Tom Tom: A digital educational game prototype for theory of mind assessment and intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that compromises interaction and social communication, as well as causes behaviors that deviate from the patterns. Therefore, it causes deficits in social skills and cognitive processes inherent to the Theory of Mind, such as understanding and predicting one's own actions and the actions of others. This problem affects the school performance and social relationships of the autistic child. Thus, this article is the result of a research whose main objective was to develop the prototype of an educational digital game, called Tom Tom, for evaluation and intervention in the domain of Theory of Mind in children from 6 (six) to 8 (eight) years old. with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The elaboration and development of the game prototype consisted of pre-production (planning, elaboration of the Game Design Document), production (development of the code in accordance with what was planned) and post-production (technical, content and pedagogical validation). At the time of validation, the game was considered adequate for its purpose, being recommended as a tool that contributes to the expansion of new learning, skills and competences.