Autism School on Minecraft

Tohum Autism Foundation, is an organisation that focuses on creating an opportunity for education and integration to daily life for children with autism in Turkey. Autism is an inborn developmental difference which reveals itself within the first years of childhood with communicational problems. Education is the only outlet to help these children who has this developmental difference to transition into daily and regular life. Tohum Autism Foundation is an establishement that has been working for children with autism for many years now. We set on a path to distrupt the limitations caused by location and create an educational program that is accessable. Which directed us to the digital world. Because the educational opportunities are very limited in Turkey; it is almost impossible to have an education center for children with autism that is near them. With almost every household having an access to a computer and internet, these become very important tools to get the necessary special education. While researching the possibilites, a very popular game appeared to us: Minecraft.

According to the research of PEERS Clinic at the University of California, the game Minecraft can be used as a supplementary technology during the education of children with autism. For these children, who have a hard time with social interactions, have problems focusing on tasks and have difficulties with participating to the rhytm of everyday life, Minecraft is a version that is easier to understand compared to real life. Using this as our starting point, we decided to construct our educational facilities within the game and implemented both visual and functional version of our school. With the game proving itself on the positive effects created on the children, we have decided to move our educational system within the game. Because we believe its essential that every child should have access to ‘Coding in Minecraft, ‘Social Interaction and ‘Math with Building Blocks’ lessons with only just a computer and internet. We developed our school and the garden of the school within the game, and made our garden a sustainable educational platform. The presence of this platform had a strenghtining effect on the education of children with autism, and created an awareness for those who are familiar with the game.