So about four years ago, I started a Minecraft server for children with autism and their families, and I called it "Autcraft."

大约四年前，我创建了一个Minecraft服务器，专为自闭症儿童及其家人提供帮助，因此，我称之为“自闭创世神”。

And since then, we've been in the news all around the world, on television and radio and magazines.

自此，我们的事迹见诸于出现在了世界各地的新闻报道、电视、广播以及杂志上。

Buzzfeed called us "one of the best places on the internet."

Buzzfeed（美国新闻网站）称我们创建的平台是“互联网上的乐土”之一。

We're also the subject of an award-winning research paper called "Appropriating Minecraft as an Assistive Technology for Youth with Autism."

有一篇屡获殊荣的研究论文就是以我们为主题，叫《“我的世界”——电脑辅助技术帮助自闭症儿童》。

It's a bit of a mouthful.

这标题听起来有点绕口。

But you get the idea, I think.

但我想你们能猜到这篇论文的大意了。

So I want to talk a little bit about that research paper and what it's about,

所以，我想谈谈这篇论文，以及论文中探讨的问题，

but first I have to give you a little bit of history on how the server came to be.

但在此之前，我先来讲些背景信息，关于Atucraft这个服务器是如何建立的。

Back in 2013, everybody was playing Minecraft, kids and adults alike, with and without autism, of course.

2013年的时候，“我的世界”风靡网络,无论儿童还是成人，当然也不管有没有自闭症，大家都在玩。

But it was the big thing.

不过，自闭症是一件需要重视的事。

But I saw parents on social media reaching out to other parents, asking if their autistic children could play together.

然而我在社交平台上看见一些自闭症儿童的父母联系有类似遭遇的父母，询问是否他们的孩子可以在一起玩，

And the reason is that when they tried to play on public servers, they kept running into bullies and trolls.

因为当他们的孩子在公共服务器上玩游戏时，他们总会遇到欺凌者和恶意的人。

When you have autism, you behave a little differently sometimes, sometimes a lot differently.

因为如果你患有自闭症的话，有的时候你的行为会有一点点反常，有的时候则完全异于其他人。

And we all know a little bit of difference is all you really need for a bully to make you their next target.

总所周知，对于一个霸凌者来说，仅仅一点点不同就足够使你成为他的下一个欺凌对象了。

So these terrible, terrible people online, they would destroy everything that they tried to make, they would steal all their stuff,

因此，网上的那些心怀恶意的人，会在游戏中蓄意破坏这些自闭症儿童努力搭建的东西，偷窃他们的道具，

and they would kill them over and over again, making the game virtually unplayable.

甚至一遍一遍地攻击杀害他们游戏中的形象，让这些自闭症患者无法继续玩下去。

But the worst part, the part that really hurt the most, was what these bullies would say to these kids.

但最糟糕，最伤人的是这些网络上的霸凌者会告诉这些自闭症儿童，

They'd call them rejects and defects and retards.

称他们是被抛弃的、有缺陷的、或是弱智的人。

And they would tell these kids, some as young as six years old, that society doesn't want them, and their own parents never wanted a broken child,

这些人甚至对那些年仅六岁的孩子说，这个社会厌恶他们，他们的父母永远不会爱一个残缺的孩子，

so they should just kill themselves.

因此他们应该自我了断生命。

And of course, these kids, you understand, they would sign off from these servers angry and hurt.

而你知道的，这些自闭症儿童会十分生气、伤心地退出服务器。

They would break their keyboards, they'd quite literally hate themselves, and their parents felt powerless to do anything.

他们会砸坏键盘，甚至直接说厌恶自己，而他们的父母则感到无能为力。

So I decided I had to try and help.

于是，我决定试着帮助这些孩子和家庭。

I have autism, my oldest son has autism, and both my kids and I love Minecraft, so I have to do something.

我也有过自闭症，我的长子也患有自闭症，而我的孩子和我都非常喜欢玩“我的世界”这个游戏，所以，我得做点什么来改变这一状况。

So I got myself a Minecraft server, and I spent some time,

于是，我自己建立了一个“我的世界”服务器，然后我花了点时间，

built a little village with some roads and a big welcome sign and this guy and a lodge up on a mountaintop, and tried to make it inviting.

建了一个有道路穿过的小村庄，一个巨大的欢迎标志和山顶上的城堡，我试图使它变得吸引人。

The idea was pretty simple.

