Autism & Video Games: Gavin's Story

[@BrettMedlock]

Thank you everyone for the kind words!! -brett

[@Dennis_Swan]

I suffer from autism and I struggle showing emotions and communication and ever since I first picked up my dads PS2 controller I was hooked. For my Christmas the year later he bought me my own and that’s when I started showing my personality and emotions more freely. A couple years later I got an Xbox 360 and became a part of the online community and one night I was awake but my parents didn’t know and I heard my mum crying of happiness talking about how she can speak to me and that I’ve changed her world. This video can relate to me deeply. Thank you for sharing your story and tell Gavin and Cole I said they’re awesome.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Denbo thanks for sharing your story. That’s so beautiful ♥️

[@yugioh041]

This video touched my heart since I have two little brother that have Austim and I know how challenging it can be to raise and connect with. Also it's pretty cool how you are able to connect with one other over the love of video games.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Passion Production Nation I’m happy to hear that. Thanks for watching :)

[@NintegaDario]

And if your Grandparents say videogames rot your brain, show them this video, very awesome how much videogames can help people.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Nintega Dario thanks for watching :)

[@HappyConsoleGamer]

This is so wonderful and insightful, thank you for sharing!

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

HappyConsoleGamer thanks for taking the time to watch! Means a lot

[@teenkitsune]

This is why I want to get into the videogame industry, to create experiences that moments like these can come from.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Teenkitsune :)

[@bengardner2363]

I have slight Aspergers so watching this video made me think a lot about my childhood. My dad introduced me to video games from a young age with Crash Bandicoot. It was just something I could easily connect with. I had a very short attention span but video games were able to keep me focused and teach me things. I remember watching a lot of films with my dad, though I enjoyed them, I lost focus through most of it. Video games were able to keep myself focused and help me bond with my dad. I really appreciate the support my parents have given me and your video has helped me better understand what they must have went through.

[@jacquelinedeveraux2667]

Did you ever think your words and passion could be used to inspire others in this way? Keep up the great work! You and Amanda are amazing parents. I'm really proud of you and what you are doing.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Jacqueline Deveraux

[@BrianMarrino236]

Thank you for making this video about your son having video games as his passion since he's autistic. It really connects to me a whole lot. You are most welcome for me watching this video, liking it, and making positive comments on it. Video Games have been my passion since I was very young. I had a Game Boy Color as a kid, and grew up with PlayStation when I was 10 years old in 2002. You and you son are not the only people, autistic or normal, with video games as their passion. Video Games are also my passion. Again, thank you, and you're welcome

[@RockYeahh]

This was awesome. I hope more parents get to see this.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

RockYeahh thanks for watching:)

[@corsegerspwnd]

Bless you for making this video. Your kids seem great ! And you sir are an awesome dad.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

corsegerspwnd thanks so much for watching and commenting :)

[@KipKrusty]

Thank you for sharing your story. One of my children has a rare genetic disorder and is non verbal. Communication is always a challenge and a day to day struggle. I love how you were able to share about Gavin and the ways in which you were able to tap into his mind through gaming. People often dismiss those with special needs as unintelligent. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Often, those with special needs see the world and experience the world in totally different ways than we do. We have to find a way to understand their world first so we can create communication opportunities.

[@matthewdove398]

This story was truly inspiring. Thank you so much it was inspiring

[@justinholmes5614]

Quality parenting :D

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Justin Holmes

[@esteani316]

Dude, loved the video and definitely feel the same way having an autistic kid myself. Video games have helped him a lot, also multiplayer games have helped him break the ice and talk to more people and express his feelings.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

esteani316 that’s awesome to hear :) Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment!

[@lizzyhedgehog7956]

Wow I love it! I truly do! I’ll briefly share my story, I too played video games to help me. I had to deal with a brain tumor at the age of 11, it nearly killed me by the time they found it but I survived. Video games shortly came into my life afterwards and help me rake recovery. Because I have to learn a lot of things over again. It also help me with dealing with bullies and help gain confidence in myself even though others liked to put me down. What video games help me the most was the sonic the hedgehog series games on the Sega genesis. The big controller on the Sega was just what I needed to help me. That’s not to say I didn’t play other games I did play some other games and when I was finally able to hold the NEScontroller again; I play those games too. So I indeed believe video games can help you I’m glad games could help Gavin. And I’m glad I could briefly share my story with you too.

[@Fluxwithit]

My son now 18 and autistic very much shares a similar exprience... games are where he seems to be at home and most neurotypical. All the best to you and your family

[@RAWTAGSFXT]

Thank you for sharing this video, you’re doing a great job as a parent. 👍🏾

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

RAWTAGSFXT

[@YessayAsha]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story! Gavin and Coke are amazing kids

[@bananaman1903]

The video turned out DOPE! Glad to hear and see his story. :)

[@markrichards3459]

My son loves his nintendo switch we got him for Christmas, i believe its helping him express him self, he's talking more and being more sociable , nice video and hello from England.

