[0.1]The realm of tabletop role-playing
gaming has been a popular hobby for autistics of all ages and
backgrounds for decades. Many autistics utilize role-playing games not
just as a hobby but as a means of social connection and community
building. Given tabletop role-playing game’s alignment with autistic
populations, it is not a surprise that throughout the years, therapists
and social skills coaches that specialize in treating autistics have
looked to tabletop role-playing games as a therapeutic modality to teach
social skills to autistic youth and adults. However, special attention
must be paid to the fact that at a fundamental level, the social skills
that autistics need to flourish in their own autistic-centered
communities do not necessarily align with the traditional social skills
that are taught in generic non-autistic (allistic) social skills
curricula. As such, this paper argues that within the case of autistic
social skills groups that utilize TRPGs as an educational medium, a
whole new set of autistic social advocacy skills can be taught. This
allows autistics to flourish in their own communities as well as
allistic ones.
[0.2]Keywords: Autism, Social Skills, Accessibility, TRPG
[1.1] The use of role-playing games
(RPGs) for applied therapeutic and educational purposes has existed for
a long time. Since 1994, therapists and specialists utilizing tabletop
role-playing games (TRPGs) to teach autistic individuals neurotypical
social skills (Blackmon 1994).
For the purposes of this paper, “neurotypical” refers to individuals
whose brain functioning falls within typical parameters and who do not
have intellectual or developmental disabilities.
[1.2] However, in most cases, these
treatments are presented as social skills groups and similar therapies,
which exist in a framework that adheres often to the medical model of
disability. The medical model of disability is part of a larger
discussion of how disability exists within culture. It refers to the
idea that disability is akin to a disease, and that the focus should be
on treatment by clinicians who very often do not have lived experience
of that disability in question, rather than inclusion and building
accessibility (Buder and Perry
2023). In the social skills education space, traits
traditionally associated with autism are seen as deficient, and many
expectations around social norms are behaviors that autistics1 typically struggle with—such as eye
contact, engaging in small talk, and perspective taking. Adapting
behaviors to conform to neurotypical standards of social behavior is
known as masking or hiding one’s autistic traits to appear more
neurotypical (Raymaker 2022).
This is generally exhausting for autistics and can lead to masking
burnout. In many cultures, eye contact may not hold the same importance
for communication as it does in the United States, but for the purposes
of this paper and many of the social skills groups discussed, it is a
fundamental skill that is frequently challenging for autistics.
[1.3] In this medical model, autistic
traits are generally meant to be diminished, and neurotypical traits are
meant to be increased. The goal of social skills groups is to build
generic neurotypical social skills needed to survive in a dominant
neurotypical American culture while also being a fun escape for the
participants of these groups. These skills can help individuals fit into
social situations, succeed in neurotypical normative job situations or
school, and communicate effectively with neurotypical people (Katō 2019). These group goals may fit
into more generic and generally useful skills, such as building healthy
frustration tolerance (using dice rolls to create unpredictable
situations) or developing teamwork skills (via situations in game that
require clear communication and planning). However, programs that use
the medical model of disability often promote neurotypical normative
traits such as eye contact, sitting quietly, and not stimming (Brunell and Brunell
2023). This perspective assumes that social skills only exist
within the neurotypical framework, and that social behaviors outside of
the non-autistic (allistic) behavioral norm are inherently abnormal and
should be fixed.
[1.4] In the United States, common
social skills taught include reciprocal communication, eye contact,
appropriate conversational topics, and socially accepted facial
expressions. Game to Grow, a Seattle based company, has
successfully used TRPGs to teach thousands of teens these social skills
and has developed training courses for aspiring therapeutic and applied
game masters (Pitt et al.
2023). Similar organizations, such as the Bodhana
Group and Geek Therapeutics, offer “Therapeutic Game
Master” certifications. Utilizing TRPGs on a therapeutic and social
skills front has come into vogue.
