Derek White wrote an editorial for Knights of the Dinner Table #268.  His son (among many others) is on the autism spectrum, and the amount of noise and chaos can be difficult for him.  Especially with larger conventions it can be an issue.

QuoteMany of us have or know someone with social anxiety issues who has found solace in tabletop RPGs.  These are our brothers, sisters, children, parents, and friends.  We should be making it easier for them to come and be a part of our mutual gaming experiences

His major recommendation is to include quiet spaces (Sensory Friendly Rooms) and some of the challenges that he's encountered at Cons.  

It's an interesting read - not something I had thought about before.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;1111232Derek White wrote an editorial for Knights of the Dinner Table #268.  His son (among many others) is on the autism spectrum, and the amount of noise and chaos can be difficult for him.  Especially with larger conventions it can be an issue.



His major recommendation is to include quiet spaces (Sensory Friendly Rooms) and some of the challenges that he's encountered at Cons.  

It's an interesting read - not something I had thought about before.

Not gonna pay almost 4 Pounds to read the whole thing, so either quote it verbatim or something so we can read the whole thing (the editorial I mean) and not just what you choose to show out of context.

As for rooms friendly to those with sensory issues I agree. As long as they are for people with a diagnosed condition and not for the #Triggered Crowd.

I have an autistic son as well. Autism lies on a spectrum and not everybody who is autistic responds in the same way and to the same things. A quiet space helps but what also needed is a more relaxed schedule for these rooms. That way folks can still complete their games even when they need to take a couple minutes to collect themselves. Or require more time to focus their attention when it is their turn. Also a larger table will be needed to accommodate their caregiver if needed.

When he was younger my son could play games and have fun doing so but only if I coach him to keep his attention focused.  Now that he older he developed techniques that help him but still need to be redirected when participating in an activity.

Last if there a referee involved they are going to have to on their toes because autistic people don't come up with typical solutions many times.

The other thing to keep in mind about dealing with those with autism is that because it on a spectrum it not a either or things. Instead there is a range of behaviors and for more than a few it is a mild manifestation. There are time you will be taken aback or wondering what the hell is going on. Most cases it can be resolved by asking the caregiver or just speaking plainly to the individual in question.

The last thing is that autistic individual is coping with a rewired brain beneath that is still a person with their own personality, likes, and dislikes. Sometime it hard to figure out what is what but once you have some experience with autistic behavior you can see the difference. Again it best to be straightforward and plain speaking (but polite) as helps them sort out what you are saying from the clutter their senses give them.

Quote from: estar;1111239The other thing to keep in mind about dealing with those with autism is that because it on a spectrum it not a either or things. Instead there is a range of behaviors and for more than a few it is a mild manifestation. There are time you will be taken aback or wondering what the hell is going on. Most cases it can be resolved by asking the caregiver or just speaking plainly to the individual in question.

The last thing is that autistic individual is coping with a rewired brain beneath that is still a person with their own personality, likes, and dislikes. Sometime it hard to figure out what is what but once you have some experience with autistic behavior you can see the difference. Again it best to be straightforward and plain speaking (but polite) as helps them sort out what you are saying from the clutter their senses give them.

Exactly, you go from if I don't tell you I'm an aspie you don't know to much more noticeable gives. And we're individuals not another group people who like to speak for groups as if they own them can just adopt.

As long as its not being done for the virtue points. Because I've found that every time its just for the virtue points they half-ass it, or worse, just pay lip service if even that to the people they were supposedly helping.

I've had an autistic Player in my local Traveller games. He was young, but absolutely great for out-of-the-box thinking that saved the party's ass more than once.

Noise during gaming sessions at conventions is a problem for EVERYONE who games TTRPGs, not just those on the autistic spectrum. One of the more common complaints I have heard is that the same rooms are used for both MtG tournaments and TTRPGs, the noise from the cardboard crack players often drowns out the GM and Players of TTRPGs at the table (even when they are separated by 50 feet).

About half of the sexual harassment reports at cons I've encountered involved someone on the autism spectrum who just didn't understand boundaries. So if people really want to make events more welcoming to people on the spectrum, they'll need to take that into consideration.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;1111323About half of the sexual harassment reports at cons I've encountered involved someone on the autism spectrum who just didn't understand boundaries. So if people really want to make events more welcoming to people on the spectrum, they'll need to take that into consideration.

Sounds like a glorious trainwreck to me.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;1111323About half of the sexual harassment reports at cons I've encountered involved someone on the autism spectrum who just didn't understand boundaries. So if people really want to make events more welcoming to people on the spectrum, they'll need to take that into consideration.

Segregate the aspies & the cosplayers? Separate but equal facilities?

