Mum Praises Pokemon Go For Changing Autistic Son’s Life

Now that Pokemon Go has made its full debut, people of all ages are becoming obsessed with it. But for some, it’s more than just a game.

And one mum is crediting it with changing her autistic son’s life.

Lenore Koppelmon explained that the location-based game has impacted her son Ralphie in the best way – giving him the freedom to play, talk and socialise with new friends.

The mum, from New York said her son was ‘shrieking with excitement’ after he was introduced to it. And now, he’s started socialising, verbalising and interacting well with others, the Huffington Post reports.

Koppelmon wrote on Facebook:

After he caught his first Pokémon at the bakery, he ran outside to catch more.

A little boy saw him and recognised what he was doing. They immediately had something in common.

He asked Ralphie how many he had caught. Ralph didn’t really answer him, other than to shriek ‘POKEMON’ and jump up and down with excitement while flapping his arms.

Then the little boy showed him how many he had caught (over 100) and Ralph said ‘WOWWWW!’ and they high-fived.

I almost cried.

Koppelmon went on to explain how Ralphie spent the afternoon catching Pokémon and chatting to a girl in the playground about them – something he had never done before.

She wrote:

Then the girl pointed out to him that there was a lot of Pokémon activity at the playground and he begged to go.

When we got to the playground, other kids ran up to him to hunt for Pokémon together.

MY AUTISTIC CHILD WAS SOCIALISING. Talking to people. Smiling at people. Verbalising. With total strangers. Looking up at them.

Sometimes even in the eye. Laughing with them. Sharing something in common. This is amazing.

The Facebook post, uploaded on July 13, has had more than 300 shares, with other parents who have children with autism sharing similar experiences.

So while Pokemon Go users may occasionally fall off cliffs or get robbed, the game really does do some good.