VR and AI for Social Skills Development in Children and Young People with Autism and/or ADHD
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Social competence is a fundamental prerequisite for learning, well-being, and participation in school and society. Yet it is often the informal situations — such as lunch breaks, recess, and other social settings — that are experienced as the most challenging for many children and young people. These situations involve a complex interplay of eye contact, body language, turn-taking, and unspoken social rules that are rarely explained explicitly, yet are still expected to be understood and mastered.
For children and young people on the autism spectrum, such situations can feel unpredictable, demanding, and at times sensorily overwhelming. Many individuals with ADHD may, in turn, struggle with impulse control, attention, emotional regulation, and finding the right pace in social interaction with others. When social communication becomes difficult to manage, it can affect a person’s sense of belonging, participation, and learning outcomes.
This highlights the need for targeted and adapted approaches in safe environments. Fornix has therefore collaborated with schools and professional communities to explore how VR can be used to support social skills training. At Borge School, within the Lilleborge resource department in Porsgrunn Municipality, the solution has been tested in practice by students attending the resource department. Lilleborge is a specialized resource department for students with autism spectrum-related challenges, serving pupils from grades 1–10. The experiences and feedback have provided valuable insights for further development.
Why Social Skills Training Is Often Challenging
Traditional social skills training usually takes place in real-life interpersonal situations without a pause button.
A lunch conversation happens in the moment. A misunderstanding with classmates can have an immediate emotional impact. Recess may feel unstructured and filled with subtle social cues that are difficult to interpret. For some children and young people, the strain becomes so overwhelming that they withdraw, increasing the risk of loneliness, social anxiety, school absenteeism, and social exclusion.
When children and young people are given the opportunity to practice challenging situations in an environment that is calmer, more structured, and easier to adapt, the threshold for participation can become lower.
In Safe Environments
VR makes it possible to practice situations that are otherwise difficult to rehearse systematically.
Instead of waiting for the “right” situation to arise in the schoolyard, classroom, or cafeteria, users can enter a realistic scenario whenever it is appropriate. Conversations can be repeated. The pace can be adjusted. Users are free to pause, receive guidance, reflect, and try again.
At Fornix, we are working with VR training for small talk, mingling, lunch situations, and other everyday social settings. The training is built around gradual progression, clear goals, and consideration for individual and sensory needs. AI support is used as a tool for feedback, structure, and debriefing after each session.
This is about increasing social confidence and providing enough safe practice so that situations which previously felt overwhelming become more understandable, manageable, and eventually more familiar.
What Can You Practice?
VR training in social communication can involve practicing how to:
start a conversation
keep a dialogue going
ask follow-up questions
listen and respond to what the other person is saying
understand how one’s own communication affects the conversation
handle pauses, uncertainty, and minor misunderstandings
practice lunch situations, mingling, recess, and other unstructured social settings
build confidence before trying out these skills in real-life situations
Young people in the target group report that the VR training has made it easier to start conversations, pay attention to the person they are speaking with, and ask follow-up questions in return. Staff have also highlighted that the method provides valuable opportunities for direct guidance during the sessions, reflection afterward, and transferring the skills into real-world situations.
“I think it was great talking to the virtual characters. I wish I could continue using the VR headset. I don’t want to stop now.”
— Student on the autism spectrum
AI as Support, Not a Replacement
Artificial intelligence is not the goal in itself. It is a tool that can make social skills training more personalized, structured, and accessible.
After a VR session, AI can be used to summarize what happened: What went well? What was challenging? What could the user try next time?
VR is not intended to replace teachers, support staff, therapists, or parents. Instead, it is designed to provide them with a new tool — a supplement that makes social skills training more concrete, accessible, and easier to carry out.
Lowering the Threshold for Participation
When children and young people are allowed to practice in environments where it is okay to make mistakes, something important often happens: the threshold for participation becomes lower.
Instead of experiencing a social situation as a chaotic mix of signals and expectations, they are given a space where they can understand, try, fail, and learn.
In the short term, this can lead to greater confidence, a stronger sense of mastery, and increased motivation in situations such as small talk, lunch breaks, and other unstructured social settings.
In the longer term, it is about something bigger: belonging, self-esteem, and the opportunity to participate more on one’s own terms.
“I think VR might be one of the reasons I’ve started talking more with people in my free time.”
— Student on the autism spectrum
Many young people who struggle socially during their school years face similar challenges later in life, whether in upper secondary education, higher education, working life, or adulthood.
Developed in Close Collaboration with Schools, Professionals, and Users
Fornix collaborates with schools and professional communities to explore how VR can be used to support social skills training. At Borge School, within the Lilleborge resource department in Porsgrunn Municipality, the solution has been tested in practice by students in the resource department. The experiences and feedback from these trials have provided valuable insights for further development.
This is how we believe good health and educational technology should be developed: in close collaboration with the people who will actually use the solution, with room for adjustment, adaptation, and feedback throughout the process.
Who Could This Be Relevant For?
This type of solution may be relevant for:
schools and specialized education departments
educational psychology services (PPT) and municipal support services
child and adolescent mental health professionals
parents and support networks around children and young people
services working with autism, ADHD, social anxiety, and school absenteeism
professional environments seeking more structured training in social communication
The goal is to make social skills training safer, more concrete, and more accessible for those who need it most.
The Road Ahead
Social competence is not developed primarily in the classroom, but in the interactions between people.
VR and AI can be used to practice these kinds of interactions.
For professionals, this means more targeted support and follow-up.
For children and young people, it means a genuine opportunity to practice — without the fear of failing in front of others.
When technology is developed in close collaboration with its users, it becomes a tool that strengthens what matters most: relationships, confidence, and participation.
Would you like to learn more about how Fornix works with social skills development, autism, ADHD, and school absenteeism? Contact us at hello@fornixvr.com.
