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Autism themed town?

MayorJudyOfZootopia

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thanks to the "Aokigahara Suicide Prevention Town" (http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?412050-Aokigahara-Suicide-Prevention-Town) I want to build a town for a cause too... I myself have a high functioning autism called Aspergers... My plans are to have all blue villagers to represent the symbol of autism or have unloved and misunderstood villagers because people with autism (even i get misunderstood) Mayor Blu (female) (Like i said blue is the color of autism) of Autism...


what do you guys think
 
I have never associated autism and the colour blue before.

I think you should go for it if you can think of a detailed plan and how you could make it obvious what the town is about.
 
As someone whose autistic at fitst i was just e-e then i seen ur actually aitistic as well. As long as u dont use the dreaded autism speaks )srsly look up the horror stories autistic people have of it) you should be good! I highkry suggest Tabby as a peopy villager you never see her in towns

Edit: if you have any special intrests you should decorate Blus home with it. Like I'd make a halloween room for my nayor do to my special intrest for it
 
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As someone whose autistic at fitst i was just e-e then i seen ur actually aitistic as well. As long as u dont use the dreaded autism speaks )srsly look up the horror stories autistic people have of it) you should be good! I highkry suggest Tabby as a peopy villager you never see her in towns

Edit: if you have any special intrests you should decorate Blus home with it. Like I'd make a halloween room for my nayor do to my special intrest for it

yeah i have tabby's card she's awesome
 
yeah i have tabby's card she's awesome

:D Yes another person who likes her! Shes my absolute favorite villager I tend to lean to the "uglies" I have her in both towns and plan to buy her amiibo card so I can keep her forever. For an uchi maybe Fuschia? It would be hard to pick I love literally every uchi villager since they're my favorite personality next the smug.
 
thanks to the "Aokigahara Suicide Prevention Town" (http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?412050-Aokigahara-Suicide-Prevention-Town) I want to build a town for a cause too... I myself have a high functioning autism called Aspergers... My plans are to have all blue villagers to represent the symbol of autism or have unloved and misunderstood villagers because people with autism (even i get misunderstood) Mayor Blu (female) (Like i said blue is the color of autism) of Autism...


what do you guys think

i think it's going to be hard but sure. i think you should have villagers who are red, blue and yellow. (the colour of the ribbon) or something similar to those colours
you could also have your house(s) dedicated to one certain theme instead of symbolism if that's easier. the same theme could show special interests
i don't think everything should be sad about your town. if i was creating this, i would make one part of my town really messy and abandoned, another part dull and blue and the last part which shows something bright or happy. autism isn't something that people should look down upon, of course people have difficulties with it but i'd rather not have a town that symbolises all hope is lost. it should be something that shows challenges however also something that shows your identity and something positive about it.

for the unwanted villagers, i suggest:
-katt
-tabby
-charlise
-chow
-iggly
-jeremiah
-kidd
-moe

good luck
 
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i think it's going to be hard but sure. i think you should have villagers who are red, blue and yellow. (the colour of the ribbon)
you could also have your house(s) dedicated to one certain theme instead of symbolism if that's easier. the same theme could show special interests
i don't think everything should be sad about your town. i would make one part of my town really messy and abandoned, another part dull and blue and the last part which shows something bright or happy. autism isn't something that people should look down upon, of course people have difficulties with it but i'd rather not have a town that symbolises all hope is lost. it should be something that shows challenges however also something that shows your identity and something positive about it.

I agree! I think the only "sad" part of town should be the cluttered part maybe a house with statues and a mannqeuin in the center? The statues would be those people who want you to do eye contact with them because its polite even though eye contact is literally hell TM. Maybe have the room really messy because the villager is breaking down from the staring/crowded room.

I agree with having a bright ending as well.
 
A house based around stimming might be neat! You could do rooms for different kinds of stims... visual, auditory, etc. You could even do a vestibular stim room, with items that rock or spin.
 
