A VR Serious Game to Increase Empathy towards Students with Phonological
  Dyslexia
José M. Alcalde-Llergo Enrique Yeguas-Bolívar Pilar Aparicio-Martínez Andrea Zingoni Juri Taborri Sara Pinzi
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is estimated to affect about
5-10% of the population. In particular, phonological dyslexia causes problems
in connecting the sounds of words with their written forms. This results in
difficulties such as slow reading speed, inaccurate reading, and difficulty
decoding unfamiliar words. Moreover, dyslexia can also be a challenging and
frustrating experience for students as they may feel misunderstood or
stigmatized by their peers or educators. For these reasons, the use of
compensatory tools and strategies is of crucial importance for dyslexic
students to have the same opportunities as non-dyslexic ones. However,
generally, people underestimate the problem and are not aware of the importance
of support methodologies. In the light of this, the main purpose of this paper
is to propose a virtual reality (VR) serious game through which teachers,
students and, in general, non-dyslexic people could understand which are some
of the issues of student with dyslexia and the fundamental utility of offering
support to them. In the game, players must create a potion by following a
recipe written in an alphabet that is specifically designed to replicate the
reading difficulties experienced by individuals with dyslexia. The task must be
solved first without any help and then by receiving supporting tools and
strategies with the idea that the player can put himself in the place of the
dyslexic person and understand the real need for support methodologies.