Beginner programming books for autistic kids

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4 comments, last by WozNZ 8 years, 4 months ago

(Not sure exactly where this goes. If I put it in the wrong spot, please move.)

Hello Everyone!

I need some help. I'm in the process of selling the physical copies of my game development books (I received e-book versions from the respective publishers since they're easier for me to use with my disabilities.) I received the following question from an Ebay user:

New message from: rane_kayl (32iconYellowStar_25x25.gif)
Excuse me, I was wondering if you cld tell me what item wld be best for a 14 yr old autistic boy interested in video game design for a toy drive I am doing. Idk that I can afford 15$ for one item..however thrift books who have same item do not say if they have a cd rom and if it will work for a laptop. Cld u plz help?
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3D Game Programming for Teens by Maneesh Sethi (2009, Mixed Media)

I am not all that familiar with autism and I'm not sure how to respond to this question. Here's the link to my Ebay Store:

http://stores.ebay.com/halfoffhaven

As you can see, I have many game development books left for sale. Would the 3D Game Programming for Teens book be good in this situation? How about any of the others? I'm not trying to advertise any of the items. I'm just trying to make sure this user gets the best answer to her question. I don't want to give false information because I don't know the answer. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. smile.png

Raptor

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This is not a Game Design question. Not everything is always game design! You're asking what would be a good beginner programming book for autistic kids? Moving to For Beginners.

Edit: and I changed your subject line to match your question.

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

I am not all that familiar with autism and I'm not sure how to respond to this question.


Why not just use that as your response to the Ebay user? I'm not sure how autism has anything to do with game development.

Programing is suited to autism, because it's rule based, and that appeals to many autistic children. Rules and patterns are very important to most autistic children.

The problem is that the autistic child has to want to do whatever they set out to do. So there's no right answer here, because it's whatever appeals to them. So, I would probably recommend that they try a lot of different books and see whatever the child latches onto. (This is where going to a library rather than buying a book might be more suited to them).

To be honest, I think the original request was complete BS and simply fishing for a discount. I tend to find the type of people that organize events such as a toy drive, have mastered the rudiments of the English language.

To the actual question at hand, as the father of an autistic child, the answer is... it depends on the child. As a general rule, those on the spectrum enjoy structure to a greater degree than those off the spectrum. This applies to both tasks (programming is a good fit as a result) and layout of the book itself.

High Functioning Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are more common in the programming world vs most other professions and many more are close to that spectrum.

So in a way, as long as they are high functioning enough there is no issue with those syndromes and the dev world :)

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