Stendal Karen, Balandin Susan
School of Business and Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Strategy and Finance, Buskerud and Vestfold University College , Hønefoss , Norway and.
Disabil Rehabil. 2015;37(17):1591-8. doi: 10.3109/09638288.2015.1052577. Epub 2015 May 29.
The purpose of this study is to explore the use of virtual worlds by people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a particular focus on the virtual world Second Life™.
Case study methodology was selected to explore the experiences of Wolf, a participant with ASD, in Second Life. Wolf participated in three in-depth interviews. The interviews were analyzed using a content analysis to identify themes and sub-themes.
Analysis identified four main themes: social factors and communication, empowerment, virtual world versus physical world, and social cues and body language.
Anecdotally Wolf's experiences suggest that people with ASD enjoy using a virtual world and may feel more comfortable communicating in the virtual world context than the physical world. Virtual worlds offer a venue for people with ASD to be a part of a virtual society, lowers communication barriers experienced in the physical world, and gives the participant a unique opportunity to create and maintain friendships. Virtual worlds offer an arena for people with ASD to meet their peers on equal terms, not being dependent on social cues, which in the physical world can be a barrier for communication for this group. Further research in this area is required.
本研究旨在探索自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者对虚拟世界的使用情况，尤其关注虚拟世界“第二人生”（Second Life™）。
采用案例研究方法，探究ASD患者沃尔夫（Wolf）在“第二人生”中的体验。沃尔夫参与了三次深度访谈。运用内容分析法对访谈进行分析，以确定主题和子主题。
分析确定了四个主要主题：社会因素与沟通、赋权、虚拟世界与现实世界、社会线索与肢体语言。
根据沃尔夫的经验推测，ASD患者喜欢使用虚拟世界，并且在虚拟世界环境中沟通可能比在现实世界中更自在。虚拟世界为ASD患者提供了一个融入虚拟社会的场所，降低了在现实世界中遇到的沟通障碍，为参与者提供了建立和维持友谊的独特机会。虚拟世界为ASD患者提供了一个与同龄人平等交往的舞台，无需依赖社会线索，而在现实世界中，这些线索可能是该群体沟通的障碍。该领域需要进一步研究。
