A VIRTUAL Reality experience to help children with autism overcome their fears and phobias is being offered on the NHS.

The Blue Room, at Consett, in County Durham, is an immersive virtual reality suite, which can recreate the feeling of getting on a bus, shopping in a supermarket or passing a lively dog.

Research carried out by experts in the region have proved successful and now the first patients have been referred for treatment.

The technology supporting the treatment is being provided by ThirdEye Technologies at the specialised facility at Number One Industrial Estate.

Managing director Paul Smith said: “The Blue Room is a module where all surfaces are screens so no goggles or headsets have to be worn and this leads to you feeling totally immersed.

“When we were developing the facility we knew it had endless possibilities but to be able to harness the latest technology in order to help children with autism control their anxieties and phobias is incredibly rewarding and something we hadn’t anticipated.”

In 2014, the Newcastle University team reported how eight-out-of-nine children treated in the Blue Room were able to tackle the situation they feared and some were found to have completely overcome their phobias, even a year later.

Now the immersive reality treatment is available as a NHS service, and each child referred will receive four sessions at the facility.

Accompanied by a psychologist, the child is completely surrounded with audio visual images representing the ‘real world’ in the 360 degree seamless screened room.

They ‘move around’ using iPad controls, interacting and navigating through the scenario as they wish allowing them to fully control the environment.

Supported by a psychologist, they are given breathing and relaxation exercises in the controllable and safe virtual environment to help them to learn to cope with the situation.

They are observed by their parents via a video-link which enables them to watch the techniques used to help their child.

Dr Jeremy Parr, a paediatric neurodisability specialist at Newcastle University, said: “Situation-specific anxieties, fears and phobias can completely stop a child with autism taking part in normal family or school life and there are very few treatment options for them. Currently, the main treatment is cognitive behaviour therapy but that often doesn’t work for a child with autism as it relies on their imagination.”