BRIGADOON ISLAND - There is a place in Second Life that is magical, educational and appears daily instead of once every hundred years.  Welcome to Brigadoon in SL.

What sets Brigadoon apart from other beautiful landscapes in Second Life is that the "magical" inhabitants in SL’s Brigadoon are a group of researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas Center for Brain Health working with residents who have Asperger’s Syndrome.

Asperger’s Syndrome is a milder form of autism. Individuals with the condition have high-functioning learning skills but have difficulty handling social situations, can display a lack of demonstrated empathy and tend to be socially isolated.

The cause for Asperger’s is still unknown. Treatment traditionally involves discussions with a therapist and often role playing with puppets or acting a situation with a clinician.

John Lester (John Prototype in SL) is president of BrainTalk Communities Inc. and started the Brigadoon community.  “The island of Brigadoon is accessible only to members of project Brigadoon,” Lester said.  “The idea is to create a private haven where people dealing with Asperger's/Autism can practice their socialization skills in an environment where everyone knows everyone else. “

Using virtual worlds lets patients explore their illness in a safe environment. Since Brigadoon is a private island not open to the public, individuals are safe exploring here. Clinicians act out particular scenarios on a one-on-one basis, helping individuals to move past social blocks they might experience. Other avatars are gradually introduced to provide a more complex setting.

Many members of project Brigadoon craft the avatar to resemble themselves in real life, but this is not required. This virtual reality training appears more real than in-office therapy sessions, as the “typist” is likely to invest his/her avatar with aspects of their personality and experience transference with their avatar as they work through new social situations. Skills learned in-world can be applied to real life social situations.

“Unlike other models of intervention, virtual world experiences provide a powerful way to learn new and more appropriate ways to respond to people in scenarios similar to those faced everyday,” said Dr. Sandra Chapman, director of the Center for Brain Health.

“They’re interacting in real time with real people in surprisingly realistic scenarios. They make small talk, using headsets and microphones, and settle conflicts with people in virtual restaurants, shops, offices and parks. These people are mostly clinicians and volunteers represented by their own avatars.”

Brain-imaging and