Dr. Angela Lauria and Matt Lowry, LPP discuss how tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons appeal to many autistic people due to the game’s intricate rule systems, statistics, and logic. D&D allows autistics to socialize with confidence in a structured, inclusive environment of shared world-building.
They explain how D&D provides a space for Autistic strengths like monotropic focus, special interests, pattern recognition, and world-building to take center stage. The design of the game encourages players to embrace differences rather than mask them, including a recent introduction of a canonically Autistic character!
Historic moral panics around D&D are highlighted as examples of misunderstandings and ableism towards autistic interests. The hosts see the game's recent mainstream popularity as a shift towards acceptance.
“Because of ableists in society, anything we do is inherently wrong because we are not like them and we don't do the things that they do. And they are going to find reasons to criticize anything we do for us being different from them.” —Matt
They note famous examples of D&D's popularity in media, including the show Stranger Things. The character-building and communal storytelling aspects of the game—which play to Autistic strengths—are emphasized.
“I am a non-fiction reader and a big part of why…is I don't have a picture-things-in-your-mind's-eye gene, and a lot of fiction sort of requires—to enjoy it—that you can imagine the scene. So for me, one of the things I've always liked about D&D is you can say to your—especially if you have a good DM—'What is that? Tell me more about that feature, that trait, or that thing.’” —Angela
The podcast hosts conclude D&D allows autistics to socialize and build community safely and effectively. Families of autistic individuals can better understand intense interests in gaming as tools for connection. There is great value in embracing neurodiversity.
Who’s your character in D&D? Do you have a multi-year game going?
Superheroes are Autistic - Episode 28 which discusses Conan the Barbarian
The Trouble With Temple - Episode 24 which discusses Temple Grandin
D&D players save the world on Netflix’s Stranger Things
Study: Screen time and diagnoses of anxiety and depression in autistic versus neurotypical youth
Rise of the Dungeon Master - Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D: graphic-novel biography
Inside the 40 Year-Long Dungeons & Dragons Game : Youtube(10 mins 44 secs)
Dungeons & Dragons introduces its first canonically autistic character
How autism powers my D&D: D&D allows me to connect with my friends in a way I couldn’t before
Therapeutic social confidence building game: Critical Core
Related episodes…Want to learn about more Autistic activities popular among children and adults? Episodes 16: Pokémon is Autistic and Episode 31: Chess is Autistic
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Dungeons and Dragons is Autistic (Episode 39)