SimplyFun Supports Autism Awareness through Game Play

This post is brought to you by SimplyFun!

Not too long ago, we featured a company called SimplyFun, a developer of award-winning educational board games that allow children to build their core thinking, academic, and life skills through game play. Did any of you pick up some of the games we introduced?

Well today I have more good news to share about SimplyFun: they are now supporting autism awareness through game play! Through new initiatives designed to holistically support children with autism, they will address their unique challenges and build on their strengths and interests.

SimplyFun’s games were recently analyzed by an independent team of advisors who identified games within the SimplyFun lineup that build on common strengths found with children on the autism spectrum, and they also provided suggestions for game play suitability and changes to game play to make games more accessible. This opens up a whole new world of game play for many autistic children, and we’re thrilled to be able to share this news with you!

Just a select few of the many issues addressed by the advisory team were:

Strengths:

• Good memory for words, phrases, dialogue
• Good memory for pictures, numbers, and patterns
• Likes to put things in order or a sequence
• Likes established routines or set ways of doing things

Challenges:

• Appears to ignore others’ communication
• Has difficulty understanding complex verbal direction
• Has difficulty producing speech/communication
• Has short attention span for non-preferred activities

Of course, these are only a handful of the many traits in both the Strengths and Challenges columns, and you can view the full list here. If you have a child on the autism spectrum, you will likely recognize some of the characteristics addressed. And they’ve done a wonderful job of mapping them to SimplyFun’s game lineup, so the work is already done for you!

Now, how can you make use of this information and find the proper games on SimplyFun’s website? There are two easy ways:

First, you can check out any game in the Shop Now section and open up the Autism Tab. If that particular game addresses any autism needs, that information will be present there. Using the game Perspectives as an example, here’s what that might look like:

If you’re not sure which games might be of interest, or you’d rather tailor your search specifically to your needs, you can use SimplyFun’s Advanced Search function to answer a questionnaire that will guide you to the products that will work best for you. Just click the “Autism Needs” category at the top, and then answer a series of questions to let the system know exactly which qualities you want in your games.

See? It couldn’t be easier to find games that are perfect for your child’s needs, no matter what they may be.

SimplyFun believes that all children can benefit from game play, and we love that they’re focusing on the specific strengths and challenges of children with autism. It’s such a unique and thorough approach, and one you won’t find with most game companies. Make sure to visit SimplyFun.com and try out their special search features to find the perfect games for you, and stay up to date with all new products and features by following SimplyFun on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.