Body language and autism

[MoelFammau]

Hello

I do hope this is the right place to post this. Basically I'd be very interested in having some opinions from parents of children with ASD.

I've worked for 15+ years as a character animator on TV shows, commercials etc. My job relies on me having very finely-tuned observation of body language and also the ability to reinterpret it into an inanimate object.

Recently I have had contact with children and students with AS - once in an animation workshop I was running for home-schooled children and another time with a lovely work experience lad at my studio.

On both occasions I ended up working with them on body language recognition, expression and emotion. This was something initiated and led by them but I took it very seriously and gave them as much understanding as I could, drawing on my skills as an animator to demonstrate things in an easily accessible way. On both occasions I saw a marked improvement in their understanding.

I really enjoyed the experience very much and I would like to do more of this, perhaps in a more structured way.

Do you think this would be a useful resource for parents?

Any comments greatly appreciated.

Yes, this would be brilliant.

Yes it would be a useful resource also done in a fun way

Maybe write/animate a book with various everyday expressions/body language.

Emiotionwise safety mirror could be placed at the back for children to practice facial expression. If its done for various age levels with a character attraction with requests to have a go it could well help younger ones at an earlier stage :)

Only an idea

Yes, one of the strategies that DS (17) and I have used together is treating the real world like an Attenborough documentary and analysing how people interact, and what the clues add up to. It enables him to fit in if he's not stressed, because he remembers the signs and expressions and gestures and responds accordingly now.
It's one of the ways he learned to work out personal space issues, and why some of the things he did attracted attention. and how to mitigate that if he chose to.
Bit like using Social stories. www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/strategies-and-approaches/social-stories-and-comic-strip-conversations.aspx
Your idea sounds very interesting and a useful tool.

sounds great, tell me more?

i can see DD (5yrs) struggling to read people already

i love that mirror book idea coff

and a cartoon series, they could be a progression from social stories?

Coff I think you should do the book :) ,are you any good at drawing tho lol.
But no seriously it's a fab idea

Yes, it would be a very useful resource

I'm considering developing an App which would basically be an animated version of the book Coff suggested. This will definitely take some time though.

But I also would like to do one-on-one work with children, face to face. Just not sure how to kickstart it. I'm very glad you seem to think it could be helpful - it has spurred me on to try and do something proactive.

I've contacted some autism charities and one has responded positively so far.

Of you are CRB checked why not put a package forward to local disability services in your area and see what comes of that :) sure start groups would be a good place to get a footing and recognition as young toddlers SN or nt would benefit from this kind of social exercise

Yes I do draw but my young dd is good at drawing anime?

I think it sounds like a fantastic idea.

My eldest ds has ASD and has recently become very interested in animation and if there was a way we could use that to help him learn about body language we would be really keen to give it a go.

I know my nt nephew has attended some holiday club programmes on how to do animation. I wonder if it could be built into something like that?

Coff ds1 would seriously love a body language/emotion book done in an anime style. He really struggles with drawing, but has been practising drawing anime style characters recently and it's literally the first time in his life I've ever known him actually keen to try drawing.

DS1 does not/has difficulty in reading body language and facial expression in his day to day life but his drawings or animations are extremely expressive because of the requirement in day to day life to consciously study and take note of the usually taken for granted combined with being a visual thinker and an ability to notice details others don't.

It might be a good idea to involve ASD DC in production in some way - maybe a game where they rearrange features/posture so that the person looks happy or sad. If it were like a ps3 game with a camera maybe the child would then have to copy the facial expression/posture?

Coff - I thought your typing had gone funny and you meant that your young DD was good at drawing 'anomie' (ie a feeling of alienation and disorientation) and I thought 'bloody hell - she's a genius'

I like the idea of rearranging facial features....

Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm so far. Very encouraging.

The app idea is very good. Especially if it is child friendly and attractive....I know visuals for ASD have to be clear and literal to help undertsanding, but most are boring.

I'm meeting with a major Scottish autism charity next week so will suggest the App as well as the face to face work (which they were the most keen on). I also have a couple of other suggestions to float by them - really very excited!

Will be back for advice and suggestions from you all if things progress, as it's vital I research as much as possible. Be great if I keep in contact with you all on this thread.

Simon Baron Cohen (not Sacha the comedian) heads up an Autism research centre in Cambridge that has developed some useful DVDs. Google Transporters and Mind Reading. Might be worth contacting his team as they might be interested in taking a project like this on. They also do trails to test effectiveness of their tools.

My DS (14 and intellectually gifted as well as AS) has a "creative" streak, but struggles terribly with the ability to read body language and facial expression... he has been drawing comics and flip book animation for several years now.

For the older kids particularly, social "literacy" is such a struggle as the signs that others give off frequently become much more subtle. Learning to interpret them in a "different" way by being involved in essentially creating emotion on their own terms might go a VERY long way to helping these kids navigate the world around them as they gain independence.

Animators tend to view people as 'wildlife'. Sorry but it's true! They watch the funny quirks and actions that make up human personality and expression very much as an outsider. Which perhaps gives us overlapping traits with those on the spectrum. I guess the only difference is that we know precisely what we're looking at and can recreate it accurately. That's where I think the magic lies - the skill to verbalise and demonstrate what it is an animator is seeing when they look at a person.

Back to looking at people as if you were presenters in an Attenborough documentary!

I love the idea of the app and the animation workshop idea too.

Yes Woffling. That's exactly it, except we don't usually crouch down nearby and announce their every move in breathless tones :-)

Think thats a brilliant idea! Let us know what the autism charity say!