Virtual reality in promoting emphaty and knowledge towards people with ASD

• Autor(a) principal: Barros, Maria Luísa Martins de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/21706
• topic: Autism knowledge; Autism spectrum disorer´s; Emphaty; Virtual reality

Increasing empathy and knowledge about Autism spectrum Disorders (ASD) is crucial to potentiate a better quality of lofe for people with the condition. Virtual reality (VR) is becoming a useful tool to increase empathy and/or knowldge about ASD. This dissertation intente to investigate the impacto f a VR program and the influence of gender and contact with people with ASD on knowledge and empathy toward people with ASD, as well as studying the relantionship between level o knowledge and empathy. This studu examined the levels of knowledge and empathy in 7th grade students (N=86) using the Empathy Quocient and autismo Stigma nad Knowledge Questionnaire. The results show that the experimental group had a significant increase in knowledge (p˂0,001) and empathy (p˂0,001) levels but when comparing both groups, only a significant difference in knowledge levels was found (p˂0,025). According to our findings, the young population has difficulty expressing empathy for ASD but has adequate knowledge o it, and VR is a powerful tool for increasing knowledge and empathy toward people with ASD. There is a link between knowledge and gender, as well as knowledge and empathy.