[@Amerikinz14]

I just saw this and I really liked it. I have autism and I also love learning about video games. It’s cool to see how Gavin has a passion for them. Great job. You’ve earned a new subscriber. Nice video:)

[@nicmcconchie2199]

Thank you for this wonderful trip into such a meaningful part of your life. I'm very happy that Gavin has found such an important learning tool that works for him, and that he can enjoy. You should be proud Sir! Though im absolutely sure you are, being a parent (all girls) myself.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Nic Mcconchie thanks so much for watching. Really, really means a lot. :)

[@natefitzgerald3533]

As a father of an autistic child possibly 2 this warms my heart... My oldest is big into video games as well.

[@mikiavidan508]

Thank you for sharing. I have 2 autistic sons. Our 7 year old is non-verbal and really doesn’t like trying new things. I wish he was interested in games, or even the remote control so he can choose his own KZbin clips. It feels like life must be so limited for him, but maybe he likes his world like this. Our younger boy likes watching other kids playing games on KZbin. I’m not sure if he understands what he’s watching though. Good luck with your beautiful boys

[@dannybaxter7559]

I'm currently in the research and development stage of a interactive theatre piece involving video games and autism, this is a great resource. Thank you!

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

That's awesome to hear. Is it a project that will go public? If so, where can I find it :)

[@dannybaxter7559]

@@Nintendoenthusiast Will keep you updated! Will have more info to share in Nov/Dec

[@weststudios3107]

Your kids actually reminded me as a kid mainly because I have autism. I used to play animal crossing on GameCube every morning.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

That’s awesome, I love animal crossing haha :)

[@necelticsox]

I'm an organizer for an autism group from the Meetup website. Lately, we've been having people who want to make requests for meetup ideas we can do, and one of the things I'm worried about is the only kind of meetup they'll ever want to do is one that involves video games. I know autistic people can be interested in many other things, but they sure do love their video games.

[@heatherchambers6600]

Thanks so much for this video. It looks like Gavin and Cole love their video games and they have learned so much from them. You are a great Dad! 😉👍🏼

[@93SuperSonic]

You're a good father and I hope you'll continue to be a good father to Gavin.

[@CookingandWH40kVideos]

Hi I am a speech language pathologist with an autism specialization. I am looking into integrating video games more into my therapy and would love to discuss more about this with you. I frequently see video games under utilized due to stigma and misguided strategies in using them to support positive behavior and academic growth. I see it as an untapped resource as almost every kid, adult and even some of the elder population play some type of video game. And as you’re proving it can used for all aspects of language and learning/relationship building across the lifespan.

[@Vers_Sans_Suite]

I really loved that video sir! Gavin is a wonderful boy!

[@jagercousins5803]

My little brother loves his tablet now are getting him a Nintendo switch bc he kept stealing mine he’s learned so much from his tablet sings so much he’s non verbal it’s made him talk so much he now says tablet I’m his aid it’s so amazing seeing this video

[@kayzilla96]

This is an amazing video, hope you and your family are well 💜

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

[@robemoo]

excellent video, gonna game the game console down from the attic this week

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Robert Moore awesome :) Thanks for watching!

[@tpastudios8681]

I do have autism since I was about 4 years old and one of my favorited game that I’ve played the most: Super Smash Bros Super Smash Bros is one of my favorited game that I’ve played in my entire life since Brawl, all the characters was amazing, some new DLC characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate makes me happy and hyped This game makes me some a lot of skills to concentrated and memorized the move just like EVO Championship I do believe some kids will love to play Super Smash Bros, because it’s the only one game that you can have your favorited character (Mario, sonic and etc) and learning all the moveset for any character that you like

[@sh41]

Thanks for the story, since you asked... I have 2 autistic daughters, the older one loves games, and we use them to spend time together, we find Super Mario Party to be the best one for us. She also loves racing games and runners.

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Raul Portales that’s awesome :)

[@jaimytourigny3027]

