Discrepancies in a virtual learning environment: something "worth communicating about" for young children with ASC?

This paper explores the phenomenon of young children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC; aged 5-8 years) detecting discrepancies (i.e. novel or rule-violating occurrences) in a virtual environment (VE), and their subsequent reactions. Analysis of existent video data of 8 children with ASC interacting with the ECHOES VE showed that they detected and reacted to a range of discrepancies. More importantly, these discrepancies motivated a range of positive, social initiations, such as sharing affect, commenting, and social referencing. These early results suggest that deliberately including discrepancies in VEs may motivate initiation for children in this group. However, little is known about the possible types of discrepancies that might exist in a VE, how this population understands them, and how they might practically be incorporated into future designs.