) working with and around the diagnostic label, (2) the paradox of understanding, and (3) the serious nature of play. Then, several theoretical implications concerning the performative effects of a psychiatric diagnosis, cross-neurotype communication, and inclusive definitions of play are formulated. The paper concludes that playing video games during the interviews formed a good conversation starter for sharing neurodiversity-related experiences, which also demonstrates their meaningful complementarity to traditional interview-based qualitative research. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Scandinavian journal of disability research. - -
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Publication
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2023
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ISSN
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1501-7419
1745-3011
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DOI
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10.16993/SJDR.1037
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Volume/pages
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25
:1
(2023)
, p. 320-333
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ISI
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001105500800005
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (open access)
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