I'm an autist, and just like your son, I started connecting with video games and started my first console and controler by myself by the age of 3.5 And yes, autistic mindset are peculiar, any interest have a logic just like dislikes, that is proper for each individual, but video games can help bring that up by proposing active choices, differentiations and examples with all kinds of senses : Kynetical, Emmotionnal, and Sensitive, that they wouldn't be proposed in real life, or wouldn't be exposed enough, for many various obvious reasons :P There is also the langage as a common part of any game, wich made me learn english wich is not my primary langage. You said he's good with the menu? It bring back memories of old chinese menu on PS1 ^^ Before even knowing how to read, I understood logic behind prompt and text has being descriptive of the expectation, he's a smart little guy ;) Video games also helped me learn tacticality and strategic thinking, planning, organizing, memorizing, and many other things, and yes, we respond to specific internal needs and wants, and when we see something that can provide it, it's really hard to remove it from our mind, wether it be critical needs like food and shelter, emmotionnal needs, like fun or love, or in other cases, intellectual needs, like satisfying curiosity, or acknowledging dangers and possible solutions, like when watching documentaries. Our brains are somewhat wired like computers, we only understand logic, but that logic is personnal, finding strengths and weaknesses within self and knowing how we want to deal with it is one hard thing to learn, knowing how to deal with it with each other individual is another full work for each person, until we can comprehand characteristics of people so we can categorize them accordingly. Each person is a source of many unknows, and stress, and any person want to know how to deal with that stress. But when an autist person can't come to a conclusion, it can end in a meltdown. If it is caused by irrationnality, coming to a simple conclusion suffice, we don't support contradiction very well, just like a computer crash when it receive both a 0 and a 1. But there are more complicated cases, when an answer/solution is at hand, but is somewhat blocked or stuck by context. In those times, the sensory inputs are way higher than the brain capacity to handle, and create great confusion, with various manifestation of autistic gestuals and actions. A good way to relieve and end it as soon as possible is to acknowledge the problem and the need, be respectfull, listen, and then give a clear simple instruction that'll work toward solving the problem, give time, space, and lower unecessary sensasory inputs, the gestuals are automatic stress-relieving reflexes. Once calm, explain wich part was a problem and seek out solution/plans to avoid such situation to happen again or how to solve it, because believe me, autists that have meltdowns are the ones that are the most affected by them, their self-perception can be vast, unlike their ability to communicate their thoughts, and they traumatize themselves from losing control, especially if it hurt others. They'll give their best effort at learning these tricks, however, not if it is at their own expense or shaming. Accompanying them and sharing responsability can be a good solution. Being in mind very different from other people also do something unexpected. The more unlike somebody else you are, the more difficult and energy/thinking expensive it is to understand someone else and be empathic to him/her, and that is right for every person around. This can lead to incomfort, stress, or even distress, and possible meltdown, in crowds or in front of strangers. It is far more mentally consuming for an autistic person to hang out with normal people, and only small portion of the population is autistic, also not all autists are likely to like each other. This often lead, or momentarely lead, to isolation and internal prospection time to process everything that has been going on with others. Unfortunately, we absorb what sourround us like sponges, wich lead to a last factor. All that combined, lead to the inhability to see our self-evolution throughout a situation when we're overloaded by sensasory input from all our sourrounding, or stress inducing events, wich delay self-observation until the needed mental and emmotionnal energy and space is available for us to start processing it again. Confronting us on those time is or extremely difficult, or useless, but still painfull for everyone. A little bit of isolation and thinking on ourselves, and we're ready to face the music again, especially with the right instructions. Lot of things to know, but for us, they're basics, once you get them, the remaining will look logic, because it is, always(for us at least), and the ones that will be able to help you figure these out are right beside you ;) One thing is sure, they love you, and you love them, and you do a great job as a dad, you're lucky to have eachothers ^^ He's currently gathering the skills to better communicate with you, and it shows :)

[@vvolfflovv]

This really is amazing. As soon as they discover the internet gaming community, everything they learn will go out the window though ;)

[@thevintagepoet]

What a smart little fella

[@feelingindigo8121]

Beautiful video!

[@katharinegriffin9282]

Does your wife have a channel? Would love to see vlogs

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Katharine Griffin she’s doesn’t. But it’s something we’ve talked about. Maybe if she had more free time. Pretty busy woman haha ☺️ Thanks for watching!

[@miettoisdev]

Thank you for this

[@AnaMariaNLS]

I have autism and have a Nintendo switch! I love it!!

[@Eros_Racing]

Almost everything here is similar to my 4yo. Except I can’t convince him to understand that being 1st in mario kart is the objective, not falling or bumping walls. He knows how to drive trust me. He just doesn’t get excited with this specific racing game. He races ok in other so idk

[@aiodensghost8645]

Video games where how I learned to do math as a kid, with one of my favorites being Minecraft Edit: I'm high functioning, was diagnosed at 11.

[@taliab.5263]

What game do you recommend to start off with? The baby with the long hair really reminds me of my boy ❤️ amazing video I'm so happy I came across it. I hope you'll make more 💜 GOD BLESS

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

From my experience, the games are very random. My boys typically don't play games like they're "supposed" to be played. They might play a racing game just to drive around and look at the world. Or even a game like Street Fighter Gavin loved because it had a countdown timer in it. Cole loves anything with trains and planes. Gavin loves puzzle games like Peggle and platformers like Runbow. My kids really love open world games too cause they can explore freely and watch traffic lights, trains, doors open/close, etc. It's a mixed bag really haha. Wishing you and your son the best. Thanks for watching

[@ChuckRuck523]

Parents: TV ROTS YOUR BRAIN! Me: oh yeah? Here. Watch this while I play the Switch

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Charles Ruckle hahaha. Thanks so much for watching :)

[@ChuckRuck523]

Nintendo Enthusiast np!^^

[@melmormama]

Hi Brett - Thank you so much for sharing this! I just found the link on twitter. I am passionate about discovering these kind of instances - autism and technology fascinates me! Learn more from my blog: www.iqjournals.com

[@Nintendoenthusiast]

Melissa Morgenlander thanks for watching, means the world! :)

[@I_cant_aim]

Thank goodness they put the volume Down in gta 5 or he would’ve learned bad things

[@Thaumic89]

#Aspergers #Gamestop #Retrogamer #Retrogamers #Retrogames #Retrogaming #UpUpDownDown #Yovideogames

[@derekf9017]

+1