The Minecraft Writing Assessment for School-Age Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• In Event: Enhancing Communication in Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Higher-functioning, school-age children with autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience writing difficulties. Prior research has not explored how children respond to writing prompts and has not gauged child interest about the writing topic. This study developed a video-game based writing task to investigate writing differences in 132 children with HFASD or ADHD alongside typically developing (TD) peers. Children most often typed, responded in a descriptive style, and used the third-person perspective. Children with HFASD or ADHD who wrote narrative responses wrote significantly more words compared to those who wrote descriptive responses; this was not observed for TD children. Further exploration of the specific writing difficulties experienced by children with HFASD or ADHD is needed.

Authors

• Matthew Zajic, University of California - Davis

• Nancy McIntyre, University of California - Davis

• James McCauley, University of California - Davis

• Lindsay Swain, University of California - Davis

• Tasha Oswald, University of California - Davis

• Peter Mundy, University of California - Davis