Computer Games and Online mentoring: Can it help adults on the autism spectrum to improve emotion recognition skills?

Brief name: Computer game and online mentoring Description of intervention: 1. Computer game: The study will evaluate an existing computer game called Mindreading, previously developed and evaluated by the University of Cambridge. The game contains three main sections, the emotions library (access to various video and audio clips of different emotions), learning centre (contains a variety of lessons and quizzes) and game zones (five different themed emotion recognition games). 2. Online mentoring: The online mentoring program, Mindchip focuses on equipping adults on the autism spectrum with tools to observe/recognise emotions as well as to explore potential strategies to cope with certain social situations. Participants will meet with a mentor (a therapist) via teleconferencing. Materials: (1) Computer for teleconferencing (3) Emotion recognition Computer Game, 'Mindreading' Procedures: Participants will receive a copy the Mindreading computer game (DVD format). They will be asked to play the computer game for at least 1 hour per week. In addition to the computer game, participants allocated to this group will receive the Mindchip online mentoring program. They will meet with a mentor/therapist via teleconferencing once a week over 10 weeks (one hour per week). Who will deliver the intervention: Postgraduate students with a background in research and occupational therapy. Mode of delivery: Online/home based intervention Duration and intensity of intervention: All participants will receive approximately 10x 1 hour online mentoring sessions, once per week for ten weeks. Participants will be requested to dedicate approximately 1 hour per week playing the Mindreading computer game Location: The intervention will mainly be held online. Adherence: Prior to the trial, the researcher will provide the participants with information on the intervention. Participants will be encouraged to discuss the study with someone whom they are comfortable with. During the first meeting, the researchers will provide further explanations on what the study involves (with visual instructions, if necessary). These explanations can include demonstrations of the equipment which will be used in the study.