One dad wanted to give people on the autism spectrum a safe space to play Minecraft, so he made a troll-free server called Autcraft that has ballooned in popularity. Stuart Duncan, also known as AutismFather, created Autcraft in 2013. Today it has more than 8,200 members, The Mighty reported, and people outside the community are taking notice. In a video, Duncan explains what exactly Autcraft is and why it's important for people -- kids especially -- to have a safe place to Minecraft and be themselves. Minecraft, like almost every game with an online element, suffers from bullies and trolls who come in and create toxic environments.

LIKE many constructions, it started small. But now thousands of children with autism are making friends and learning social skills by playing a version of online building game Minecraft. Stuart Duncan got the idea through a popular blog he ran about his own experiences with autism as well as bringing up a son with autism. Other parents with autistic children started telling him that their kids were crazy about a game that let them explore a randomly generated wilderness. However, despite loving the game, many of the children were being bullied by other players.