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Could someone let me know some facts about ASD?

Our brains and nervous systems function as basic hardware. What we do, how well we do it...is essentially software and subsequent updates. Use it or lose it.

Not all hardware is created equal, but how we update it and maintain it determines how it functions. People who do nothing but scroll on social media are not going to have honed research and critical thinking skills.

Someone whose only exercise is walking from their bed to the couch isn't going to be able to enjoy a walk without putting in some serious time and effort to develop some endurance for walking.

People tend to gravitate toward what triggers the most endorphins the fastest. This is how pleasure is learned and habits are formed. A lot of the time those triggers are not what we need, but what we want.

There is no way around things like physical practice, e.g. learning to walk, swim, run, etc..., but there are different ways to interface with the needed practice, e.g. use of virtual reality games in physical therapy after a TBI.

Targeting 'clumsy' autistics is not only stereotyping it is limiting the audience that could potentially benefit from an assistive technology. Motor skill deficits impact a huge swath of people in all ages, races, and demographics, a fixed mindset on the 'correct' target audience when the preconceived notions of that 'target' audience are very inaccurate will have a big impact on the 'reception' of such a 'design' due to false or inaccurate data.

An adaptive technology that has had a huge benefit to not only those with physical handicaps, but also the academic communities: 3D printing.

Like good technical writing skills or effective communication skills a good tool adapts across a spectrum from printing a 3D model of an ancient bone to printing a casting model for a one of a kind cardiac port.

The skill or process is not defined by its audience, but by its adaptive nature.
I totally understand and agree with what you said. I noticed an interesting thing. Your words definitely make sense to me. I mean, I feel quite easy to understand your meanings. Did your friend tell you this before? Have you ever intentionally practiced your written language or you are born with it?
 
Yes. This is the problem people have when researching autism and looking for answers. We are all so different. This is why they are now calling it a "spectrum" of differences.

Most people like to have firm definitions in their life. Right or wrong. Black or white. Friend or enemy. This is not possible with autism. There are no definite lines, no hard definitions, and many people find it difficult to think in this way.
Yeah and to me, designing for autistic people is much harder. When we design, the first step is to narrow down your target users and get familiarized with their characteristics. But to the autistic group, this makes no sense.
 
I write better than I speak. When I am writing I have time to consider what has been said and what I want to say. When speaking to people in real life it is more difficult.
So are you nervous when in face to face communication? or is it just like your mind is stopped when talking in real life?
 
I am not nervous, I am usually very confident in myself. Understanding speech is difficult for me, it takes a little longer for my brain to interpret sounds in to words. When I can see people's faces and the way their bodies move it helps me to interpret their voice much more quickly.

Years ago I had a very well trained hunting dog, very obedient. I didn't have to use voice to give her instructions, she understood what I was doing and what I wanted by the way my body moved. I am very similar in that regard, I understand people's body language much more intuitively than I understand what they are saying.

I always got along very well with animals and I think this is part of the reason, I can understand animals very well even though they don't speak.
 
@ShawnChan, this chart might help you. It helps explain why there are so many individual variations yet explains why autistic people present a unified Autism Spectrum Profile.



BTW, what are you designing?
 
I believe it is fashionable to claim to be autistic to explain your social problems. Look at what Kanye West said:
Kanye West has claimed he is not Bipolar and said the devil is working through China in yet another bizarre interview.

He continued: “The truth is Jesus says love everyone, God says love everyone. For me, I believe that in no way I am not Bipolar, I am not in some kind of episode, but I may be slightly autistic-like ‘Rain Man’, and that’s part of my superpower!

“That’s the reason why I can produce tracks and design and do so many things but what I can’t do. There’s two things that I can’t do: I can’t accept hate and I can’t hate.”

Understand that autism is a developmental disability. This means that many abilities are delayed compared to other children, but may be normal as an adult. Speech, for example, may be delayed from other children but normal as an adult. I had fine motor skill delays as a child but don't have a problem as an adult.
 