我的想法非常简单。

I had a white list, so only people that I approved could join, and I would just monitor the server as much as I could,

我有一个白名单，只有得到我的允许，玩家才能加入，因此我尽可能地监督服务器的运营使用，

just to make sure that nothing went wrong.

以确保没有恶性事件发生。

And that was it, that was the whole promise: to keep the kids safe so they could play.

这就是我的初衷，也是我的承诺：确保孩子的安全，于是他们就可以尽情享受游戏的欢乐了。

When it was done, I went to Facebook and posted a pretty simple message to my friends list, not publicly.

当我建成这个服务器时，我在Facebook上面向好友发了一条信息，并没有所有人公开。

I wanted to see if there was any interest in this, and if it really could help.

因为我想试运营一下，看看大家对它有没有兴趣，以及到底有没有用。

Turns out that I greatly underestimated just how much this was needed, because within 48 hours, I got 750 emails.

结果我发现，我彻底低估了大家对它的需要程度，因为仅在两天之内，我就收到了750申请加入的邮件。

I don't have that many Facebook friends.

而我在Facebook上的好友都没有750个。

Within eight days, I had to upgrade the hosting package eight times, from the bottom package to the most expensive package they had, and now,

八天之内，我就升级了主机程序包八次，从最普通的主机包升级成最昂贵的那种，而如今，

almost four years later, I have 8,000 names on the white list from all around the world.

差不多四年后，我的白名单上有8000名来自世界各地的用户。

But the reason I'm up here today to talk to you isn't just because I gave kids a safe place to play.

但是，我今天站在这里演讲的目的并不是告诉大家我给孩子提供了一个安全的游戏环境。

It's what happened while they played.

我想谈的是一件发生在他们游戏过程中的事。

I started hearing from parents who said their children were learning to read and write by playing on the server.

我开始倾听家长们的意见，他们说自己的孩子在服务器上学习读写。

At first they spelled things by sound, like most kids do, but because they were part of a community,

起初，这些孩子只是像大多数孩子一样按发音拼单词，但由于他们身处Autcraft社区之中，

they saw other people spelling the same words properly and just picked it up.

当他们看到其他人能准确地拼出一样的单词，自己也就学会了。

I started hearing from parents who said that their nonverbal children were starting to speak.

家长们还告诉我他们沉默寡言的孩子开始讲话了。

They only talked about Minecraft, but they were talking.

虽然他们只聊“我的世界”，但这也是讲话啊。

Some kids made friends at school for the first time ever.

有些孩子第一次在学校交到了朋友。

Some started to share, even give things to other people.

有些则开始与他人分享，甚至送给其他人东西。

It was amazing.

这真的很棒。

And every single parent came to me and said it was because of Autcraft, because of what you're doing.

每一位单亲家庭的父母都告诉我说，这都是Autcraft的功劳，多亏了我所做的一切。

But why, though?

不过，为什么会促成这种改变呢？

How could all of this be just from a video game server?

为什么一个视频游戏服务器能带来如此巨大的改变？

Well, it goes back to that research paper I was talking about.

这个问题得回到我刚刚提过的那篇论文。

In it, she covers some of the guidelines I used when I created the server, guidelines that I think help encourage people to be their very best.

在这篇论文中，作者谈到了我在创建这个服务器时所参考的一些理念，在我看来，这些理念可以帮助用户成为最好的自己。

I hope.

我希望能如此。

For example, communication.

拿交流举个例子。

It can be tough for kids with autism.

对于自闭症儿童来说，交流是很困难的。

It could be tough for grown-ups without autism.

对于患有自闭症的成年人而言也不例外。

But I think that kids should not be punished, they should be talked to.

但我认为，这些孩子不该因此被处罚，我们应该坚持努力与他们对话。

Nine times out of ten, when the kids on the server act out, it's because of something that's happened in the day at school or home.

每次孩子们在服务器上吵架了，十有八九都是因为一些在家或学校发生的事。

Maybe a pet died.

比如有一只宠物死了。

Sometimes it's just a simple miscommunication between two children.

或者有时候只是因为两个孩子之间的相互误解。

They don't talk to person what they're about to do.

他们不告诉我们他们要怎么处理。

And so we just offer to help.

所以我们只是主动提供帮助。

We always tell the children on the server that we're not mad, and they're not in trouble; we only want to help.

