Computer Games and Online mentoring: Can it help adults on the autism spectrum to improve emotion recognition skills?

INTERVENTION: Brief name: Computer game and online mentoring Description of intervention: 1. Computer game: The study will evaluate an existing computer game called Mindreading, previously developed and evaluated by the University of Cambridge. The game contains three main sections, the emotions library (access to various video and audio clips of different emotions), learning centre (contains a variety of lessons and quizzes) and game zones (five different themed emotion recognition games). 2. Online mentoring: The online mentoring program, Mindchip focuses on equipping adults on the autism spectrum with tools to observe/recognise emotions as well as to explore potential strategies to cope with certain social situations. Participants will meet with a mentor (a therapist) via teleconferencing. Materials: (1) Computer for teleconferencing (3) Emotion recognition Computer Game, 'Mindreading' Procedures: Participants will receive a copy the Mindreading computer game (DVD format). They will be asked to play the computer game for at least 1 hour per week. In addition to the computer game, participants allocated to this group will receive the Mindchip online mentoring program. They will meet with a mentor/therapist via teleconferencing once a week over 10 weeks (one hour per week). Who will deliver the intervention: Postgraduate students with a background in research and occupational therapy. Mode of delivery: Online/home based intervention Duration and intensity of intervention: All participants will receive approximately 10x 1 hour online mentoring sessions, once per week for ten weeks. Participants will be requested to dedicate approximately 1 hour per week playing the Mindreading computer game Location: The intervention will mainly be held online. Adherence: Prior to the trial, the researcher will provide the participants with information on the intervention. Participants will be encouraged to discuss the study with someone whom they are comfortable with. During the first meeting, the researchers will provide further explanations on what the study involves (with visual instructions, if necessary). These explanations can include demonstrations of the equipment which will be used in the study. CONDITION: Autism Spectrum Disorders Emotion recognition skills PRIMARY OUTCOME: Emotion recognition behaviour when viewing emotion stimuli‐ Emotion recognition accuracy and response time will be measured using the Cambridge Mindreading Face‐Voice Battery (CAM) and Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). This is a composite primary outcome to measure emotion recognition behaviour outcomes in a context that is similar to the intervention and whether the skills translate to a context with social interactions within a natural environment. ET behaviour when viewing emotion stimuli ‐ The remote eye tracker will be used to record eye tracking movements to the eyes, nose, mouth or other areas when viewing the Cambridge Mindreading Face‐Voice Battery (CAM) and Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). INCLUSION CRITERIA: Participants will consist of adults with a formal diagnosis of high functioning autism, Asperger syndrome or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Otherwise Not Specified under the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Engagement during the intervention measured by drop‐out rates Participants' perception on the game and the online mentoring program‐ This will be assessed using a questionnaire designed for this study to obtain qualitative feedback of the game and the online mentoring program Quantified EEG (alpha, theta, beta) when viewing emotion stimuli adapted from the Cambridge Mindreading Face‐Voice Battery (CAM) Screening outcomes‐ Participants will be undergo screening assessments [Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence II (WASI‐II) and Test of Everyday Attention (TEA)] to screen for intelligence and attention performance, Self‐efficacy in emotion recognition. To assess self‐efficacy, the Emotion Recognition Self‐Efficacy Questionnaire was designed for this study. This includes questions on the participants level of confidence in emotion recognition outcomes.