Emm so from your word, I feel that even you are not quite sure about what is your typical face-to-face communication approach. Am I right? Because as you said, "message is easy for you to communicate", but actually the graphical language is not for real-time communication. And in your case, you mentioned that you have a better understanding of your autistic friend, but there's no certain way you used it in communication. Do you just like "feel" each other?
Yes face to face always seems to go wrong most of the time for me especially when there is a lot of people in a group setting. One on one I am much better and focus and try to respond appropriately, yes in real time it is hard to grasp everything.

In text form I can re evaluate what I reply or what I read to try to find the cues . In here on the forum things are very direct and very little cues . So I find it easy to read and reply .

I do think my autistic friend in person does understand me much better and I understand him as welll because everything is very direct ,

And he is probably one of the only people I have hung out with on a regular basis over the last few years .
Until we have a misunderstanding then don’t see each other for a few months . But always pick up where we left off .
 
Hello guys, I have to say sorry first that I am lacking some communication skills with you. I am an English learner, a neurotypical person (I guess the two reasons that organized my expression problems the most) , and I am a designer who currently doing a project for helping improve the eating problems of autism. If you find offensive or uncomfortable with what I am saying, just point it out to me, and I'll change it!!

I notice that many of you are talking about the "stereotypes" of autism. Let me tell you some facts about autism in China. Because from my side, I am doing a project and I want it to be discursive. And most of my audiences are neurotypicals, so I have to consider the stereotypes in their minds and the public acknowledgment level. When you read them, PLEASE don't be angry. They are the facts, and not people intentionally doing that. And there is always a need for people to help alter the wrong impressions. (I hope my project could at least trigger some thinking in the Chinese society context)

The facts are:

1. Autism or autistic, in Chinese, has been a joke. This originated from translation problems. In Chinese, being autistic is totally the same as being isolated. So, people use it for fun, before knowing it was a serious existed condition.

2. In China, people with autism HARDLY say to the public that they are autistic. Because once they tell, they will be thought as "retarded". And the surrounding people are afraid to interact with them.

3. Based on 2., people difficult to accept they are autistic. Even the test or the situations tell them they are, some of them still choose to evade.

4. The medical condition (or intervention institutes) in China is quite bad. I noticed you guys are very precise with what types of autism you are having. But in China, I could say it is impossible to know. There are only a few best best best best hospital owns departments for ASD. But China has 1.4 billion people.

5. Based on 4. I am now giving a reason for what forms the stereotypes in 1. & 2. In China, once the parents find their child or children are autistic, it means they have to run out of all savings to find possible solutions. The majority of reliable approaches come from overseas institutions, and they normally cost a lot. This is from the economic aspect. From the mental aspect, the children don't understand why he/her has to adapt to others' way of life. But their parents know that if they want to survive in China, as least current China, they have to adapt.

6. China is the biggest developing country in this world, but still with so many problems.... I don't think the rest of the developing countries will be better than China.

Then, I will talk about my project.
I found that people with autism have much higher risks to have eating problems, and that forms gastrointestinal problems in their lives. So my project is aiming to help improve eating conditions. And my context is in China. So, I might need a more universal solution, rather than being precise to each specific type. I am still a student, so I cannot do a very very big project :(

Now, I come up with an idea. It could be described in two parts. Firstly, there will be a virtual dog friend to assist in the acceptance of food. This is inspired by AAT (animal-assisted therapy). I hope dogs could reduce anxieties and could guide people to accept the refused foods. The Second part is, to participate in the cooking process. I found in so many cases, parents do all the things for their children. However, some people talked about when participating in a cooking process, the food is more likely to be accepted (I think I viewed this opinion from some places but I forgot where it comes from... Could you give feedback here?)

Basically, this project is partially fictional, or speculative. The reason to have a virtual dog is, normally the treatment or service dogs cost a lot of money and time in training. But virtual dogs could avoid this problem. And the reason I want to let my users merge into the cooking process is that I am expecting this could improve the acceptance, and in the meantime, it helps improve the controls of their bodies. I mean, motor skills training.

