If you have ever stood in the doorway wondering whether your child is spending too much time gaming, this conversation is for you.
This week I am joined by Andrew Fishman, a licensed clinical social worker who has spent more than a decade working with autistic kids and teens and is the author of Parenting a Gamer. We talk about why autistic kids and teens with autism are drawn to video games at nearly twice the rate of their peers, what those games actually provide that the real world often does not, and how to tell the difference between a healthy hobby and a genuine problem. Andrew also shares practical strategies for making the hardest part of gaming, the moment it is time to turn it off, go more smoothly for both of you.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why autistic kids play video games at almost twice the rate of allistic kids, and why that is not automatically a bad thing;
What video games offer that the real world often does not: predictability, fairness, and a social space free of eye contact and unspoken rules;
Why the transition from a preferred activity to a non-preferred one triggers so many autism meltdowns, and a simple planning shift (like the "no new game after 8:30" rule) that reduces the conflict;
The two signs Andrew looks for when assessing whether a child's gaming has become a genuine problem, as opposed to a hobby that looks intense from the outside; and
How to build respect for your child's gaming world, even if you do not understand it yourself, and how to use what hooks them there as a bridge into new interests like art, music, or coding.
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