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Autism themed town?

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.

It must be a huge social handicap. Facial cues are pretty important communication tools.

Okay some more stupid questions:

When you watch TV do you look into the eyes of the people on the screen, or do you avoid looking at their eyes too?

You say with animals it's different, does that mean you're comfortable making eye contact with a dog or cat?

I have such a hard time wrapping my head around this. The eyes are often the most beautiful feature of a person. There is a multi billion $ cosmetic industry dedicated to accentuating a woman's eyes.
 
Autism does need more awareness because most people do not know how it affects people. Or the fact that there is a terrible group called Autism Speaks which just talks about the negative effects it causes. I especially hate it when people use the word "autistic" to be synonymous with "stupid" when it's not the case.

People with autism just think differently than others. There are already a lot of examples in this thread on how autism affects people. Sadly some autistic people fear to admit they're autistic in fear of what people will think of them. I know of a few people with autism, and they're just as amazing as any other person that I have met.

As for your town, I don't think all the villagers absolutely need to be blue. Mostly because Stitches is the first villager that comes to mind. Here are some villagers that can go well for your theme:

Axel, Bluebear, Doc, Francine, Jeremiah, Ed, Hugh

Good luck with your town

- - - Post Merge - - -

It must be a huge social handicap. Facial cues are pretty important communication tools.

Okay some more stupid questions:

When you watch TV do you look into the eyes of the people on the screen, or do you avoid looking at their eyes too?

You say with animals it's different, does that mean you're comfortable making eye contact with a dog or cat?

I have such a hard time wrapping my head around this. The eyes are often the most beautiful feature of a person. There is a multi billion $ cosmetic industry dedicated to accentuating a woman's eyes.

In a normal conversation with a person autistic people just have trouble looking directly at the person due to nervousness (sometimes they would be facing down). Some autistic people are less verbal, so they don't speak as much or hold a conversation. Eye contact does not apply to TV shows of course because they are not in a conversation with the TV. An animal's eyes are more comfortable to look at because they can't speak.

To sum up, most autistic people are nervous when it comes to a conversation with another person
 
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


Before I answer, I wanna state that I am a parent of a child on the Spectrum. My oldest, whom my mayor is modeled after, and whom I share my main town with *AC is like OUR lil thing we do together*...her official Diagnosis are PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified), SPD (sensory processing disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), Pediatric Anorexia NOS (not otherwise specified), Anxiety disorder....she is EXTREMELY high functioning, and she comes off more as "quirky"...no one believes when I tell them she has ASD at first...which can be annoying sometimes, and other times its fine...because of HOW high functioning she is. She is above grade level in ALL academics, and her "behavioral issues" really come out in social situations which in my opinion can be HARDER then those struggling with a learning disability, cause academia is pretty black and white where social etiquette, clique hierarchy and the like are SUCH gray areas....its hard to explain...especially to such a compassionate, loving, sweet, patient creative, caring, and HONEST TO A FAULT AT TIMES, lil girl.

That ALL being said...im curious as to what else in your "Autism" town is gonna be "Autism themed" besides the color blue? As stated by some, not a lot of people even know that blue is the color of autism awareness, like that Teal is the color of Peanut/food allergies...yknow?
Which villagers are you looking to populate the town? The ones that are more introverted? the ones that "No one likes except a few that get them"?? I'm just curious, in NO WAY am I asking this in any tone or negative context..i am genuinely curious.
What will the town itself look like, again besides all the blue? will it be a "autism friendly" town? subdued colors and music? will you make Autism awareness tees and make all your villagers wear them?


Honestly, I think the success, and reception of such a town will solely depend on the execution of it yknow? As long as it is executed well, lovingly, and honestly with compassion and in a way that it does those that live with the disorder justice...go for it. I think you have your work cut out for you, I cant even imagine the time and thought that will need to be put into such a place..but God Speed!!! I think that its a great lil idea. :)
 
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