Nifty time

This is lovely. Wolf-Peter Schwarz designed this global time keeper. Having my friends scattered all over this planet makes me appreciate it all the more. Not mentioning the fact that it is a beautifully simple and elegant design. Schwarz called it the Light Watch The backplate rotates counter clockwise simulating the effect of the sun moving from east to west. Inspired and inspiring stuff! Lichtuhr

Chew this 1

Cooperation, team building corporate playgrounds - perhaps design experience and film it.
What does play means? -"playing sustainability"
Why we need to cooperate? The 10 commandments of coopsn.
Levels of coopsn. Scope of. pesent coopsn in my life.
(1st Mentorial with Mathilda)
What the hell does that cogg picture doing here? Dunno it was one of those inspired moments while I was thinking about the above I made it. Must be some subconscious thingy.

Revised Brief

Area of enquiry
Intended outcome: Design solutions for Autistic people focusing on aids that help overcome social difficulties, encourage integration and independent functioning in society.
Possible outcome: Designs that aid and encourage co-operation in the western society of the twentyfirst century.

In response to the presentation feedback I have narrowed the areas of interests down to two fields. These are the two main important areas of intervention that would most aid integration into society.
The Sensory World: Balance, Body awareness, Touch
Social Interaction: Improve co-operation, Active Play, Role-play, T.o.M.
I will examine both areas closer and look at the possibilities of combining them.

Research has shown that early response to Autistic children’s special needs makes a major difference to their rate of improvement. Therefore designing well informed and challenging interventions for the 3 - 12 age group is particularly important and necessary.

Additional Considerations: Neurodiversity, Positive aspects of, Learning from Autism, Education of acceptance.
Social Responsibility: Ethics, Thorough research, Holistic approach.
Project Evolution: Unexpected, Transferable, Conceptual.

Design Brief Nov.05

Subject: Design solutions to overcome difficulties associated with Autism

Specific areas of interest:
The Sensory World:
o Balance (vestibular) system
o Body awareness (proprioception) system
o Smell (olfactory) system
o Sight (visual) system
o Hearing (auditory) system
o Touch (tactile) system
o Taste (gustatory) system

Social Interactions:
o Lack of co-operation
o Passive Play
o No Role-play
o No T.O.M

Areas to explore:
Neurodiversity:
is a concept that atypical neurological wiring (neurodivergent) is a normal human difference that is to be tolerated and respected as any other human difference? The concept of neurodiversity was created by some autistic individuals and people with related conditions, who believe that autism is not a disorder, but a part of who they are, and that curing autistic people would be the same as destroying their original personalities and replacing them with different people. However, others have adopted other terms, such as dyslexic, dyspraxic and hyperactive. (en.wikipedia.org/Neurodiversity)
o Positive aspects of
o What can be learned from
o Education of acceptance

Methodology:
Field Researh:
o Visits to special needs and ‘integration’ schools
o Spend time with Autistic children and their families

Academic Research:
o Read relevant literature, internet.
o Watch documentaries
o Interview focus groups

Design Ideation:
o Sketch and model ideas
o Invite comments from focus groups
o Research existing designs

Bit More Brain Physiology

The frontal lobe or prefrontal cortex is responsible for appropriate responses and social planning, problem solving and selective attention. There are two temporal lobes, one on each side of the brain located at about the level of the ears. These lobes allow a person to tell one smell from another and one sound from another. They also help in sorting new information and are believed to be responsible for short-term memory. Right Lobe - Mainly involved in visual memory (i.e., memory for pictures and faces). Left Lobe - Mainly involved in verbal memory (i.e., memory for words and names)

And the reason why this is here because these are the two main areas of the brain in which autistics seems to differ.
hence it is important in understnding how their simingly wide ranging difficulties are connected. Any design aimed at this group needs to consider this very carefully.

Mind Readers/1 - Equinox 2004

This is absolutely the best program I have seen on Autism so far. There is a bit about Temple Grandin, an animal behaviour specialist who is also a high functioning autistic. She developed a system for hurding cows for slaughter in a more humane way. She feels that animal behaviour and autism can be comperatively similar in many ways. She noticed how the cows grow clamer when they're put into a head squize (for injections etc) and remembered how she used to stick her head under a pillow when frightened. Making a connection between these, she decided to built a machine for herself. (Pic.) and describes the experience of using it as calming and relaxing. Although this story differs a lot in An Antrologist From Marsh by O. Sacks in which Grandin describes the machine as a "hugger" it is in her bedroom and operated by a hydraulic machine which created a full body squize. It's very interesting either way although not all autistics feel the need for "hug". Autism is an extremely varied disorder where no two people have the same needs. Customising experiences to each individual seem to be the way to go in design.
The other interesting thing she came up with is understanding through metaphors. She describes human relationships as a glass door to be handled gently. If you push too hard it will break. She also talks about Mr Spok from Startrek how he handles emotion separately from rationale. Her insights are described in such a profound way.

The Sally Ann test show in the program was also fascinating, its about the innate ability of one person to sense the state of mind of another (a kind of empathy, in a way); and to be able to see the world through another person's eyes, another person's point of view. The details of the test found here: Sally-Annn Test

Book recommendation: