For ‘Sesame Street,’ Character On The Spectrum Years In The Making
Meet Julia. As you might have heard, she’s Sesame Street’s newest muppet. She has bright orange hair, big green eyes and sometimes takes a long time to answer questions. She’s has autism. She’s also a girl.
Stanford researchers using Google Glass to help children with autism
Google Glass’ software learns to identify people’s faces and their emotional expressions — what project founder Catalin Voss calls “action units” — and then classifies them with specific words. This in turn helps the user recognize other people’s emotions. Autism, which affects one in 68 children, is characterized by the inability to recognize emotions in […]
The children who leave autism behind
Autism is usually thought to be a lifelong condition, but a small number of children lose the core symptoms and shed the diagnosis. Some researchers are beginning to explore how common this may be, and why some children outgrow autism.
How Oliver Sacks Helped Introduce The World To Autism
Autism and its many forms may be widely discussed today, but it wasn’t until the famed neurologist and writer told the story of identical twins George and Charles Fin in his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Sacks died Sunday from cancer. He was 82.
Kids With Autism Can Read Emotions Through Body Language
People with autism face a host of difficulties in a society that doesn’t always accommodate them and stereotypes that even undermine experts’ views on the disorder. Due to the social struggles that accompany autism, there’s a misconception that people with it lack empathy — that is, they can’t understand others’ thoughts and feelings. A new […]
Smartwatches and apps can make life easier for children with autism or ADHD
Researchers believe that children with autism or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can benefit from technologies originally developed for older people. Welfare technology has long been associated with helping older people cope at home for as much of their lives as possible.SINTEF researchers are now investigating whether technologies such as digital calendars and smartwatches can also […]
Opening the Classroom Door for Children with Autism
We can all probably remember how we were taught to swim. Some of us had parents who took us to swimming lessons in a safely constructed pool at the local YMCA, with numerous, trained adults right next to us in the pool and floaties on our arms, while we paddled on a kickboard for as […]
‘Design empathy’ builds inclusive spaces for people with autism
Fluorescent lights. A wall painted bright yellow. A smoke detector that keeps beeping through a meeting. These are things that you might encounter in an office or a classroom without much notice. But what if you saw those fluorescent lights flickering intensely and heard them emitting a painfully sharp buzz? Or if that yellow wall […]
New Samsung app aims to aid social development for children with autism
A new app released by Samsung aims to improve the lives of children suffering from autism by presenting a fun, smartphone or tablet-based developmental aid. Many who have the condition struggle to convey the simplest of emotions or form bonds with others, due to the behavioral development issues that prevent simple interactions such as eye […]
Course Focuses On Interior Design For Those On The Spectrum
Tara Filegar begged to be in the first-ever Seminole State College class about interior design for people with autism. The topic hits close to home for Filegar. Her 13-year-old son, Capers, has Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of the condition. “I’ve learned so much in this class,” she said. “It’s a totally different perspective.”