我们总是对服务器上的孩子们说，我们没有生气，他们也不会有麻烦。我们只是想帮帮他们。

And it shows that not only do we care, but we respect them enough to listen to their point of view.

这体现了我们不仅关心他们，而且我们尊重他们，愿意倾听他们的想法。

Respect goes a long way.

尊重对他们十分有益。

Plus, it shows them that they have everything they need to be able to resolve these problems on their own in the future and maybe even avoid them,

此外，尊重还传递给他们一个信念：他们未来会完全具备独立处理这些问题的能力，

because, you know, communication.

甚至会通过沟通完全避免这些问题。

On most servers, as video games are, children are rewarded, well, players are rewarded, for how well they do in a competition, right?

在大多数游戏服务器上，孩子们及其他玩家获得多少奖励都是看他们在竞赛中表现如何，对吧？

The better you do, the better reward you get.

你在游戏中表现得越好，奖励越丰厚。

That can be automated; the server does the work, the code is there.

这种奖励模式是自动的，是通过程序设置的。

On Autcraft, we don't do that.

但在Autcraft上，我们不是这样做的。

We have things like "Player of the Week" and "CBAs," which is "Caught Being Awesome."

我们设置了“每周玩家之星”和“CBAs”，"CBAs"就是“表现杰出玩家”的缩写。

We award players ranks on the servers based on the attributes they exhibit, such as the "Buddy" rank for people who are friendly towards others,

我们的积分奖励是基于玩家展现的品质的，例如对他人友善的玩家会达到“好帮手”等级，

and "Junior Helper" for people that are helpful towards others.

乐于助人的玩家则是“少年小帮手”，

We have "Senior Helper" for the adults.

而成年玩家则可以得到“高级助手”的称号。

But they're obvious, right?

不过，这些都很明显。

Like, people know what to expect and how to earn these things because of how they're named.

例如，人们通过他们的称号，就能知道自己能获得什么，以及如何获得。

As soon as somebody signs onto the server, they know that they're going to be rewarded for who they are and not what they can do.

只要玩家在服务器上注册，他们就知道自己的积分奖励是根据他们的人格确定的，而不是他们的水平。

Our top award, the AutismFather Sword, which is named after me because I'm the founder,

游戏中的最高级别的奖励是“自闭症之父的宝剑”，这是根据我来命名的，因为我是服务器的创始人。

is a very powerful sword that you can't get in the game any other way than to show that you completely put the community above yourself,

把剑拥有非凡的能力，除非你全身心地为Autcraft整个团体奉献，否则不可能得到这个奖励。

and that compassion and kindness is at the core of who you are.

而这种奉献的热情和善良是你人格中最重要的特质。

We've given away quite a few of those swords, actually.

事实上，已经有很多玩家获得宝剑奖励了。

I figure, if we're watching the server to make sure nothing bad happens,

我认为，如果我们对服务器进行监督，确保没有恶性事件发生，

we should also watch for the good things that happen and reward people for them.

那我们也不能对那些正能量视而不见，我们也得予以奖励。

We're always trying to show all the players that everybody is considered to be equal, even me.

我们一直努力，确保每一位玩家，甚至我，都处于平等地位。

But we know we can't treat people equally to do that.

但我们知道，不同孩子得用不同的方式对待。

Some of the players get angry very easily.

有些玩家很容易变得暴躁生气。

Some of them have additional struggles on top of autism, such as OCD or Tourette's.

有些除了自闭症以外，还在与其他一些疾病作斗争，例如强迫症或图雷特综合症等。

So, I have this knack of remembering all of the players.

因此，我有一个特殊的本领，就是能记住所有玩家。

I remember their first day, the conversations we've had, things we've talked about, things they've built.

我记得第一天和他们的谈话，记得谈话的内容，记得他们搭建的东西。

So when somebody comes to me with a problem, I handle that situation differently than I would with any other player, based on what I know about them.

所以，每当他们有遇到困难向我求助时，我会回答得更加个性化，根据我对他们的了解。

For the other admins and helpers, we document everything so that, whether it's good or bad or a concerning conversation, it's there,

对于其他管理员和助手来说，我们会记录下每一个细节，因而无论对话的内容是积极的、消极的还是令人担忧的，都会被记录下来，

so everybody is aware.

因此我们都会知情。

I want to give you one example of this one player.

我想谈谈一位这样的玩家的案例。

He was with us for a little while, but at some point he started spamming dashes in the chat,

他加入Autcraft才不久，但有时在聊天过程中，他会突然发一连串的破折号，

like a big long line of dashes all the way across the screen.

