TTRPGs, also known as Tabletop Role-Playing Games, are a type of game in which players pretend to be someone they are not, a character inside a particular context and story. This story could take place anywhere, in any way imaginable, and it ranges from medieval fantasy to a futuristic cyberpunk city, or even vampires.
To play, our students need to have a character sheet [example: Cyberpunk sheet] with all of their PCs' (Playing Character) statistics (varying from 0 to 10, 100 or more, depending on the game design), representing the character they will play and their background stories and their roles in the game. There also has to be someone (usually called a dungeon master) who designs the world the game will be set in with its background story, its characters and events, and they will act as the game director, making sure rules are being followed and the player interaction is adequate.
Each game has its own role-playing system, be it in the way players interact throughout the game or in the way the outcomes of their decisions are determined. For example, Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder use a the d20 System, based on rolls of 20 sided dice, while other games such as Cyberpunk uses the Interlock System, based on adding bonuses to 10 sided dice rolls. In this case, considering we could be applying TTRPGs to a teaching session with students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) we could consider the possibility of using a GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System, designed to simplify the rules) or even modify it to adapt its system to our ideal settings, goals or playing skills. A GURPS system would allow us to focus on the particular skills we want to work with, granting us the possibility of using the game therapeutically while still offering our students an engaging and fun activity.
ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorder and TTRPGs
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Most people with ASD have problems identifying other people's emotions or predicting their reactions. In many cases they also show the inability to understand irony, sarcasm or word-play, since they interpret language in a literal sense. These aspects cause people with ASD to avoid social interactions or to be excluded by others since there tends to be lack of social connection and understanding between them.
One of the methods used with children and teenagers with ASD to learn the social cues is Pretend Play. This works as a basic simulation of a real social interaction by isolating one social factor (be it showing one particular emotion or expressing an idea in a way that it generates one particular reaction) and it is proven to work, specially with children. However, with our teenage students Pretend Play falls short because it lacks the potential to really create a safe space big enough for their needs to learn and apply their new social skills.
Teenagers with ASD not only need to learn and improve their social skills, but they also need to improve their creativity and their use of the language. For this reason, the best tool for this particular context is a role-playing game: a safe space where they can be themselves thanks to the mask their in-game character represents, allowing them to experiment with social interactions without the possibility of losing face, the chance to use their imagination, and to train their understanding of metaphors.
The following video is a must-see on using role-playing games to help teenage students with ASD to improve their social skills:
Once our students have understood the mechanics of the game and they show fluency, we could begin applying new, more realistic settings in which they can experience real life interactions without the risk of failure. In this simulation their PCs may need to interact with NPCs (Non-Playing Characters) based on real people and part of their tasks may need to be planned with the objective of achieving successful social interactions.
One way to understand how our students with ASD may need planning social interactions ahead and how complicated and stressful it can really be for them is shown in the TV series The Rehearsal. Even though it has a strong comedic purpose, it shows in a very graphic way how people with Asperger Syndrome may feel before social interaction events and how much they could benefit from simulating real life interactions. Role play, Real play and Simulations aren't just incredible tools for language learning, but as we can see they are also wonderful for building and developing our own character.
References and further reading
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Social intelligence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_intelligence
Rethink Autism Tip: Teaching Your Child Pretend Play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZmS2DTgC6c&ab_channel=Rethink How Dungeons and Dragons is helping teens with autism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYPQsrEjC_o&t=28s&ab_channel=PeppercornProductions
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