What is Autcraft? An autism friendly Minecraft server. Find out more here!

What is autcraft?

What is autcraft?

Let me make a small confession now.

My knowledge of computer games (or video games as I think they were called) is pretty much derived from my 10 year old son. Who is himself on the autism spectrum.

One of the games he likes to play is Minecraft. Though he also likes to design games. He finds playing hard due to issues with his gross motor skills.

Anyhow when I came across this video about a Minecraft server specifically for the autism community I was intrigue and thought it would be great to share with my readers. So here you go. Enjoy!

Code Blue Autism Awareness Event – Coding Minecraft Game Day Palooza – Guest post


Autism awareness and technology

Autism awareness and technology

Hi Everyone

We hope you had a great Memorial Day, long weekend, Pentecost break (depending on which country you live.

In today’s guest post we would like to introduce you to a fascinating autism awareness event which will take place in McAllen, TX on the 18th July, 2015.

Alex who wrote the guest post says ” and I work for Perficientur, a technology company that develops software technologies that allow our clients to “sense” the problems in their value chain, and enable them to take action in “real time”.

We, here at Perficientur, are committed to helping improve the community. We recently started development on an Autism Behavioral tracking app that will bridge the communication between the therapists and parents.

I am putting together an Autism Awareness event to give the young minds in the valley a place to unwind and have fun. There will be guest speakers, about various technologies that are fast growing here in the valley, as well as small video game tournaments to get the children involved.”

If you have any further questions about the event please share them in the comments section below and we will ask Alex to reply!

Thanks

“A free event for young minds to come and learn about coding and to indulge in friendly competition. Children will get to play games, practice some coding and have fun doing it.”

Autism Awareness

First and foremost we would like to use this event to spread the awareness of autism.

We are going to utilize the growing industry of Code development to inform the younger generations about the future of technology, and to help them experience some unique and interesting activities.

What We Aim To Do

By exposing the younger generation to the benefits of learning to write code, especially the autistic children, we hope to give them something to grasp on to that will benefit them in the future.


We have a goal of raising $15,000 in the name of Autism Awareness and we will donate that money to an autism research facility.

Perficientur would like to be very involved in helping build the community for all to enjoy.

Who Will Attend?

We are offering this event to the younger minds in the community, Ages 9 to 15.

We believe this will be a crucial age group since children at this age are becoming more and more aware of how technology works.

By targeting this age range we can hopefully spark some interest in the younger generation and give them a head start for the future.

Date/Time/Location

The event is scheduled for the 18th of July

6pm at The Barracks which is located on Nolana and Bicentennial Blvd.

Who’s on board?

  • Code RGV
  • Perficientur
  • The Barracks

Guest Speakers

We seek to have some knowledgeable guest speakers speak on behalf of:

  • Autism
  • Coding
  • Video Game Development

As an incentive for the public to engage with the guest speakers we will offer some trivia questions and have small prizes for those who know the right answer.

The small prizes will be T-shirts, Small figurines, and booster trading card packs

Workshops

The guest speakers will offer their knowledge to the public in the form of “Workshops”.

  • Coding Workshop
  • Game Development Workshop
  • Photoshop/Illustrator Workshop

These Workshops will let the young minds in attendance see how they can perform these tasks on their own with little effort.

Attendance

We are looking to have as many people from the community attend as possible.

This will be an open event to all who would like to join.

We will encourage parents to bring their children, as it will be an environment where the children can explore the things they can do.

It will give the parents a great opportunity to observe the interaction their kids have with technology.

Autistic children will also be encouraged to attend so they can have a moment to be themselves and to explore their abilities.

The Tournament

In addition to the workshops provided, we will also be hosting a videogame tournament.

We will have access to:

  • 5 Xbox’s running Minecraft
  • 4 Wii U’s running Super Smash Bros.
  • 8 computers for coding activities

We will offer a first, second and third place trophies to the winners.

Tournament Tasks

The Minecraft Tournament- it will consist of the players having to build specific structures in a certain about of time

The Fighting Tournament- 1v1 matches to conserve time and so everyone gets a chance to play.

The computers- Various Coding simulations will be available to learn and adapt to the changing of technology.

Everyone gets a little something

In an effort to make sure all the children leave with something, we will offer, “goodie bags” to every child.

These goodie bags will contain the same items for everyone.

These goodie bags will contain: pens, notepads, a pack of 5 trading cards, a key chain, a USB, and coupons for local restaurants.

Food/Refreshments

We will look into having pizzas and beverages donated from local establishments.

We would like for the attendees not to have to worry about paying for the food and refreshments, we are offering a fun, relaxed environment.

Food and drinks will be provided free of charge.

Media Attention

We would like to get various media channels involved.

We want as many people to know about the event as possible.

The media we would like to get involved:

  • The Monitor
  • Local news stations

We will post pictures and info to our Social Media outlets as well.

How will this benefit you?

Perficientur is dedicated to informing the community about the wonders and applications of technology.

We would like to work closely with non-profit organizations and help them inform others any way we can.

We believe that the more people are informed about the changing of technology, then the more prepared they will be to absorb and understand how it is evolving

Help us help others.