BY JACKIE SCHWABE

WOMAN AND BOY USING LAPTOP COMPUTER

Stuart Duncan, who has a child with an autism diagnosis, wanted a safe place for his son to play. Autcraft, which he founded in 2013, became the first Minecraft server created for children with their neurological divergence considered from the start.

Summer is right around the corner and we are all looking for a safe place for our kids to play. If they can't play outside, we want to be sure they will be safe online. Online can be trickier than outside because it is difficult to monitor what others are saying or doing.

Fortunately for parents with children on the spectrum, there is a solution to the problem.

Autcraft was founded in 2013 by Stuart Duncan. Stuart has a child who has an autism diagnosis and he wanted a safe place for his son to play. Later, Stuart advised that he too has an autism diagnosis. Autcraft became the first Minecraft server created for children with their neurological divergence considered from the start, instead of being an afterthought – created for them, by them.

The founder is known in the game as AutismFather. He created the game as a response to parents who did not know if their children could play their favorite game with others without the threat of bullying and discrimination. He isn't a passive founder either. Autcraft is administrated by adults that include others with an autism diagnosis and parents and/or family members of someone on the spectrum. There are also additional staff members that include what they call "Helpers" – which are people of all ages that prove to be responsible, positive and helpful with people, "SrHelper," which are adults that demonstrate some knowledge of the game as well as having respect, responsibility, and helpfulness, and even "Buddies" who are people of all ages that are supportive and helpful to others.

WHAT ARE FEATURES THAT MAKE IT SAFER?

While there are a number of great things that come from just having all the various staff members that are helping the players, there are a few important features about Autcraft that also ensure the children's safety. Here is a list of some of the more important features:

FAIR GAME: Autcraft was created as a response to parents who did not know if their children could play their favorite game with others without the threat of bullying and discrimination.

HOW CAN MY CHILD PLAY?

The best thing you can do is to start at autcraft.com/setup. This is a wiki that describes each step that needs to occur to get started. There is also a link to the rules in the game at autcraft.com/rules. Note that the rules page also includes game play guidelines. If you have used social stories in the past to assist your child with what to expect, going over the rules and gameplay guidelines with them ahead of time will help make a smoother transition for them, especially if they have already played Minecraft. If they have played Minecraft before, there are rules here that they didn't have before. The most important concept for Autcraft and AutismFather is the safety of the players. That means that Autcraft is a whitelisted Minecraft server for children and adults that have an autism diagnosis and their families. In order to play with the others, you or a family member must own a computer version of Minecraft and you need to register and apply to be put on the whitelist, which you can do here. Visit autcraft.com/whitelist. Since the applications are reviewed, the waiting time for assessment of your application is approximately two weeks.

HOW CAN WE SUPPORT AUTCRAFT?

It has been the founder's mission to help as many children with an autism diagnosis as possible, so he accepts pledges in any amount that you are able to give. You can find out more information on his Patreon page patreon.com/autismfather.

The interesting thing about the Patreon page is that for each level of support, he makes an attempt to continue to give back to the community. For example, if you donate $6 or more you will get a postcard from AutismFather to say thank you. For donations of $10 or more you get to place your name at spawn on a sign so that all the visitors to the serve can see who is helping keep the whole e place running. You can also get a special Patreon Rank which includes some extra commands and permissions to help streamline game play. Higher donations include things like coffee mugs and other game-related perks. There is even access to the Discord server with only a $10 pledge.

While all of this is great, the Patreon site itself is full of positive support for the community and campaigns like #TakeBackOurIdentity to support the larger community of those with an autism diagnosis. The Patreon page also has content that is for Patreon members only, so they can feel part of an exclusive club.

WHY DO I SUPPORT AUTCRAFT?

I have four children. My daughter has an autism diagnosis, and to be completely transparent, she doesn't play Autcraft or Minecraft. However, my other three children do play Minecraft. In general Minecraft is a great way to see your kids learn how to work together and build things. It is fun to see them create new worlds and defeat the Creepers (those are the bad guys). Sometimes they even invite their sister to come join them, and on rare occasions, she does.

SCREEN SHOT OF AUTCRAFT GAME

BUILDING CONFIDENCE: Summer is right around the corner, and we are all looking for a safe place for our kids to play. Autcraft is a place where your children will be looked after by a team of staff that understand their unique challenges.

I watch the kiddos play Minecraft once in a while or listen over their shoulder to their favorite YouTube star, Dan TDM, who talks all about Minecraft. It is a great game and there are some really positive people within the community. However, there are also those that are not very pleasant. Some of our kids have had their castles broken by others and had items they dropped for later pick up by other kids. And while most of the time, my children are able to deal with the loss, I am positive that not all children with an autism diagnosis would be able to handle these things. In fact, AutismFather mentions one of the reasons for the safety rules of the game is to keep others from doing things like this – for often, they result in broken computers or keyboards when our children are not able to react.

That isn't all though. We had a personal incident with my oldest child just in the last few months. It didn't relate to Minecraft, but it did relate to cyber-bullying and had some very negative consequences for all the children involved. The Autcraft server isn't just a safe place to keep our kids from having their special items stolen, it is a safe place for inappropriate language and topics that many of us know will then be repeated unmercifully, over and over again, for what might seem like eternity.

WHAT ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY?

It is great that AutismFather took the time to create a world that is safe just for children with an autism diagnosis. However, I also respect greatly the efforts that he has taken to encourage online safety for all children. AutismFather advises that everyone should discuss the dangers of strangers on the internet as much, or more so, than strangers that they meet face to face.

He suggests that you don't allow your children to add every person they can on a friends list. They have the ability to add friends in Discord, Xbox, Facebook and, well, everywhere. It is dangerous for them to join a new community and start to ask every person they meet to friend them somewhere. It is also their desire to have many friends, but even on whitelisted servers, you never know if someone is who they say they are. With that said, monitor their friends list.

AutismFather also suggests avoiding private one-on-one conversations online. Join larger channels, or semi-private channels, or groups, so that others can also see what is said and what might be going on wrong. If anyone asks something inappropriate, there is a witness. If you are able, join the conversations, or at least be able to see them if you think something might be going on. AutismFather feels so strongly about this that he actively refused to have any private conversations, even with parents. Note that this applies to social media as well. Private conversations are no place for children.

GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY OR GO INSIDE AND PLAY – JUST BE SAFE 

Yep, summer is right around the corner, and we are all looking for a safe place for our kids to play. Autcraft is a place where your children will be looked after by a team of staff that understand their unique challenges.

Most of all this summer, let your kids have fun with the games they are able to play and want to play. Just keep in mind some of the online internet safety tips, like never having private conversations, and always being respectful of others online. Have a great summer! •

If you would like to learn more about Autcraft you can find links to over 20 articles as well as a research study on the topic at autcraft.com/media. In addition, you can visit Autcraft on Facebook at @AutcraftServer, Twitter at @Autcraft, and YouTube at @StuartD2.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jackie Schwabe is CEO of Mindlight, LLC. She is a Certified Caregiving Consultant and Certified Caregiving Educator. She received her BA in Management Computer Systems from the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater and her MBA in Technology Project Management from the University of Phoenix. She has been active in the area of healthcare integration, healthcare IT, telemedicine, product development, and product management for over 20 years. She has been a cross-sector, cross-discipline leadership practitioner her entire career. Jackie wakes up motivated to help others. Her mission, to provide the tools, opportunities, and connections people need to be their best self. A mother of four children – one with autism – she often says different is not less and communication happens in more ways than verbally. She cofounded MindLight, LLC as a way to technologically help caregivers.