Month: September 2014

LittleBits: The Open-Source Electronics Kit

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The interesting thing about LittleBits is that the parts snap together with magnets. No soldering, screwing, etc. For autistics who have problems with fine muscle control, this is a major plus.

Find out more at http://littlebits.cc/

The Ribbed Fabric Shirt: Truly Wrinkle Resistant

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Example of a Twill weave, with diagonal ridges. Image by Jauncourt (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
We’ve all been there, bought a shirt that looks nice on the rack, only to find it wrinkles easily no matter how much you starch it. For some autistics with OCD, flaws like these can be a distracting annoyance. Here’s a tip: shirts made of ribbed fabric tend to wrinkle less than plain weaves. Ribbed cloth has narrow cords or ridges that you can feel, running vertically or diagonally. Examples of ribbed fabrics include Twill and Poplin. Make sure you can feel the ridges easily. Prominent ribs on the cloth add structural integrity, which equals wrinkle-resistance.

Different Types of ASDs: What Do Co-Occurring Conditions Have to do With It?

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ASF Blog

By Alycia Halladay, PhD
ASF Chief Science Officer

If you missed it, on Tuesday the workgroup on Under-Recognized Co-Occurring Conditions in ASD of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee met to discuss the current issues and start to lie out a research agenda. This workshop was aimed to have an honest exchange of views to help direct research – the IACC does not directly fund research itself.   It’s a way for researchers and funding agencies to discuss priorities and opportunities. The meeting was webcast live and will be archived on the NIH webpage, when the link is live we’ll post it. In the meantime here is what was discussed.

From the very first set of presentations it was clear that this issue is, like everything else is autism, complicated and messy. Four different presenters using different datasets all showed consistent findings of an increase in neurological (seizure), gastroenterological (GI distress) and…

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Nordstrom Guide to Men’s Everyday Dressing

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Something many autistics hear is that we dress ‘different’, because vague unspoken rules are not our forte, and fashion is filled with vague unspoken rules. If only there was a book that showed you how to dress on a normal daily basis. It turns out there is, at least for men (I’m sure there are plenty for ladies, but being male, I’m not really competent to recommend one. Any suggestions welcome!). It’s the Nordstrom Guide to Men’s Everyday Dressing, a richly illustrated manual on how not to stick out like a sore thumb, clothes-wise. Here’s a video review by Real Men Real Style, another great source for practical advice on everyday wear:

If you’d like other options, here’s a list of  14 Most Popular Books on Men’s Style, Grooming, & Etiquette by Jacob J. Morris, another useful source of advice.