Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

"That's our game!" : Reflections on co-designing a robotic game with neurodiverse children

Patricia Piedade, Isabel Neto, Ana Pires, Rui Prada, Hugo Nicolau

TL;DR

This work addresses the lack of inclusive, neurodiversity-friendly play in mainstream classrooms and investigates robots as engaging game elements. It employs a multi-method co-design approach with educators, neurodivergent adults, and four classrooms (81 students, 19 neurodivergent) to create a robotic board game, The Shark Escape, featuring a tag-based core and mini-games augmented with AR and a robotic antagonist. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, the study analyzes how autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fostered through design choices, artifacts, and gameplay, offering actionable insights for inclusive game design in mixed-ability settings. The contributions include a concrete co-design workflow for neurodiverse groups, a runnable robotic game prototype, and SDT-informed guidance to enhance intrinsic motivation and social inclusion in classroom play with robotics.

Abstract

Many neurodivergent (ND) children are integrated into mainstream schools alongside their neurotypical (NT) peers. However, they often face social exclusion, which may have lifelong effects. Inclusive play activities can be a strong driver of inclusion. Unfortunately, games designed for the specific needs of neurodiverse groups, those that include neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals, are scarce. Given the potential of robots as engaging devices, we led a 6-month co-design process to build an inclusive and entertaining robotic game for neurodiverse classrooms. We first interviewed neurodivergent adults and educators to identify the barriers and facilitators for including neurodivergent children in mainstream classrooms. Then, we conducted five co-design sessions, engaging four neurodiverse classrooms with 81 children (19 neurodivergent). We present a reflection on our co-design process and the resulting robotic game through the lens of Self-Determination Theory, discussing how our methodology supported the intrinsic motivations of neurodivergent children.

"That's our game!" : Reflections on co-designing a robotic game with neurodiverse children

TL;DR

This work addresses the lack of inclusive, neurodiversity-friendly play in mainstream classrooms and investigates robots as engaging game elements. It employs a multi-method co-design approach with educators, neurodivergent adults, and four classrooms (81 students, 19 neurodivergent) to create a robotic board game, The Shark Escape, featuring a tag-based core and mini-games augmented with AR and a robotic antagonist. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, the study analyzes how autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fostered through design choices, artifacts, and gameplay, offering actionable insights for inclusive game design in mixed-ability settings. The contributions include a concrete co-design workflow for neurodiverse groups, a runnable robotic game prototype, and SDT-informed guidance to enhance intrinsic motivation and social inclusion in classroom play with robotics.

Abstract

Many neurodivergent (ND) children are integrated into mainstream schools alongside their neurotypical (NT) peers. However, they often face social exclusion, which may have lifelong effects. Inclusive play activities can be a strong driver of inclusion. Unfortunately, games designed for the specific needs of neurodiverse groups, those that include neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals, are scarce. Given the potential of robots as engaging devices, we led a 6-month co-design process to build an inclusive and entertaining robotic game for neurodiverse classrooms. We first interviewed neurodivergent adults and educators to identify the barriers and facilitators for including neurodivergent children in mainstream classrooms. Then, we conducted five co-design sessions, engaging four neurodiverse classrooms with 81 children (19 neurodivergent). We present a reflection on our co-design process and the resulting robotic game through the lens of Self-Determination Theory, discussing how our methodology supported the intrinsic motivations of neurodivergent children.
Paper Structure (4 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 4 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Co-Design Process
  3. Findings/Analysis through Self-Determination Theory
  4. Conclusion

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Stages of the co-design process of a robotic game with neurodiverse children.