[1.5] The medical model of disability
contrasts sharply with the social model of disability. Although the
medical model states that disability is a diagnosed disorder, the social
model sees it as a form of naturally occurring human diversity (Craine 2023). Therefore, many of the
things that create disability are socially constructed by a society
designed for the non-disabled. The term neurodiversity builds on this
idea, positing that neurodivergence is a form of naturally occurring
neurological diversity, or neurodiversity (Craine 2023).
[1.6] The social model of disability, in
this context, argues that while neurotypical social skills may help
autistics survive in a neurotypical world, autism as a form of
neurodiversity requires its own set of skills for self-advocacy (Leadbitter et al.
2021). These autistic social advocacy skills require
questioning the norms of neurotypical social skills and looking more
frankly at the social skills required to flourish as a non-masking
autistic engaging with other unmasked peers. To survive as an autistic
in a neurotypical world, neurotypical social skills and masking are
important for things like career success, but autistic advocacy is
required as a social skill to help build a more accommodating and
neurodiversity-affirming world. There has been some effort to develop
this field of autistic social skills, such as the five autistic love
languages outlined by Stimpunks (Boren 2022), although none of them
specifically address advocacy.
2. Developing Autistic Social Advocacy Through TTRPGs and Community
Building
[2.1] Over the past decade, I have been
running social skills TRPG groups with Aspiring Youth, a
Seattle-based organization. My work focuses exclusively on teens, with
special interest groups such as Minecraft(2011), Dungeons & Dragons(1974), and
designing and testing prototype role playing games. One such campaign
has continued for the entirety of my work in this field, and in this
group I have served countless autistic teens in developing social
skills.
[2.2] In my early years, behavioral
support was a big focus, targeting goals such as raising hands,
minimizing disruptions, and avoiding phone use during sessions (Katō 2019). However, during the COVID-19
crisis our group transitioned to a digital format using Discord, a
popular gaming chat app.2 The participants had a means to play
virtually and engage outside of the game. Over time, I noticed a
significant increase in peer advocacy, and other emergent skills (Katō 2019). Students would regularly
advocate for their needs, navigate each other’s neurodiversity and
access needs, and bond over their shared experiences with autism.
Throughout this time, six distinct autistic social advocacy skills,
emerged.
1 Self and peer advocacy: Students demonstrate the ability to advocate
for their own access and support needs, while also helping others do the
same. This might include things like highlighting the need for ear
protection, asking that the lights be turned down, or realizing another
student is struggling and helping them advocate for their needs.
2 Safety: Students are able to identify their own safety needs and
communicate them effectively. For instance, they might describe specific
triggers, highlight safety needs, or know when to step away from a
potentially unsafe situation.
3 Navigating access needs: Learning how to compromise, set healthy
boundaries, and discuss work-arounds without an adult explicitly
facilitating navigation of different or conflicting access needs is
critical. The most common manifestation of this is when one student gets
very loud when he is excited, and he is sitting near a student who
requires low volume.
4 Autistic normalization: Students normalize their own and peers’
autistic traits. This may look like accepting another’s stimming as
normal, or acknowledging that another player’s character sheet may have
gaps or differences due to challenges with written language, and not
criticizing it.
5 Autistic joy: Beyond normalization, this involves finding joy in
specific enjoyable aspects of the autistic experience. For example,
students might take pleasure in shared interests or celebrate the unique
traits of others.
6 Contextualizing/Bonding over autistic traits: Students find common
ground in shared autistic experience, creating opportunities to bond. A
common example is sharing favorite stim toys, or identifying when
someone is infodumping, talking at length about a special interest, or
stimming and celebrating it as such.
[2.3] As COVID-19 protocols eased, the
Discord server remained integral to our group dynamics. The six autistic
social advocacy skills that emerged during this period became
increasingly evident as the students supported each other not only
during game play but also in daily life situations. Because of this
space where they could practice these skills, friendships developed that
allowed them a greater deal of peer support during times of stress, as
well as opportunities to support each other in ways that were not tied
to typical neurotypical social opportunities. Examples of this included
students helping each other with school work, writing guides on
interacting with neurotypicals, and offering mutual support in times of
conflict and stress.
