If you would like to know more and get updates about my new nonprofit, the Kaina Institute for Equitable Research, please bookmark our website: https://www.kainainstitute.org/
Was there something I said in the podcast that got you curious? Please feel free to leave a comment here or tweet @liltove on Twitter or comment on my Facebook page!
On March 13, 2019, the announcement that Dwarf fortress was coming to Stream and itch.io with graphics hit the web. Within 12 hours, the teaser trailer on YouTube amassed over 100,000 views. Dwarf Fortress is the “most incredible and impressive video game you’ve probably never played.” News spread across the internet that the creators, Zach and Tarn Adams, normally quite private about their personal lives, made the decision to release on commercial platforms to create a more stable source of revenue for themselves. Their reason? The need to be able to afford healthcare. Lack of access to affordable healthcare, and societal stigmas surrounding health, negatively impact people’s lives every day. With Zach and Tarn’s backing, we are writing a series of blog articles to help raise awareness about these issues.
I’m happy to report my paper, “A Place to Play: The (Dis)Abled Embodied Experience for Autistic Children in Online Spaces” has received Honorable Mention for CHI 2019. Below is a link to the PDF!
Abstract: Play is the work of children—but access to play is not equal from child to child. Having access to a place to play is a challenge for marginalized children, such as children with disabilities. For autistic children, playing with other children in the physical world may be uncomfortable or even painful. Yet, having practice in the social skills play provides is essential for childhood development. In this ethnographic work, I explore how one community uses the sense of place and the digital embodied experience in a virtual world specifically to give autistic children access to play with their peers. The contribution of this work is twofold. First, I demonstrate how various physical and virtual spaces work together to make play possible. Second, I demonstrate these spaces, though some of them are digital, are no more or less “real” than the physical spaces making up a schoolyard or playground.
March 1st is the Disability Day of Mourning when we honor those with disabilities who are the victims of filicide.
Across the United States, approximately 12% of people have a disability. People with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty and become the victims of crimes. Every year, people with disabilities are murdered by their parents, family, or caregivers. 650 people with disabilities have lost their lives in this way over the last five years.
On March 1st each year, we hold the Disability Community Day of Mourning to honor and remember those who have been victims of filicide — both adults and children with disabilities who have been murdered by those closest to them.
While vigils are taking place across the globe, memorials are also occurring in online spaces as well. [short video of character in Minecraft to show how it works] In the virtual world of Minecraft, there are communities created specifically to be safe spaces for children and adults with disabilities. One parent in the Autcraft community has created a memorial commemorating the names of those lost to filicide. [a screenshot or two of the memorial]
While communities, like the Autcraft community, do a lot of outreach to educate others about anti-violence and anti-bullying and work to create inclusive spaces, more can be done to help marginalized individuals.
To find out how you can help visit the Autistic Self Advocacy Network website and download the anti-filicide toolkit.
Sullivan, P. M. (2009). Violence Exposure Among Children with Disabilities. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12(2), 196–216. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-009-0056-1
Ringland, K. E. (2019). “Autsome”: Fostering an Autistic Identity in an Online Minecraft Community for Youth with Autism. In iConference 2019 Proceedings.
I’m happy to report my paper, “A Place to Play: The (Dis)Abled Embodied Experience for Autistic Children in Online Spaces” has been accepted to be presented at CHI 2019 in Glasgow, UK. Below is a link to the PDF. Stay tuned for a blog about this article.
An autism expert and researcher in the field of disability and technology says video games provide a simpler and more understandable interface for people with autism.
I am happy to report that i successfully defended my dissertation April 26, 2018! Thanks to the many people who supported me and helped me along the way. It’s been a wonderful, exhausting, yet exhilarating journey. I’d especially like to thank my committee (especially my chair and advisor, Gillian) for giving of their precious time to engage with my work so deeply.
Our new article is out in First Person Scholar! Amanda Cullen, Chris Wolf, and I write about disability representation in Overwatch and the future of representing disability in games more broadly.
In exciting news, Stuart Duncan’s TEDx Talk, How I used Minecraft to help kids with autism, is now featured on the ted.com front page! Check it out (and spot our research being highlighted)!!
As part of my dissertation work, I have been going through all of my old screen shots and analyzing all my collected data. I decided to launch a photo blog to bring to life some of my findings and make them available to all the wonderful people who have helped me with my research. I’ll be posting new blogs every week until I am through all of my screen shots. I would love feedback and comments.
