Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis
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 a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Stockholm University Press
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |
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| Online Access: | https://account.sjdr.se/index.php/su-j-sjdr/article/view/1037 |
| _version_ | 1797382742971777024 |
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| author | Lisanne Meinen |
| author_facet | Lisanne Meinen |
| author_sort | Lisanne Meinen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:10:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1c161593b664e50b06ff9a62a9c0374 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1745-3011 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:10:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Stockholm University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1c161593b664e50b06ff9a62a9c03742023-12-22T06:42:50ZengStockholm University PressScandinavian Journal of Disability Research1745-30112023-11-01251320–333320–33310.16993/sjdr.10371037Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own DiagnosisLisanne Meinen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3771-1362University of AntwerpThis 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.https://account.sjdr.se/index.php/su-j-sjdr/article/view/1037neurodiversityvideo gamesinterpretative phenomenological analysisparticipatory designcritical disability studies |
| spellingShingle | Lisanne Meinen Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research neurodiversity video games interpretative phenomenological analysis participatory design critical disability studies |
| title | Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis |
| title_full | Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis |
| title_fullStr | Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis |
| title_short | Experiences of Neurodivergent People When Playing an Educational Video Game About Their Own Diagnosis |
| title_sort | experiences of neurodivergent people when playing an educational video game about their own diagnosis |
| topic | neurodiversity video games interpretative phenomenological analysis participatory design critical disability studies |
| url | https://account.sjdr.se/index.php/su-j-sjdr/article/view/1037 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lisannemeinen experiencesofneurodivergentpeoplewhenplayinganeducationalvideogameabouttheirowndiagnosis |