Boundaries: A Serious Game on Relationships for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Studies show that adults with developmental disabilities are often at risk of being targets of abuse. With little supporting resources available for both adults and their caretakers on identifying relationship boundaries, victimization rates are consistently and alarmingly high. This study aims to explore the gamification of behavioral learning to identify personal boundaries and at-risk behaviors with real-time feedback for adults with disabilities. A Unity game, titled “Boundaries”, was developed to provide randomized situational cases in identifying personal relationship boundaries. Ten users with developmental disabilities evaluated the game to provide run-time game responses and qualitative survey feedback. The results suggest that the game was a successful medium for engaging users on the topic of personal boundaries. Significant differences in both gameplay activity were found between users eliciting low, medium, and high-risk behaviors. This paper concludes with discussion and considerations on interactive behavioral serious games for adults with disabilities.