So, this is a description. Could you guys give me some feedback? Appreciate any comment!
 
So in your case, I feel your motor skills growth is not linear. It's like a bit slow at your young age, and growing fast later.
Yes I’m my case . Even communicating with NTs seems to get a little better every 10 years or so
 
Yes face to face always seems to go wrong most of the time for me especially when there is a lot of people in a group setting. One on one I am much better and focus and try to respond appropriately, yes in real time it is hard to grasp everything.

In text form I can re evaluate what I reply or what I read to try to find the cues . In here on the forum things are very direct and very little cues . So I find it easy to read and reply .

I do think my autistic friend in person does understand me much better and I understand him as welll because everything is very direct ,

And he is probably one of the only people I have hung out with on a regular basis over the last few years .
Until we have a misunderstanding then don’t see each other for a few months . But always pick up where we left off .
Thats just like us, we will also have some soul mates, and we feel easy to communicate with each other.
 
I am not nervous, I am usually very confident in myself. Understanding speech is difficult for me, it takes a little longer for my brain to interpret sounds in to words. When I can see people's faces and the way their bodies move it helps me to interpret their voice much more quickly.

Years ago I had a very well trained hunting dog, very obedient. I didn't have to use voice to give her instructions, she understood what I was doing and what I wanted by the way my body moved. I am very similar in that regard, I understand people's body language much more intuitively than I understand what they are saying.

I always got along very well with animals and I think this is part of the reason, I can understand animals very well even though they don't speak.
Yeah, I know you guys work much better with animals than NTs! And it is a trend that AAT is applied to improve the social skills of autistic people. The AAT is in my project also. So, is that a common situation? I mean feel comfortable with animalss.
 
Thats just like us, we will also have some soul mates, and we feel easy to communicate with each other.
I definitely would not consider him a soul mate . But rather a friend within my special interests. Actually I have never met or had a friend in person that was not through special interests of mine.
 
I like the way you explained things in the above post #50. @VictorR also started another thread to try and explain some of our misunderstandings.


I think that is probably the biggest problem you have with autism in China, it is also the biggest problem we have in the rest of the world, people fear what they do not understand.

I think your approach to eating disorders, by encouragement in a pleasant environment is a good way to go.

I have always been a very good eater, too good, I'm a bit fat. I like my food. I was taught to cook at a very young age and by 7 years old I was capable of feeding myself very well. Maybe your theory about people cooking their own food is accurate. It will be interesting to see responses from other people.

I don't know if all autistic people are better with animals, I know that some of the people on these forums have fear of some kinds of animals. It will be interesting to see how other people respond to that thought as well. My family were country people so I was around animals from birth, perhaps this exposure when I was young is also part of how I developed a better understanding of them.

I noticed that a lot of people from Britain have a fear of snakes, but they live in a country that doesn't have any poisonous snakes, where I live is a country full of them.
 
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Yeah, I know you guys work much better with animals than NTs! And it is a trend that AAT is applied to improve the social skills of autistic people. The AAT is in my project also. So, is that a common situation? I mean feel comfortable with animalss.
I'm fairly certain I fit the profile but I don't know that I would diagnose as ASD, so anything I might have to say about myself might not be valid for your research. I have a trade school background as a horse trainer and riding instructor. Long before I did that, I did some volunteer work once at a hippotherapy riding center. They felt strongly that children with all sorts of disabilities could benefit from the therapeutic experience of love and trust a bond with an animal could bring. You might want to check out a couple of centers online and read their guiding principles. Maybe there will be something useful in them you could adapt?

You might also be interested in the Asperger/Autism Network. They may have information useful to your research, too.


Also, not long ago I ran into The Autism Journal. I don't have a link for it, but it is a scholarly journal and the article I was reading was free. Maybe it would be useful to you? It seems that I've recently seen a number of student studies that sound similar to yours, so it just may be that you might find some good reference material in the scholarly journals to back up your research.
 