I think that is AMAZING and you are AMAZING too! I would happily visit your town, sweetie. Well done!
 
As someone who knows very little about autism spectrum disorders (I thank the universe everyday my kids don't suffer this or any other disorder) I wouldn't associate any of the things you mentioned with autism. What I'm saying is that unless I saw something clearly associated with the disorder, like the puzzle piece I've seen on social media etc., it would never click.

Blue? I've never heard autism associated with the color blue. Nothing else you mentioned - what on earth is "stimming" - is familiar in any way.

So basically, if you're trying to raise awareness you need to be a lot less vague. If your intention is make your town for the appreciation of others with your disorder, then your specificity makes sense.

Good luck with your town.
 
Since a few people have wondered what the significance of the colour blue is for autism, here's some info about it :


April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, and a well-known event held as part of that is Autism Speaks? global Light It Up Blue campaign https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2012/04/02/shine-light-autism-rosco-color-filters

"The first question we wanted to ask was - why blue? What does the color blue have to do with the autism spectrum? The answer is that Autism Spectrum Disorders are almost 5 times more common among boys (1 in 54) than among girls (1 in 252). So, the color blue represents the boys diagnosed with autism."

Stimming : Self-stimulatory behaviour ? or stimming ? is repetitive or unusual body movement or noises.

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_stimming.html

We all use stimming sometimes. For example, some children suck their thumbs or twirl their hair for comfort, and others jiggle their legs while they?re working on a difficult problem or task. You might pace up and down if you?re anxious, or fiddle with a pen in a boring meeting.

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use stimming, although the amount and type of stimming varies a lot from child to child. For example, some children just have mild hand mannerisms, whereas others spend a lot of time stimming.

Children with ASD use stimming to manipulate their environment to produce stimulation, or because they have trouble with imagination and creativity and can?t think of other things to do, such as pretend play.

Examples of stimming include:

hand and finger mannerisms, like finger-flicking and hand-flapping
rocking the body back and forth while sitting or standing
posturing ? holding hands or fingers out at an angle or arching the back while sitting
visual stimulation ? looking at something sideways, watching an object spin or fluttering fingers near the eyes
repetitive behaviour like opening and closing doors or flicking switches
chewing or mouthing objects
listening to the same song or noise over and over.
Stimming isn?t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn?t hurt your child. But some stimming can be ?self-injurious? ? for example, severe hand-biting.
 
As someone who knows very little about autism spectrum disorders (I thank the universe everyday my kids don't suffer this or any other disorder) I wouldn't associate any of the things you mentioned with autism. What I'm saying is that unless I saw something clearly associated with the disorder, like the puzzle piece I've seen on social media etc., it would never click.

Blue? I've never heard autism associated with the color blue. Nothing else you mentioned - what on earth is "stimming" - is familiar in any way.

So basically, if you're trying to raise awareness you need to be a lot less vague. If your intention is make your town for the appreciation of others with your disorder, then your specificity makes sense.

Good luck with your town.

Hi there I'm someone whose Autistic. This is meant to bring real awarness to autism not stuff Autism speaks spews. Autism speaks only shows the "bad" of autism and only shows low functioning people. You can google horror stories of them. Stimming is a calming thing autistic people do. For example if you've seen someone rock and fourth, clap, make noises etc. I personally like popping my joints. This isn't "vague" ,it's talking about autism through the eyes of an autistic not what everyone thinks autism is.

Edit: This isn't meant to be hateful btw I reread this and realized it could sound harsh. Though that wasn't my intentions. (Again a thing with autism we're sorta just how do emotions and tone) So if this seemed rude I wasn't upset ;w;'
 
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Hi there I'm someone whose Autistic. This is meant to bring real awarness to autism not stuff Autism speaks spews. Autism speaks only shows the "bad" of autism and only shows low functioning people. You can google horror stories of them. Stimming is a calming thing autistic people do. For example if you've seen someone rock and fourth, clap, make noises etc. I personally like popping my joints. This isn't "vague" ,it's talking about autism through the eyes of an autistic not what everyone thinks autism is.

Edit: This isn't meant to be hateful btw I reread this and realized it could sound harsh. Though that wasn't my intentions. (Again a thing with autism we're sorta just how do emotions and tone) So if this seemed rude I wasn't upset ;w;'

My apologies. I don't know much about that particular group, though I know plenty about the event.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I've worked with dozens of children on the autism spectrum, as well as a few colleagues. Due to the age range I work with (primarily toddlers to age 7-8), the working knowledge I have for sharing resources with people is naturally skewed to towards parents of very young children.

What group/s do you recommend?
 
Another thing I'd like to share about autism is

-There low and high functioning autism which is why it's a spectrum because it can effect people differently like any disorder

-Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder meaning it develops as the brain does.

- While autism can effect anyone it's harder is diagnose in girls, females who are autistic usually don't get diagnosed until they're older (I wasn't diagnosed tell I was 19 because they thought I was just "shy" )

- Many autistic people struggle with social interactions, and find emotional responses hard, emotions can be awkward to convey, for example I'm very monotoned and don't change my voice which makes people think I'm rude when I'm not trying to be. Eye contact can be very very VERY hard and stressful for many autistic people.

-You've probably noticed autistic kids are obsessed with a certain thing. This is a special interest. This is something pretty much every autistic person has. For example my special interest is Monster High. I love it so much I've not only watched every episode, movie, know every characters name, monster species, age I know they're full backstories random canon things that are obscure. Why am I obessed with it? Idk it's super fun and good to me. For me my SI's keep my grounded and help me focus during break downs.

-A lot of autistic people have sensitivity issues. I.E: I can't handle and will not handle anything slimy. I have to make sure my hands are dry because sticky things drive me insane. I also can't stand the feeling of certain fabrics to the point it literally disgusts me.

If any other autistic peeps wanna add this please do.

- - - Post Merge - - -

My apologies. I don't know much about that particular group, though I know plenty about the event.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I've worked with dozens of children on the autism spectrum, as well as a few colleagues. Due to the age range I work with (primarily toddlers to age 7-8), the working knowledge I have for sharing resources with people is naturally skewed to towards parents of very young children.

What group/s do you recommend?

In all honestly I recommend looking up blogs from Tumblr owned by autistic people. While I understand reaching to doctors sounds good it's also a wonderful idea to hear from our side as well! Personally I don't think I suffer from autism yes it has it's struggles but it's who I am! :)

http://thatautismfeel.tumblr.com/


http://autisticliving.tumblr.com/

http://autisticproblems.tumblr.com/

http://neurowonderful.tumblr.com/ (amethyst is WONDERFUL and you have any questions please ask! I learned so much about autism from this blog)

Edit: http://autisticadvocacy.org/ heres a great website about autism ran soley by autistic people
 
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I just googled "autism speaks bad" and realised I *do* know I lot about this group, I can't believe I didn't make the connection before. I am so sorry. This group has a *lot* to answer for regarding the way they've "advocated" for autism and autistic people.

In Australia autism speaks does not dominate the public discourse in the way that it sadly continues to in the US. This is one of our leading advocacy groups here (if not *the* leading group), made and run by autistic people : http://www.asan-au.org/about-us/

A succinct assessment of the flaws of autism speaks (dated 2013 but still relevant), from the perspective of autistic people :
http://autisticadvocacy.org/2013/11/asan-aac-statement-on-autism-speaks-dc-policy-summit/

A brilliant article I give out to parents who ask for help getting appropriate support from people who aren't aware of the issues with autism speaks and it's ilk :
https://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/pa...peaks-even-if-it-means-no-ice-cream/?referer=

I don't have much else on hand that's relevant to share, but I wanted to offer some better info than the initial link I shared (apologies again).
 
I just googled "autism speaks bad" and realised I *do* know I lot about this group, I can't believe I didn't make the connection before. I am so sorry. This group has a *lot* to answer for regarding the way they've "advocated" for autism and autistic people.

In Australia autism speaks does not dominate the public discourse in the way that it sadly continues to in the US. This is one of our leading advocacy groups here (if not *the* leading group), made and run by autistic people : http://www.asan-au.org/about-us/

A succinct assessment of the flaws of autism speaks (dated 2013 but still relevant), from the perspective of autistic people :
http://autisticadvocacy.org/2013/11/asan-aac-statement-on-autism-speaks-dc-policy-summit/

A brilliant article I give out to parents who ask for help getting appropriate support from people who aren't aware of the issues with autism speaks and it's ilk :
https://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/pa...peaks-even-if-it-means-no-ice-cream/?referer=

I don't have much else on hand that's relevant to share, but I wanted to offer some better info than the initial link I shared (apologies again).

Hey dude its all good. I truly appreciate that you were willing to take them time and listen to me. You don't have anything to apologize for. I also appreciate all the stimming info you posted. I wasn't able to word it myself properly do to the fact I couldn't think of the proper words.

Again I truly can't express how much it means to see people like you who are willing to do more research on things like autism speaks. I'm glad to see Asan is the main thing for Australia sadly here in the U.S it's autism speaks. I have to bite my tongue every time a women comes in lamenting over her autistic kids and praising autism speaks. I would love to sit down and explain everything from my view,,,but I'd probably get fired haha.

Edit: Just a lil funny thing I've been stimming via watching ur signature
 
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Wow. This is a lot of good information. I hope I don't sound ignorant, but what is it about eye contact that is difficult or uncomfortable? For me, and probably for a lot of people, looking into the eyes of the people I love is a source of joy and comfort. I admit sometimes my dog and I just cuddle and look into each other's eyes! Wait - is eye contact with animals difficult too? I'm so curious about this. I hope you won't think I'm being too intrusive.
 
Wow. This is a lot of good information. I hope I don't sound ignorant, but what is it about eye contact that is difficult or uncomfortable? For me, and probably for a lot of people, looking into the eyes of the people I love is a source of joy and comfort. I admit sometimes my dog and I just cuddle and look into each other's eyes! Wait - is eye contact with animals difficult too? I'm so curious about this. I hope you won't think I'm being too intrusive.

Honestly I'm not sure??? It makes me extremely nervous and makes me panic to the point I get really nervous. I understand people see it as comforting personally thats alien to me. For animals it's different. I honestly can't explain it. It just makes me extremely uncomfortable. I wish I could explain why it makes me upset/makes it hard but it's just -loud shrug noises- for the last 15 years of my life I've never been able to look into peoples eyes. Idk how others feel though.
 
Wow. This is a lot of good information. I hope I don't sound ignorant, but what is it about eye contact that is difficult or uncomfortable? For me, and probably for a lot of people, looking into the eyes of the people I love is a source of joy and comfort. I admit sometimes my dog and I just cuddle and look into each other's eyes! Wait - is eye contact with animals difficult too? I'm so curious about this. I hope you won't think I'm being too intrusive.

I do not have autism myself, but I think (and please do correct me if I am wrong!) the following piece, which has 16 autistic people describe why eye contact is difficult for them is an excellent introduction :

https://themighty.com/2016/02/why-eye-contact-can-be-difficult-for-people-with-autism/

The following brief article shows one scientific discovery about the difference in vision and visual processing between autistic children and neuro-typical children, which may explain the experiences many autistic people have :

http://www.livescience.com/37167-autism-avoid-eye-contact-brain.html

- I would like to note that the article is disappointingly blais? about the idea that difficulties with eye contact were thought to be due solely to "social deficits". We have known for quite some time that there are biological components to this phenomena - I learned about this stuff in early high school. Aside from that, the article looks solid to me.
 
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