就像屏幕上出现了一长串的破折号。

A little while later, he'd do it again.

过了一会儿，他又会这样做。

The other players asked him not to do that, and he'd say, "OK."

其他玩家让他不要这样做，他说“好的”。

And then he'd do it again.

可是过会儿，他又这样做了。

It started to frustrate the other players.

这让其他玩家觉得很烦。

They asked me to mute him or to punish him for breaking the rules, but I knew there had to be something more to it.

他们让我给他设置禁言模式，或者因为他违反规则惩罚他，但我知道，他行为背后一定有特殊的原因。

So I went to his aunt, who is the contact that I have for him.

因此，我向他的阿姨寻求帮助，她是这位孩子的联系人，

She explained that he had gone blind in one eye and was losing his vision in the other.

他阿姨解释道，这位孩子有一只眼睛失明，而另外一只眼睛的视力也在不断衰退，

So what he was doing was splitting up the chat into easier-to-see blocks of text, which is pretty smart.

他之所以这样做是为了把聊天文本划分成一块一块的，这样看起来更轻松，这种做法非常机智。

So that very same night,

因此当天晚上，

I talked to a friend of mine who writes code and we created a brand-new plug-in for the server that makes it so that any player on the server,

我和一位写代码的朋友讨论了这个问题，我们给服务器开发了一种全新的插件，这种插件能使每一位用户，

including him, of course, could just enter a command and instantly have every single line separated by dashes.

当然也包括那位孩子，只需按一下command键，每一行就会立刻被破折号分开。

Plus, they can make it asterisks or blank lines or anything they want -- whatever works best for them.

此外，他们也可以设置成星号、空行，或者其他任何他们想要的分行方式，只要是他们喜欢的都可以。

We even went a little bit extra and made it so it highlights your name, so that it's easier to see if somebody mentions you.

我们甚至还做了一点小修改，突出显示聊天中提到的人名，这样如果有人提到你，就能一眼看见。

It's just one example of how doing a little bit extra, a small modification, still helps everybody be on equal footing,

这仅仅是其中的一个例子，从此可见，一点点小改进，就能帮助每个人处于平等地位，

even though you did a little extra just for that one player.

即使你只为某一个人做了一点点。

The big one is to be not afraid.

更重要的一点是不要恐惧。

The children on my server are not afraid.

在我建立的服务器上玩的孩子们不会感到恐惧，

They are free to just be themselves, and it's because we support and encourage and celebrate each other.

他们可以自由地畅享自我，因为我们相互支持、鼓励，祝贺彼此取得的每一点进步。

We all know what it feels like to be the outcast and to be hated simply for existing, and so when we're together on the server,

我们都知道被抛弃是什么感觉，仅仅因为存在就被人厌恶是什么感觉，所以，当我们相聚在服务器上时，

we're not afraid anymore.

我们无所畏惧。

For the first two years or so on the server, I talked to two children per week on average that were suicidal.

大概在服务器建成的头两年中，我平均每周都和两个有自杀倾向的孩子谈心。

But they came to me because I'm the one that made them feel safe.

不过，他们对我敞开心扉仅是因为我让觉得他们有安全感。

They felt like I was the only person in the world they could talk to.

他们觉得我是世界上唯一可以谈心的人。

So I guess my message is: whether you have a charity or some other organization,

因此，我猜想我的经验是：无论你管理的是一个慈善组织，还是其他什么组织，

or you're a teacher or a therapist or you're a parent who is just doing your very best, or you're an autistic, like I am, no matter who you are,

无论你是一名老师，治疗医师，还是一名含辛茹苦的家长，还是像我一样是一名自闭症患者，不论你是谁，

you absolutely must help these children strip away those fears before you do anything else,

你都必须要帮助这些孩子远离恐惧，这是其他一切行动的前提，

because anything else is going to feel forced unless they're not afraid.

因为除非他们有安全感，不再害怕，否则对他们来说，其他任何事都有一种强迫感。

It's why positive reinforcement will always do better than any form of punishment.

这就是为什么积极强化总是比其他任何惩罚都要好。

They want to learn when they feel safe and happy.

当他们有安全感，觉得心情愉悦，他们就愿意学习。

It just happens naturally; they don't even try to learn.

这是自然而然的，他们都不需要努力尝试。