Hi!

Based on what you've described in post #50, it sound like the target audience for your project is targeted more towards those with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

That being stated, I would recognize that those on the autism spectrum are more likely (than the population at large) to have limited diets due to sensory concerns.

Sometimes this can be overcome by presenting the food in a different form - so for example, one might substitute rice noodles for rice itself.
 
I like the way you explained things in the above post #50. @VictorR also started another thread to try and explain some of our misunderstandings.


I think that is probably the biggest problem you have with autism in China, it is also the biggest problem we have in the rest of the world, people fear what they do not understand.

I think your approach to eating disorders, by encouragement in a pleasant environment is a good way to go.

I have always been a very good eater, too good, I'm a bit fat. I like my food. I was taught to cook at a very young age and by 7 years old I was capable of feeding myself very well. Maybe your theory about people cooking their own food is accurate. It will be interesting to see responses from other people.

I don't know if all autistic people are better with animals, I know that some of the people on these forums have fear of some kinds of animals. It will be interesting to see how other people respond to that thought as well. My family were country people so I was around animals from birth, perhaps this exposure when I was young is also part of how I developed a better understanding of them.

I noticed that a lot of people from Britain have a fear of snakes, but they live in a country that doesn't have any poisonous snakes, where I live is a country full of them.
Yeah. Basically from your response, I think I received positive feedback on my current ideas. And that partially proved my previous research was reliable.

Here are a few more questions.
1. Could you please name your top 3 or 5 animals that you like?
2. Do you still remember the things before you learn cooking? I mean, did you refuse a lot of types of food? And do you still remember any conditions that changed/improved after you learned cooking?
3. Do you have very very personal recipe? Will there be something common in NTs' diet, that you totally hate?

The last thing, actually in my country, the situation is almost the same. Well, even worse. China is a country with developing conditions but with high urbanization. So, we barely see animals in the cities, even in the countryside, no or almost no wide animals (ofcoz except cats and dogs, they are common). People can only see very limited types of animals. And again, fear because do not understand.
 
I don't know exactly why it happens, might not have anything to do with ASD. I didn't explain it well, I didn't mean that I had poor balance and then trained and worked on it, it got better and then everything was ok. It just gets better that day when I'm training and working on it. And then a week later it happens again. So I have to work hard on it for a few hours and then it gets better, but I always have some problems with balance. I know very well how to ski, I started when I was 5. But sometimes it's like I have to learn it again because my balance goes out the window. I have just always had some problems with balance and fine-motor skills. A little clumsy.

I don't really feel anxious about those things you mentioned.
lol thanks for your reply. Our neurotypicals are also facing the problems. We learn some higher levels of motor skills, and we forgot the skill, and learn again. If not use that for some time, we forgot again.... Things are similar. We are both human XD
 
1: Dog, Cat, Possum, Goat.

2: My mother grew up in the country and country people don't waste food. If I didn't eat what I was given then I went hungry. I was always good with most foods though, except peas and beans. I like them raw but I can't stand them when they're cooked. It's not the flavour but the texture. I will eat them if I have to in a social situation but I really don't like them.

3: My cooking is quite varied, I eat a lot of different foods. Mostly English style cooking but I like a lot of Asian flavours and I like making my own Pizzas.

Possum:

 
Based on what you've described in post #50, it sound like the target audience for your project is targeted more towards those with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

That being stated, I would recognize that those on the autism spectrum are more likely (than the population at large) to have limited diets due to sensory concerns.

Sometimes this can be overcome by presenting the food in a different form - so for example, one might substitute rice noodles for rice itself.
I totally agree with your opinion and that's what I am trying to say. In my project, I give a chance for people can change the food's textures through some certain actions. Cut, stir, grind, ect... I describe the food textures in the below image (I'm not sure whether they are precise, you can give your suggestions!)

View attachment 92474
 

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