Action Sports + Autism
This one year long thesis project sought to invent snowboard gear to help engage, teach and encourage children with Autism to snowboard. This project was entered into the Core77 Autism connects competition, where it placed in the top 15.
Snowboarding can be a very good activity for children who have Autism. It helps strengthen self-awareness and coordination. It can help with social communication skills. Most of all, it gives a sense of accomplishment. Snowboarding is a sport with no leagues or teams. There is no pressure to out-perform or dominate over another.
Goals
-Understand the needs and difficulties that children who have Autism face when learning new things
-Understand how skier and riders are currently being instructed and engaged in new activities
-Create a series of objects that aid with instructing that are congruent with current teaching methods.
Current Therapies
Occupational Therapy: Using color and shape matching games to engage and activate certain parts of the brain and exercise conceptual thinking
Sensory Integration: Physical play that stimulates proprioceptive responses in the brain. This could be any type of movement that helps the child to feel where they are in space better.
Picture Exchange Communication: Using cards and pictures to communicate complex ideas. This communication style is great for children who are non-verbal. They can use concrete images to convey their thoughts without the pressure of using speech.
Learning Boot
A boot that integrates various therapies to help the wearer lace their own boot as well as develop an understanding of toe-side and heel-side leaning. This is achieved with color matching lace clips, a black and white front/back and a special insole that prods the bottoms of the wearer's feet.
Learning Binding
The second object to come out of the research is the Learning Binding. It follows the same guidelines as the boot and is intended to help develop the independence of the child by allowing them to strap into their bindings on their own.
