Yes we do indeed consider him to be handicapped, Mr Q... for instance if we were to abandon him in town or somewhere then we couldn't be sure we'd ever see him again.
But of course autism isn't the same as a primary handicap... like being totally blind or having lost both legs... for folks like that I guess their disabilities and the associated difficulties are pretty much clearly defined. With autistic people each and every one of them is different, and there are as many different types of autism as there are people with it... so it's still more a question of employing games which might challenge and improve that person's individual weaknesses rather than try to develop something which they can all find useful, although that's certainly made me think.
We do, however, believe that the hand/eye co-ordination needed for gaming is a good reason to encourage it; when I saw my young nephew with his Nintendo DS for the first time I thought to myself "My boy will never be able to do that". We eventually got him one of his own and he was like a duck to water... and I reckon linear games must help his situational awareness, although this is just me guessing.
I won't bang on about it any more, but your question is a very interesting one and has certainly made me think... I'll maybe come back with more thoughts later. Thank you, Mr Q
