A Gamified Framework for Autistic Children Ecosystem User Experience

Abstract

The autistic kid, parents, and therapists form a complex socio-technical ecology for therapeutic treatments. The usual UX today is disconnected and chaotic, causing disen- gagement, anxiety, and caregiver strain. Human-Computer In- teraction (HCI) might organize more integrative and helpful experiences, but the present digital technologies are mostly disconnected programs that gamify tasks instead of focusing on therapy. This gap was filled by a thorough literature evaluation of qualitative HCI and clinical investigations. We integrated research on children, parents, and therapists’ lived experiences, interactional, and unmet needs. Therapeutic UX flaws and the lack of ecosystem-level design ideas are highlighted. This position paper proposes the TheraPlay Framework, which reimagines autism treatment as a narrative-based adventure. The frame- work has three principles: customizing therapeutic aims into meaningful, interest-based searches to generate intrinsic drive, facilitating seamless communication, collaborative goal-setting, and progress tracking among interested parties on-screen, and connecting on-screen play to real-life activities to encourage skill generalization. Through an eco-conscious, gamified approach, TheraPlay encourages autistic children to engage in therapy and reduces caregiver and therapist workload. The study advocates a paradigm change in HCI autism care to create comprehensive, human-focused, and fun solutions.

Index Terms—Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Gamification, User Experience (UX), Co-Design, Socio-Technical Systems, Therapeutic Framework.