This well-organized book by Stacey Platt gives hundreds of useful tips for the organizationally-challenged. This is a book you can enjoy just browsing through; the layout is a pleasure to behold, and the photographs are beautiful. The author obviously knows her stuff, she’s a professional organizer who coaches high-value clients.
“This is the greatest book I have seen on organizing. It is incredibly informative, actionable and easy to read. I am going to send one to all of my friends and family members. There is so much great information on things that I never realized I was doing incorrectly.” [Amazon customer review]
A slightly eccentric site that does what it says. Carryology is a design site that covers anything to do with luggage, baggage, carry-ons, cases, handbags and wallets. Pretty much anything that you carry, that carries something else. As always, we checked the site-design for autistic-friendliness. The subdued colours and neat layout are easy on the eyes, and the reviews and articles are informative too. Also top-notch pictures all round.
New to Carryology?
To get you started on your quest to Carry enlightment, here’s five hand-picked posts we think will help get you up to speed:
A common thread through most autistic disorders is a lack of awareness of non-verbal social cues; things like body-language, facial expressions and the ‘unspoken rules’ of sociability, that non-autistics pick up intuitively. Autistic children need to have the meanings of different non-verbal cues spelled out (for example, that a frown means someone is upset), along with the social conventions around various activities (such as making friends). The Asperkid’s Secret Book of Social Rules is a handy guide for tweens-to-teens with autism, on the basic norms of etiquette and good people-skills. The book comes highly recommended by many parents of autistic teens. The author, Jennifer Cook O’Toole, writes from first-hand experience as someone with Aspergers.
About the author: O’Toole was diagnosed as an Aspie in adulthood, is the mother of three Asperkids, the wife of an Aspie, an award-winning Special Educator and two-time author of brand-new books for and about Asperkids (Asperkids: An Insider’s Guide to Loving, Understanding and Teaching Children with Asperger Syndrome, and The Asperkids’ (Secret) Book of Social Rules: The Handbook of Not-So-Obvious Guidelines for Teens and Tweens, from Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2012). Both books were chosen by Autism Speaks as “Main Resources for Families,” and Autism Asperger Digest selected Asperkids to the “Top 12 Books to Read When a Loved One is Diagnosed with ASD.” Her third book, The Asperkid’s Launch Pad: Homes That Empower Everyday Superheroes will be released in Spring 2013. [From Amazon]
Britain’s Oxford Playhouse recently put on the children’s musical ‘Spot’s Birthday Party’ with a difference. It was a ‘relaxed performance’ for autistic children, where they were allowed to come and go, and even make as much noise as they liked (some autistic children have involuntary verbal tics). What a breath of fresh air. I’m sure more can be done to bring the Arts to autistic audiences. Perhaps a special auditorium, with soundproof wireless headphones for every audience member, so everyone can enjoy the performance and still make noise?
Relaxed performances are aimed at anyone who would benefit from a laid back environment including people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, sensory or communication disorders, a learning disability or very young children who might be afraid of the dark. The atmosphere in the auditorium will be relaxed with the house lights on a slow fade system. Audience members will be free to come and go as they please throughout the show and make noise if they want to. There will also be a space where you can go and relax outside of the main auditorium in both our Foyer and Circle Bars. In advance of the performance there will be a visual story available on request from the Ticket Office, to help families and young people familiarise themselves with the theatre and performance before attending. [From the Oxford Playhouse website]
Like many autistics, I find driving difficult and never bothered to get a license. Clumsiness, absent-mindedness, poor reflexes and anxiety are some of the issues that may challenge autistic drivers. For those who encounter such problems (autistic or otherwise), there are now alternatives to the standard car that may be easier to drive. Two are shown below, the Renault Twizy and the Piaggio MP3. The Twizy is what they call a ‘microcar’, an electric-powered vehicle for city driving. The main advantages of the Twizy are its maneuverability, compact size and small turning circle; making it easier to park and weave through city streets. Doors are optional, and removable for better all-round visibility. The driver’s seat is in the centre, further improving side-visibility. The first video below is ‘with doors’, the second ‘no doors’.
Having said that, there are a few concerns worth highlighting for the Twizy. There is a single back-seat, but it’s cramped. The optional doors have no windows, so the interior is ‘open to the public’ and you’ll get wet in heavy rain. UPDATE: It turns out you can now buy windows for the Twizy either from Renault or third-party suppliers. Just google ‘Twizy windows’.
The Piaggio MP3 is a three-wheel motorbike that offers the stability of a car without the restrictions of driving a one-ton steel box. The two front wheels tilt on corners, so it feels like a normal bike on the road. But unlike a normal bike, you can come to a full stop without putting your leg out, and no worries about falling over. The MP3 offers excellent all-round visibility and handling: but it’s still a bike, with most of the usual disadvantages when it comes to security and weather-proofing. The Twizy and MP3 are just two of the many motoring alternatives out there for autistic drivers, choices depend on your particular strengths and weaknesses. Other options include trikes, motorbikes with sidecars, and other types of microcars.
Autistics can be highly sensitive to disorder and messiness, and prefer to do things (such as cleaning) according to fixed routines, for predictable and optimal results. Thankfully, there’s a nice website called Clean My Space that caters to that obsessive-compulsive in all of us, autistic or otherwise. Importantly, the site design is autistic-friendly, with cool colours and easy navigation. I particularly enjoy the videos, which are professional-quality and presented with light touches of humour. Definitely one to bookmark if you do the cleaning around the house.
Many autistics have trouble with abstract reasoning and visual memory, which makes the game of chess particularly challenging. These Naef Bauhaus chess pieces, Designed by Josef Hartwig in 1923, are literal representations of their allowed moves (for example, the bishop is X-shaped, since it can only move diagonally). This design allows players to focus more on strategy, and less on retaining possible moves in visual memory; a feature particularly helpful to autistics. Chess board sold separately.
We are a generation that has forgotten to re-use, repair and recycle. Don’t throw away old tools, bikes, etc, just because they’re rusty. Metallic waste ends up in landfills, doesn’t generally bio-degrade, and isn’t good for the environment. Today’s Good Design Award (if we had one) goes to Quick-Glo, the miracle rust remover that your grand-dad swears by. The following video review is courtesy of Jay Leno’s Garage.
This could be big. The world is facing a water crunch, at least when it comes to the stuff we can drink. Salt water covers 80% of the planet, but making it potable costs a bundle in energy; either to boil seawater (to release freshwater steam) or force it through inefficient filters to remove impurities. So far, only rich countries like Saudi Arabia or Singapore can afford desalination plants to do the job. That could change. Some years ago, researchers at Manchester University discovered they could create layers of Graphite only one atom thin, called Graphene. Scientists at MIT then discovered that Graphene is potentially a highly efficient water filter, one that requires very little energy to force the water through. This could mean that poorer countries will be able to afford desalination plants, which could in turn convert large arid regions into fertile farmland.
This well-organized book by Stacey Platt gives hundreds of useful tips for the organizationally-challenged. This is a book you can enjoy just browsing through; the layout is a pleasure to behold, and the photographs are beautiful. The author obviously knows her stuff, she’s a professional organizer who coaches high-value clients.
DESIGN FOR ASD 