Specialisterne (‘the Specialists’ in Danish) seeks to harness strengths that many people with Autism Spectrum Disorders possess - good attention to fine details, precision, and high tolerance for repetitive tasks. Similarly, people with Autism may find Google’s SketchUp program captivating because it plays to their strengths - they often have good visuo-spatial skills. Studies show that Autistics generally perform well in three-dimensional drawing, for example, and tasks such as assembling designs out of blocks printed with different patterns.
(sources: SketchUp: Why Kids With Autism Love It - Newsweek; http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_12-editionID_46-ArticleID_133-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5Cpsy_11_99_p540-547_happe.pdf; AllBusiness.com | Business solutions from AllBusiness.com)
As touched upon in the above post, after Google discovered that people with Autism were using Google SketchUp in unique and exciting ways, Project Spectrum was launched (in November 2007). In the Project Spectrum Manual of Ideas for Teachers and Parents it says:
Take 18-year-old John Paul (JP) Saikali for example:
Some of JP Saikali’s work was featured right near the end of a Project Spectrum video: Google SketchUp. JP, a longtime SketchUp user, was also the Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 Sketch-A-Space contest. The contest gave people with Autism an opportunity to design their ideal, dream space using Google SketchUp’s 3-D modeling software. He was awarded $2,000 for his entry, “The Ultimate Video Game Room”. (The winning video can be viewed through the following link: Easter Seals: Sketch-A-Space)
(sources: Official Google SketchUp Blog: Strengths of autism continue to shine in 3D; Google SketchUp; http://media-in-the-middle.wikispaces.com/file/view/Project_Spectrum_Manual.pdf; Easter Seals: Sketch-A-Space)