This year George Blyth will be inviting children to his birthday party for the first time.
The primary school student has autism and has made a special group of friends who play a modified version of Dungeons and Dragons.
The game is run by a Canberra social inclusion role-playing company called Dice 4 Diversity, which helps children with different needs improve their conversational and social skills.
“He’s looking forward to it, it will be the highlight of his week,” said his mother Jenelle.
‘There is a group he can fit in with.
‘Their social skills improved’
George plays a custom game of Dungeons and Dragons every Saturday with Canberra dad Ian Bennett.
Mr. Bennett, a self-described “tragic Dungeon and Dragons player,” started the company after fighting for access to therapeutic services for his three children, each with different needs.
“We have fought the health system for appropriate treatment and we have sought out-of-the-box solutions when no progress was made with regular therapy,” he said.
“Normally they wouldn’t have social interactions with shopkeepers or innkeepers. I saw their conversation improve.”
Fantasy a gateway to the real world
For some kids who find the real world overwhelming and challenging, it turns out that a little magic can go a long way.
In the game, participants take ownership of a character in a fantasy world, work in a team to overcome adversity, and navigate their way to a successful outcome.
He said the game helped children understand the social contract and gave them the opportunity to fail or try something new in a safe environment.
“Being a role-playing game is very liberating,” said Bennett.
“One of our kids the other week made some pretty bad choices and his character died – he realized the sequence of events that killed his character.
“He promised he wouldn’t do that again and said he would be more considerate if he made choices in the future.”
Mr. Bennett said he hoped the game would provide better coping mechanisms for the children later in life.
Therapy that does not require a bribe
George said he loved the freedom of the game.
“You are the character you create, you are free to choose,” he said.
“It also helps me to see a new way of solving problems.”
He said he enjoyed his friendships with the other gamers.
“There are a lot of people here that I get along with.”
Jenelle Blyth said therapy for children with autism can be tough.
As a mother of four children with autism, she focused on preparing them for adulthood.
“Our goal is for all of our children to be happy taxpayers. If we can do that for them, we will have successfully raised our children,” she said.
She said it was the chance to play and tell a story that made Dice 4 Diversity something her son looked forward to.
“This gives him the opportunity to connect with other children and to become more independent and talk to people,” she said.
“And I don’t have to bribe him to go.”