Third Life, Pots

Increasing Awareness

In 2008 Aberystwyth local lads cycled from John O' Groats to Lands End
 in order to increase awareness of autism and raise money for the AO and Mind
(Mind is a Registered Charity- Number 1107182. The AO holds an activities group on their premises weekly).

The Land's End Cycle Challenge had a very practical application for us as a way of increasing awareness throughout the whole of the UK. The cyclists met people along their way and distributed leaflets to people who were interested. But the real reason for choosing this challenge was what it symbolises.
The long, linear journey represents autistic neurology, obsessive core interest and isolation. We hope that similar projects will help people understand Autism as the symbolism has a mnemonic function.

Autists only have access to a single channel of attention.
 This can cause them to become totally focused on one thing for hours upon end.
 Also, autists are usually able to give attention to only one thing at a time. Similarly, they do not have "theory of mind" which can severely effect their awareness of other people.
 Lacking this capacity autists are frequently alienated and often experience
profound difficulties getting their social needs met.

Increasing Independence

As an Autistic led group the AO seeks to ensure that as with other fields and services, the people with the condition lead those services. Consequently, the AO also prioritises the concept of social access needs. This means that we research the ways in which we can create a culture of involvement through what would be the equivelant of ramps and Braille etc. Examples range from lenses designed to compensate for Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome associated with autism to computers and virtual realities for practising social skills.

One of our most exciting research projects investigates way's in which we can make our culture more closely resemble certain aspects of a virtual reality, in order to increase the effectiveness of the practise. This project is called Third Life, and questions how we can create a culture based around principals of play therapy. A basic example is a game called Pass On The Smile, or POTS. You play it with strangers by smiling if they make eye contact and if they smile back you may establish a commonality by finding out if they are playing POTS or introducing them to the game. In doing so you explain that it is a charitable activity that is part of a project called third life which seeks to explore how life can become more like a virtual reality using play therapy principles, in order to meet autistic people 50% of the way to their social inclusion. The game thereby increases awareness of autism whilst creating a world that is easy for us to live in and finally is fun in that it involves smiling at strangers and making new friends! The game is especially challenging if you feel shy and can also be a way to help some people overcome shyness.
So please go ahead and Pass On The Smile for Autism!
 
And please contribute through your comments and suggestions as well...