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Wargaming and Autism.

Writer's picture: [DGP] Badgers[DGP] Badgers

There's a hidden strength to tabletop wargames that few will have had reason to think about. For those who struggle with autism, for example, confusing social interactions become manageable when they come as part of a well-defined set of rules. Wargaming provides a framework for how everything is expected to Here's one of my direct experiences that shows it so well.


I did part of my store manager training for GW with another store. A lady brought her young boy in, who came over and stood near the painting intro I was running for two other kids.


I asked him a question and he did not respond. At all. No eye contact, no movement, he just continued to watch the other kids paint. Mum quickly explained he was autistic, and would probably not respond to me directly for a while. He was riveted, so I finished up the intro then got to helping this kid.


His mum asked if she could leave him with us to pick up a prescription for him. I agreed and asked if there was anything I should do or avoid doing.


Apparently, this lad struggled to differentiate between play fighting or make-believe violence and actually violence, so I should probably steer away from anything that describes violence at all. No violence. In a 40K intro game.

If you’ve never been around when someone runs an intro game, the training we’re given is to make the experience as cinematic as possible through our descriptions. You try describing killing a cultist with a chainsword without using violent language.


In the end, I tried to emulate laser tag: “okay, now this Dark Angel will shine his light at that Hellbrute over there! But the hellbrute is moving fast, so let’s see if he can shine the light in the right place. Roll this dice, mate; if you get a 3 or more, he’s done it! Well done! The hellbrute is out of the game! Good job!”


In retrospect, it would’ve have been hilarious if we’d have been using guard.


He seemed to enjoy the game, and began responding to more direct questions and comments.


When he had a go at painting, this kid was a legend. Seriously.

He actually started to highlight the gem on the High Elf he selected to paint, in much the same way a much more experienced painter would. I sat next to him and painted along - he needed no direction from me what so ever.


Mum came back, and I said he should show her what he painted, but he was already running over to her, model in hand. Now, I fully expected mum to say he’s very visual or practical or artistic or whatever. I expected her to take it in her stride.


His mum collapsed into a sobbing heap.


Once we had calmed her down and made her a cup of tea, she explained. The lad wouldn’t even write his own name. He wouldn’t engage with almost anything artistic. They had thought it beyond his skill set, that it wasn’t something he’d do.


She realised, she told us, that he wasn’t engaging with it because it wasn’t stimulating enough for him. He just didn’t see the purpose or enjoyment in it, until he came into contact with the hobby.


Mum had read about wargames and D&D in a book written to help parents find ways to help their kids interact with others. Many autistic kids struggle to socialise because the rules and nuance of social interaction that most of us take for granted are entirely alien to them.


Games like Warhammer give them a framework for how everything works and interacts. All of a sudden, socialising and making friends with other kids is that much easier, so much more obtainable, because now they have the rules.

I remember that sequence of events pretty clearly. It opened my eyes to just a few of the problems faced by kids with autism.


It was one of many highlights I have of the time I spent working for GW.

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