Good morning, how are you today?” It's a simple phrase intended for a simple response, a means to start the day and acknowledge those around us without getting too personal. Generally, a response is expected to be brief and friendly without divulging too much information. Although this may seem like a given to most, for many individuals on the autism spectrum, this delicate balance is hardly intuitive. In fact, for many such individuals, typical social interactions can cause anxiety, stress and confusion. Since symptoms are physically undetectable, others tend to be taken aback when encountering a child on the autism spectrum. This is magnified when the individual on the receiving end is also a child, and is unaware that some of his or her peers have trouble in social scenarios – in the same way that others have trouble with math. In fact, many psychologists suggest, people with autism and Asperger's have fewer connections in the social area of the brain, but often have more connections in other areas. Therefore, while such a child may be especially smart and friendly, when they act in a manner that is unexpected, other children may give a less-than-warm response, causing feelings of confusion and isolation. “One of the most striking memories I have of starting off teaching autistic children was the sheer fact that the symptoms manifest mostly in social interactions. Children can function academically on the same level as their peers and may be highly intelligent, but when you engage them in basic conversation, they don't know how to respond. A simple 'Good morning' can be met with confusion or a blank stare,” says Eliana, a Jerusalem-based special education teacher. With such a subtle yet significant challenge, there is a variety of strategies that have been developed to equip children with mild autism and Asperger's with the edge they need to be at ease in difficult social situations. While most Israeli schools tend to teach social skills naturally, as a situation comes up, some of the most intriguing new approaches involve the incorporation of technology. In recent years, a variety of applications and games have been created to help individuals facing a wide range of difficulties. However, despite its commonness in society, the number of games and applications dealing with Asperger's is extremely limited – that is, until the creation of Give Me 5. An American-based social skills-building game, Give Me 5 is the first application of its kind to incorporate video learning into a gaming format. Provided in both application and board game formats, and available now for the first time in Israel, it employs a fun, inclusive approach to address social and emotional disabilities. In this way, children develop the social skills necessary to fit in with their peers in a way that does not feel forced, reenacting everyday social situations to teach social cues, manners and proper responses to frustration, conflict resolution and routine encounters. “Social skills are complex and the rules can change depending on the age of the child and the context of the situation. This requires the child to examine the social situation, filter out the important cues and make a fast but appropriate social decision. This can be difficult for anyone, but for children with social learning challenges it can be even harder,” says Rhonda Whitaker, the game's creator. “It's like being pushed into the deep end of the pool without being taught how to swim. More exposure without skill acquisition is only going to lead to feelings of anxiety and incompetency.” Whitaker, a master's-level practitioner in child psychology with 25 years of experience, created a prototype of the Give Me 5 board game as a well-rounded tool to teach social/emotional understanding to her child clients. One such child was the son of Pam DePalma; when DePalma saw the game, she became excited about bringing it to a mass market to help children all over the world. Though Give Me 5 is one of the first games of its kind, it is not the first to employ some elements of role-playing as a method to teach children with social difficulties. In fact, similar role-playing methods have been used in Israeli education for many years. “Although we generally practice spontaneous learning by integrating social skills into general studies classrooms, we often complement this strategy using other methods such as modeling, as well as the [Hebrew] website Bein Haverim [Among Friends],” notes Eliana. Modeling is a technique in which teachers guide students through social situations by telling them the proper response to a given scenario they have just experienced; Bein Haverim, on the other hand, uses stories to interpret various everyday social situations. While these methods have certainly had demonstrated success, Give Me 5 takes the current techniques one step further by employing interaction and empowering the child to draw his or her own conclusions to a given scenario. “We provide opportunities for children to think about social situations and use social reasoning to make sense of social rules,” explain Whitaker. The interactive strategy is highly beneficial to the kids, as they are not just provided the answers to follow, but are instead furnished with the chance to use their own social reasoning skills to make sense of the situation; then, if assistance is needed, it is available. Though the game does not take the place of teachers or social workers, it offers a fun, external tool for skill development and continued education. Furthermore, since autism comes in a wide spectrum with a variety of needs, Give Me 5 can be adapted to suit children that function at many different levels. Best of all, because the game is available as an app, users may actually want to play on their own. Like all children, kids on the autism spectrum just want to be accepted. However, at times, their unexpected demeanor and exaggerated reactions make it difficult for them to handle sarcasm, understand body language or know what things are appropriate to say when. This creates a barrier in relating to others – and is highly frustrating for them. Though general acceptance and understanding is growing, people still tend to treat children who have trouble processing social scenarios differently than those with trouble in a specific academic area – though many argue it is no different, both simply need extra support to get to the next level. In this way, just as games have been developed to build math, reading, language, and science skills, a game for building social skills is also integral to academic achievement. Give Me 5 and other similar social learning approaches give that necessary support, enabling children to achieve the social understanding for long-term success.
