BETC Paris Uses Minecraft to Uncover Dyslexia Symptoms through Gaming

French healthcare charity PUISSANCE DYS was created in 1992 by neuropsychologist Béatrice Sauvageot to help people with dyslexia through an innovative method. It mostly helps children and young people that have trouble at school and in their social lives.

The motto of PUISSANCE DYS is to think of dyslexia not as a disability but as a super ability. The idea behind this is that people that manage to live with dyslexia have to come up with unique ways of developing critical skills like problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

So how can PUISSANCE DYS spread its message and help more people with dyslexia?

It turns out that many people are not aware that they are currently dealing with dyslexia. It is estimated that many people are living with dyslexia without knowing it.

The game Minecraft (released by Mojang Studios in 2011 and owned by Microsoft since 2014) is notoriously very appealing to people with dyslexia that enjoy exploring, interacting and modifying blocks into its lo-fi environment and 3D sandbox mode. The creator of Minecraft, Markus Persson aka Notch, himself revealed that he was affected by dyslexia.

That’s why, with the help of ad agency BETC Paris, PUISSANCE DYS has created MINDCRAFT. The goal of the operation is to help screen for dyslexia while playing a custom map of the game and deliver a high level of enjoyment through inclusive learning.

In the MINDCRAFT experience, players challenge themselves and get to wander in a wonderful immersive world built by dedicated members of the Minecraft community. They are greeted by an NPC (non-playable character) giving instructions and providing more information and they get to use their imagination and critical thinking skills while learning about themselves.