Summary: A recent study suggests the storytelling board game Dixit can help autistic people express thoughts and feelings. By choosing evocative illustrated cards and explaining their choices, participants conveyed personal experiences and discussed complex topics such as identity, anxiety, strengths, and social misunderstanding.
Autistic participants used the game to communicate both challenges and strengths, and to critique public perceptions of autism. Researchers propose that games like Dixit may promote empathy, improve communication, and create shared spaces for autistic and neurotypical people to better understand one another.
Key Facts:
- Visual Expression: Illustrated cards served as prompts for participants to articulate emotions and lived experience.
- Three Core Themes: Card choices revealed themes of challenge, strength, and societal impact.
- Social Bridge: Researchers suggest that narrative board games can foster dialogue and improve mutual understanding between autistic and neurotypical people.
Source: University of Plymouth
A board game that invites players to tell stories from images can offer a powerful way for autistic people to explain complex feelings and experiences, according to a new study.
Dixit, the award-winning game published by Libellud, presents players with 84 richly illustrated cards. In the study, participants selected cards they felt matched prompts or that best represented autism, then described the reasons behind their choices.
The study involved 35 autistic adults organized into small groups of five to eight people. Each participant placed a card they felt best described autism and then explained their choice. Researchers analyzed these explanations to identify recurring themes.
Three primary themes emerged from the participants’ card selections and explanations:
- Challenges – cards and narratives that reflected difficulties many autistic people experience, including sensory overload, anxiety, and social exclusion.
- Strengths – cards that highlighted attributes and abilities where autistic people often excel, such as intense focus, pattern recognition, and creativity.
- Society – cards that reflected how public attitudes, stereotypes, and misunderstandings create barriers and widen the divide between autistic and neurotypical communities.
Researchers concluded that the card-driven format of Dixit offers a non-threatening, structured way for people to convey nuanced feelings and memories. Instead of inventing metaphors on the spot, participants could point to an image that resonated and use it as a springboard for conversation.
The study’s authors argue that such gamified methods can create safe environments for discussing sensitive subjects and may help bridge the “double empathy” gap—the mutual difficulty autistic and non-autistic people sometimes have understanding one another’s perspectives. They are exploring whether similar approaches can help children discuss complex issues like grief, bullying, and family change in school settings.
This research appears in the journal Discover Psychology and was led by Dr Gray Atherton and Dr Liam Cross from the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth.
Dr Atherton, lead author of the study, commented that finding words for personal, complicated experiences can be difficult, particularly for conditions surrounded by stereotypes and misperceptions. Using images within a playful setting can make talking about these experiences easier.
Dr Cross added that gamified interventions may lower the barrier to discussing difficult topics and support the development of relationships across neurodiversity. The team is following up with educational settings to test these ideas with children and adolescents.
Dixit was one of several games used in community groups for autistic adults as part of a wider research program on autism and board gaming. Earlier outputs from the same program showed that autistic adults are well represented among modern board gamers and that structured game environments provide valued social opportunities.
About this ASD and emotion research news
Author: Alan Williams
Source: University of Plymouth
Contact: Alan Williams – University of Plymouth
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “Metaphors and myths: Using the board game Dixit to understand the autistic lived experience” by Gray Atherton et al., Discover Psychology.
Abstract
Metaphors and myths: Using the board game Dixit to understand the autistic lived experience
Autism holds different meanings for the people who live with it. Understanding these meanings is essential to improving how autistic people are supported and perceived in society.
To explore lived experience, the authors developed a qualitative approach called Dixit-elicitation, which uses the Dixit card game as an interview tool. Participants select images that resonate with their experience and use those images to guide discussion.
The analysis identified themes and subthemes related to personal challenges, unique strengths, and societal expectations. Examining the images chosen alongside participants’ explanations offers a richer view of the metaphors and myths that shape autistic experience and suggests that Dixit-elicitation may be a useful new method for qualitative inquiry.