I don't think I've ever seen autism spectrum types cause a sex harassment problem in D&D Meetups (or conventions - but I do Meetups far more often). I have seen a more macho Mediterranean (Spanish I think) guy hitting on my cute blonde Californian lesbian player, in a way that was clearly unwelcome and not appropriate (I booted him). He didn't show any sign of autism, just men-with-gold-chains cultural norms. There was a guy (German?) we banned from my Meetup who might have been on the spectrum, he was unpleasant and said nasty things, but nothing sexual (unless you count 'bitch').

Wanna have an "autistic kid" play RPGs? Let him go play in RPG campaign with other kids his age with no adults around and if any parents try to interfere, helicopter or "facilitate", kneecap the fuckers.

So what if its a clusterfuck? Kids learn to be kids by playing with kids with NO fucking adults around to "protect" everyone, aka stopping actual development of social skills. Because whether we like it or not, "social skills" are quite often developed via clusterfucks. And what looks like a clusterfuck to a parent, might actually be just fine with the kids next week, especially tween boys who are bunch of nutcase savages even without any disabilities.

When I was teaching, a mom who looked like Jabba's chunkier sister freaked out because her 11 year old autistic son got hit by another boy. She demanded the other kid not be allowed near her precious...and then her son freaked the fuck out because the other boy was his best friend in my class!

BTW, her autistic kid didn't have any friends as far I as I could tell, but the weird part was, the other boy who punched him was stunned that the autistic kid defended him against his mom and they developed a kinda-friendship, mostly involving pushing each other while sitting together at lunch.

Quote from: S'mon;1111350Segregate the aspies & the cosplayers? Separate but equal facilities?

Nobody will be safe until everyone has their own room!!!

It's true autistic teens/adults have trouble with "sexual relations", because the dating / attraction dance is probably the most difficult social interaction we deal with, and if basic social skills are tough, oy vey when it comes to autistic boys navigating the crazy doublethink nonsense of the dating scene!  

And if humans are at a game convention...it's a dating scene.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1111501Wanna have an "autistic kid" play RPGs? Let him go play in RPG campaign with other kids his age with no adults around and if any parents try to interfere, helicopter or "facilitate", kneecap the fuckers.

You don't have experience with autistic children if this is your advice.

There are a significant subset that can be thrown in to a normal social situation (and are) and muddle their way through. There are a significant subset that are disabled by the condition to the point where normal gaming is not an option. Then there are is a middle that are significantly impacted by their condition and are capable of participating provided a caregiver that knows the individual is there to focus them so they can enjoy the activity.

It why it is a called a spectrum disorder. And why the technical term for people who propose one size fits all solutions or answers for autistic individuals is idiot.

The point of the article isn't segregation the point is to have a quiet place to game so there is less distraction so autistic individual can focus on gaming. And to accommodate the fact that many autistic individual are going to take longer to focus when it is their turn.

Quote from: estar;1111545the point is to have a quiet place to game so there is less distraction

I would say that this would be in the interest of EVERY RPG gamer. Noise from other games,especially shrieking MTG players really ruins the con gaming experience. IMO.

My nephew is "on the spectrum" - really smart kid, but has *zero* social-radar skills. He has a very difficult time reading people. So he loves anything procedural - loves Magic the Gathering, various aspects of technology, and he's into gaming, but he very much finds social interaction invariably disastrous. He's normally super-upbeat but generally assumes everyone's intentions are only the best. But when he's in crowds, he's been stung many times these days for "not giving the correct reaction", ironically mainly by D&D players at local Cons and now his local gamestore and University where he just moved (Salt Lake City).

I'd like to know the general population-size of spectrum-gamers. It's not that my nephew is "put off" by people's reactions (In fact the "problem" is that the D&D players were... politically motivated... and made assumptions about his lack of enthusiasm for their pet concerns, not realizing his normal reaction is to smile and just nod even though he has *zero* understanding of what they're fishing for in a reaction from him), it's that unless you literally tell him, it'll fly over his head about most things regarding social queues.

His enthusiasm is mostly intact, but with the current political climate in the gaming industry, and apparently at Cons (I wouldn't know, as I haven't done Cons in some time, and I'm less motivated than ever these days), it's become a minefield for him. I can appreciate that such places are created for these players... I'm leery of the "ususal suspects" virtue-signalling over it for the usual purposes of validation needs. My nephew in particular just wants to gameand have fun, not piss people looking for ulterior motives to be pissed off.

Quote from: Alex K;1111546I would say that this would be in the interest of EVERY RPG gamer. Noise from other games,especially shrieking MTG players really ruins the con gaming experience. IMO.

Sure, much like having closed captioning and ramps on street corners there are ancillary benefits for people in general. Closed Caption allows one to watch and understand a video in noisy conditions. Ramps make it easy people using carts and dollys to cross the road.