Team: Manali/ Svaney Shen/ Zhaolu Song
Brief: Design an Autistic children-friendly museum experience of Science Museum.
Time: July- August
What is Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)?
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a developmental disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. It refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.
Autism is a spectrum disorder meaning there are not one type but many subtypes and each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges (Gaines et al., 2016; Autism speaks,2020).
Documentary about ASD
It is unrealistic to reach out to autistic children directly, so we started with watching movie documentaries about autism to understand them. One is 'Best Kept Secret’ (2013) from the perspective of a special education teacher and another one is ‘The reason I jump’ (2020) from the perspective of autistic children.
'Best Kept Secret’ (2013) tells a story that a Newark, New Jersey high school teacher struggles to prepare her students with autism to survive in the brutal world that awaits them once they graduate. From this movie, I understand how big differences could be between different autistic individuals and the learning difficulties they have.
Using visual cues to understand their daily routine. From ‘Best Kept Secret’ (2013)
‘The reason I jump’ (2020) is based on the book by Naoki Higashida who is a severe autistic author. This immersive film shows what life be like being a non-speaking autistic person. They are not being to express themselves and need to use a handmade alphabet grid to communicate.
Using a handmade alphabet grid to communicate. From ‘The reason I jump’ (2020)
One of my key findings is that, for autistic people, though autistic individuals are different, they all have the problem of learning and expressing, but they can understand and express better with the help of external objects, for example, a handmade alphabet grid and visual cards. That means, with the external medium, children with autism can have better social behaviors. As inclusive places with loads of exhibits, museums, can be the medium for them to socialize with others.
Reframe Project Brief
I was touched by the mom of an autistic girl in the movie who said I feel guilty and regret trying to make her not being herself. This makes me rethink maybe it is not the best choice to help them to learn in the museum. Hence, we reframed the goal of our project: instead of teaching them knowledge, we should create a welcoming and friendly museum environment by discarding or hiding stimuli for a better learning and social place.
References
Autism speaks (2020) What Is Autism? Available at: https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism (Accessed: 28th June 2021).
Best Kept Secret (2013) Directed by Samantha Buck. Available at: PLEX (Accessed: 14th July 2020).
Gaines, K. et al. (2016) Designing for Autism Spectrum Disorders. New York: Routledge.
The reason I jump (2020) Directed by Jerry Rothwell. Available at: Amazon Prime Video (Accessed: 17th July 2020).
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