To raise awareness, a research team at the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (CR-IUSMM) has developed a virtual-reality application that replicates the challenges that autistic people can face in their everyday lives.
“We all know that the best way to better understand someone’s reality is to put yourself in their shoes,” said Marc Lanovaz, a professor at Université de Montréal’s School of Psychoeducation.
For the app, which is available free and in English and French, “we therefore simulated the difficulties that an autistic person may experience on a sensory and social level when faced with a stressful situation, such as a visit to the dentist.”
Develop for use in the workplace, schools and health centres, the app works with a Meta Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset. In a randomized trial with 104 cégep students, it has proven to significantly improve knowledge, attitudes and openness toward autism.
The app was made possible thanks to the financial support of the IUSMM Foundation and the National Network of Expertise in Autism Spectrum Disorder.