[2.4] A key aspect to this development
was the inclusion of autistic facilitators. Central to the autistic
self-advocacy movement is the principle “Nothing about us without us”
(ASAN 2022). The movement highlights the
lived experiences of autistics in informing effective autism treatment
and support. Both the author of this paper, the second facilitator, and
the original game master who brought the author on board are all
autistic. The current co-facilitator, a former group participant,
leverages her lived experiences with autism self-advocacy and allows a
significant degree of comfort for the teens, as she can act as a highly
authentic peer counselor in her role. The author, having successfully
built friendships with other autistics through gaming as well,
exemplifies these advocacy and social skills.
3. The Importance of Table Management for Development of Autistic
Social Skills
[3.1] A critical component to effective
facilitation of these skills is to look at the art of skillful
facilitation as the milieu for developing the autistic social-advocacy
skills, while looking at the table as a means for developing a sense of
playful masking. Traditionally, masking refers to presenting as
neurotypical in day-to-day life, but RPGs create an opportunity for the
mask to be removed from one’s personal identity and instead attributed
to a fictional character. Instead of learning things like eye contact
and small talk to succeed in a customer service job or in school, these
skills are reframed as things that a talkative bard or a formidable
barbarian might do, backed up by narrative and game mechanics as a
motivating factor. Learning to make eye contact to succeed in school
carries elements of shame and a feeling of fundamental deficit, but
using it to intimidate a guard in a fantasy game is an engaging, less
personal challenge. By sandboxing masking as a component of
role-playing, it becomes an improvisational, playful act rather than a
normative expectation. At the table, autism is embraced as the norm, and
becomes a place where learning how to interact with other autistics in
an autism-centered way is built.
[3.2] Recently, I sought feedback on
what made the groups work well. Students appreciated the normalization
of autistic traits within the group, with one male student
enthusiastically stating, “Maximum autism! I love that everyone here is
autistic, and we can talk about our special interests without feeling
bad!” Another female student contrasted this experience with more
traditional therapeutic settings, saying, “This isn’t like other groups
where you force us to be vulnerable. I’ve had so many groups where they
force us to talk about deep personal stuff that I just make stuff up
because I don’t want to share with strangers. But this group, you don’t
force anything, and I can be vulnerable when I’m ready.” A male student
stated, “You are the most reasonable adult I know. This group has made
me feel like I have friends and am normal, instead of treating me like
I’m in a medical treatment.”
4. Conclusion and Recommendations
[4.1] Tabletop role-playing games are
likely to remain a beloved hobby among autistics. Practitioners using
TRPGs to promote social skills must ensure that these games reflect
authentic autistic social flourishing. If applied solely to teach
neurotypical normative autistic social skills, TRPGs risk becoming an
activity that views autism as a disorder rather than a valid form of
diversity, ultimately harming participants’ experience with a popular
autistic hobby. With the framework presented here, the focus on
including autistic facilitators, reframing masking as a playful
activity, and building autistic advocacy skills, organizations hoping to
utilize TRPGs as a means to teach social skills can reflect on how they
can reframe their programs and retool them to promote the social model
of disability. Doing so creates a space where these applied groups build
towards better accessibility in social skills training, where autistic
social behaviors are celebrated and encouraged, rather than neglected
and ignored.
Notes
The use of identity first language will be used
exclusively in this paper when talking about autistic individuals, as in
the experiences of this author and his personal preference, this is the
preferred language, with autistic individuals and autistics being used
interchangeably.↩︎
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Journal of Psychotherapy 48 (4): 624–632. doi:h10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1994.48.4.624.
Katō, Kōhei. 2019. Employing Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TRPGs) in
Social Communication Support Measures for Children and Youth with Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Japan: A Hands-On Report on the Use of
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(accessed 2024/10/10).
Leadbitter, Kathy, Karen Leneh Buckle, Ceri Ellis, and Martijn Dekker.
2021. Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement:
Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice.
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