“Game time”: JM uses virtual reality to help students with autism navigate the world around them

Ian wears virtual reality glasses. What he sees, McIntyre sees mirrored on his iPad. For the next few minutes, the two go through a simulation, working through questions and answers.

“Do you want to knock or ring the doorbell? McIntire asks as Ian approaches the door.

“Ringing,” Ian said, ringing the doorbell.

When a woman opens the door, hands a tray of candy, and says, “Happy Halloween,” McIntire asks Ian, “What are you saying?”

“Charity please! Wow!” Ian responds enthusiastically and grabs a candy.

It looks like a simple educational game that any child would play. But really, it’s so much more.

This VR system McIntire uses in her classroom is from Floreo, a Washington, D.C.-based company that uses technology to help children with autism and those on the autism spectrum cultivate real-world skills and deal with situations. social routines and unforeseen events without their needing to be physically present.

For example, Floreo helps students in McIntire’s class practice school hallway experiments, where students meet peers in the hallways and practice interacting and communicating with them.

Floreo also includes lessons on how students can handle cafeteria social skills, classroom social skills, encounters with the police, and hundreds more.

And, in VR, lessons are repeatable and personalized.

“It’s so good for social interaction,” McIntire said, noting a lesson in which a student sits across from classmates eating pizza. “(Students) say, ‘I like pizza, do you like pizza?’ then the student is asked to respond and say which genre they like. Just having this spontaneous conversation really helps them because in the real world, when they’re in the cafeteria, they can use this practice to actually interact with their peers.

There are also calming and alerting experiences that students can practice for times when they are stressed or anxious.

Studies show that a virtual reality environment allows children with autism, who may have difficulty interpreting non-verbal cues, to focus on a skill taught in class, and Sara Bates, director of special services at JM, has said the VR program is having a positive impact on students.

“There’s a ton of data that shows video modeling helps kids on the spectrum learn, so this takes that and builds on that concept, where it’s more than just video modeling. You’re in done in the video participating,” Bates said. “It was hugely beneficial.”

In addition to providing fun and relevant lessons for students, McIntire uses Floreo to track student progress and monitor what’s working for them.

“It’s going better than we thought,” McIntire said. “Kids love it. For them, it’s just fun; they don’t even realize they are learning and practicing skills. In fact, we call it “playtime”, but it’s really educational.

Floreo was created by Vijay Ravindran, whose son has autism. Its mission is to help every child reach their full potential – the name Floreo, in fact, comes from the Latin root of the word “to flourish”.

Jefferson-Morgan Superintendent Brandon Robinson said the elementary school launched the Floreo pilot program earlier this year and, based on positive results, plans to expand it to high school as early as next semester.

Teachers from other school districts have scheduled visits to JM to see how Floreo works in the classroom.

“We’re looking at innovative things for all of our kids, and sometimes it doesn’t fit into the learning skills and the autism support class, but it’s something that was done with exactly that intention, for those kids, and that’s what I’m most proud of,” Robinson said. “We have all kinds of technology for all of our students, but it’s tailor-made for our students.

“The first time I saw it in action, it was amazing to see the students using it. We, all of us here, were smiling. It brings you joy to see what they get out of it.