Mimicking Expressiveness of Movements by Autistic Children in Game Play

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)have marked impairments in social interaction. Imitation is a basic social interaction behavior, and mimicking as an element of imitation can be a diagnostic marker for autism and thus a skill that can be targeted by behavioral training. In a comparative study between children with and without autism (n=20), we designed a test that aims to find differences in mimicking expressiveness in a real-life setting. The Wii boxing game was chosen as an environment that can trigger expressiveness in children. Two measures were chosen to rate expressiveness: using observers and using a Microsoft Kinect 3-D camera in combination with motion analysis software. Results from the software tool show that the ASD-group is not influenced by the expressiveness of a confederate, while the control-group is. These results suggest that autistic children do not mimic expressiveness in game play and that this can be detected using a software tool.