Simulations and Analogies for Understanding Autism
Published February 16, 2009 @ 05:00PM PT
John Muir Elementary School in Washington took a creative approach to teaching (typical) students about disabilities. A series of simulations were set up to enable typical students to experience what it might be like to be hard of hearing, dyslexic, or autistic. I was particularly fond of the simulation where a student puts on head phones that belt out a story while at the same time an adult asks the student questions--that's a nice way of simulating the sort of auditory processing "stuff" I'm quite familiar with.
In my own life, I've found giving people a way to understand my experience of the world--just as much as them giving me a way to understand their experience of the world, both are necessary!--significantly improves my interpersonal relationships and interactions. It is hard though for anyone to understand an experience they have never had; in fact, it can be hard to even recognize a difference in experience. I was nearly 30 before I realized I was processing sound differently from others--before then I thought other people just had better coping skills than I, or were "stronger"--more able to "hold up" under the terrible pressure of noise.
"You know the cocktail party effect?" I now will ask people. "Imagine what it would be like if you weren't able to do any of that selective filtering, and all you heard was the jumble of all voices, at equal precedence." Such things help a lot of people understand I'm not just being selfish or cranky or difficult when I insist on meeting in a quiet location, or at my home.
The simulations at John Muir Elementary School, like the head-phone-and-question simulation, are better than my analogy because they give people a sensate, rather than simply imagined, experience. According to the broadcast, Youth Awareness Disability Assemblies that does the simulations can be contacted at yada4schools@msn.com.
The news report (both autism and Asperger's are explicitly named) includes a video of the original TV broadcast, as well as the healthy message that people with disabilities are whole people and one should take care to "walk a mile in their shoes" before making assumptions.
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Comments (7)
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Dora is committed to improving quality of life for individuals on the autistic spectrum--including herself! She is Co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board of Directors.
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This is a wonderful idea. Once I tried to explain it to my wife while we were in Walmart. She didn't understand when I said I hear everything, without filtering. She couldn't turn the filter off or fully imagine what I was hearing that was different than she was. Her first reaction was to say, "so do I."
Posted by Joe Bond on 02/17/2009 @ 08:00AM PT
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Fabulous! Not so much a mile as a couple of inches!
Best wishes
Posted by mcewen mcewen on 02/17/2009 @ 10:48AM PT
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(I believe) The Leo Kannerhuis built some sort of construction that was displayed at the NVA Autisme Congres at least once, that was meant for people to experience (sort of) what it's like to be autistic. It looks like a metal framework in the shape of a giant head and had screens and headphones and footsteps (like 'walk a mile in the shoes of').
I went in there to see what it was like, but it didn't make much sense to me. Either I had no revelations because I'm autistic myself, or it just doesn't work very well :D.
(just looked it up, the thing itself is called 'het Hoofdkwartier' (the Headquarters), in case anyone was interested in googling it)
Posted by Norah vd Stel on 02/17/2009 @ 11:09AM PT
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And I forgot to add that the Hoofdkwartier made me a bit uncomfortable especially seeing it from the outside because it reminds me of the 'trapped in their own heads/bodies' nonsense. Might not have been the intention, or what anyone else feels, but it does this for me.
Posted by Norah vd Stel on 02/17/2009 @ 11:46AM PT
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I often contemplate this subject. I work with people who have various other disabilities such as deafness or blindness. These are fairly easily comprehensible to the neurotypical mind: "Oh, Karen can't hear. So I guess she needs a TTY/TDD device." or "James is blind. We should get a Braille embosser for the office."
So the question is, "What can't Mark do?" If I had the answer, I'd be sitting in a corner office with a fabulous view somewhere... but until we answer it, we won't have any adaptations like TTYs or Braille available for us!
Posted by Mark Romoser on 02/17/2009 @ 03:07PM PT
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I offended the special ed team during an IEP meeting by suggesting that, that, perhaps to better understand autism, they should all take LSD, then examine how different their sensory awareness is while they try to get through their day, business, as usual. Haha. They were very uptight at the mere mention of it. They were, also, too uptight to get out of their own heads and really understand my daughter, too.
Posted by B B on 02/27/2009 @ 12:08PM PT
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What a great idea. When I was in grade 5, a boy who was totally blind came to our school. We did a bunch of activities to learn about blind people, such as being blindfolded and led around the school, and then having to guess where we were (I was way off). I think it really helped us to understand what life was like for him (though of course he was adjusted to it), and I don't remember anyone ever making fun of him, which is pretty impressive for a bunch of 10 year olds. I also learned to type and read braile that year, though I never could read it with my fingers.
Posted by Lianne Lavoie on 03/23/2009 @ 01:11PM PT
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