'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism

[Visionary7903]

Detour to: addressing sensory integration dysfunction in Autism-friendly environments

Specialisterne (Danish for ‘Specialists’) seeks to harness strengths that many people with Autism Spectrum Disorders possess - good attention to fine details, precision, and high tolerance for repetitive tasks. Their consultants bring the joy of work into areas where it is often missing today. The social enterprise seeks to minimise the impact of any sensory issues that its Autistic consultants may have by creating virtual Specialisterne environments in its clients’ offices.
(source: Better, faster… and no office politics: the company with the autistic specialists - Features, Health & Families - The Independent)

Sensory integration is the process by which the body compiles all of the external stimuli and signals from the environment, analyses it, organizes it, and integrates it. When there is sensory integration dysfunction, one’s nervous system is not able to properly sort out and make sense of all the sensory input that the senses are taking in.

People with Autism Spectrum Disorders often have sensory issues in one or more areas - these sensory dysfunctions could be addressed in an ideal Autism-friendly work environment. Accommodations could be built into such work places in a similar fashion to the way accommodations for disabilities were built into Walgreens’ new Distribution Centers as part of that company’s outreach initiative: see post 11 of this thread.

Addressing their sensory integration issues on a regular basis should allow them to thrive in a learning/work environment. Something like an adult version of ReacTickles, might give employees regular opportunities to become more in control of their sensory issues, sharpen their focus, and relax in ways that suit them especially well, so that they are at their best for more of the work day.

The Reactive Colours design research project has been developing customisable software, called ReacTickles, to engage the unique sensory interests of children on the Autistic Spectrum. The instigator of the ReacTickles project is Wendy Keay-Bright at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. The software is being used with young Autistic children in a number of UK schools:

ReacTickles for smart table.mov

Reactive fun at the Hollies School

…Many learners on the Autism Spectrum Disorder continuum respond to environmental sensory input with feelings of anxiety, confusion, and fear. As a result, these students often engage in self-stimulatory behavior: unlike the sensory input they receive from the external environment, sensory input from repetitive self-stimulatory behavior is calming. Self-stimulatory behavior affords the students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder continuum a measure of control over a frightening and confusing world.
…ReacTickles is an engaging, fun, no-pressure environment. It is therefore ideal for developing focus before undertaking … challenging academic activities. Spending 10 minutes in the ReacTickles environment before starting the school day can help Autism Spectrum Disorder students maintain focus for longer periods of time. It is equally well suited to post-activity relaxation. The Autism Spectrum Disorder student who has been working hard throughout the morning can jump on ReacTickles for 10 minutes before going to lunch. Doing so helps Autism Spectrum Disorder students de-stress from the morning’s activities thereby reducing the likelihood of behavioral outbursts later in the day.

The ReacTickles software can be used on pretty much any computer or interactive whiteboard. However it may have found its natural medium on the SMART Table - a multi-touch, multi-user interactive learning centre for primary school students:

…The possibilities for fun and teamwork are limitless on the table–from sliding an elephant across the surface, to following a trail of clues or mapping the human body. The ReacTickles software is just so intuitive and easy to use in this environment. As [an] adult I felt the relaxation and sheer pleasure that comes from interacting with the multicoloshapes and lines–an experience further enhanced when two or more individuals join in…

(sources: Enzymes & Sensory Integration; http://www.pheromonetalk.com/lounge/www.letsgoexpo.com/utilities/File/viewfile.cfm?LCID=4742&eID…; http://www.toolfactory.com/Press/reactickles_agent_for_change.pdf; http://repository.uwic.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10369/159/1/EAD%20Keay-Bright%20paper.pdf)