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ASPartOfMe
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08 Oct 2017, 12:46 am

The Party: a virtual experience of autism – 360 video What is it like to be autistic? The Guardian’s latest VR film offers a glimpse of how a person on the autism spectrum copes with a stressful environment

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The Party allows you to enter the world of an autistic teenager, Layla, who is at a surprise birthday celebration. You will hear her thoughts about what she is experiencing and how it is affecting her, and share the sensory overload that leads to a meltdown (an intense response to an overwhelming situation). The drama provides viewers with a powerful first-person perspective on the challenges that social situations may present to someone on the autism spectrum.

The Party is based on a concept by the author Lucy Hawking and is written by Sumita Majumdar, who drew on her own experiences as a person with autism in similar social situations. Throughout the film, viewers hear Layla’s thoughts, voiced by the autistic teenager Honey Jones. The storyline was developed after extensive focus groups and interviews with people on the autism spectrum as well as with input from the National Autistic Society, the Autism Research Trust and the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre.

The visual and auditory effects in the film were based on scientific research about the kinds of symptoms seen in autistic individuals, such as difficulties with processing faces, and hypersensitivity to lights, loud noises and strong odours. Interviews conducted with autistic women also revealed they had issues with how things sound during a meltdown, including having difficulties distinguishing between sounds, hearing echoing voices and being unable to process the other information around them.


You can watch the film as a YouTube 360 video. If you want to watch it as a VR experience, download the Guardian’s new VR app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and watch it using Google Cardboard or Daydream.


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B19
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08 Oct 2017, 12:57 am

The same Lucy Hawking who is Stephen Hawking's daughter, I presume?

http://thehookmag.com/2015/05/stephen-h ... ace-44975/



ASPartOfMe
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08 Oct 2017, 2:01 am

B19 wrote:
The same Lucy Hawking who is Stephen Hawking's daughter, I presume?

http://thehookmag.com/2015/05/stephen-h ... ace-44975/


I do not know.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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08 Oct 2017, 2:26 am

It is :)



Leahcar
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14 Oct 2017, 7:01 am

I just saw that yesterday. While I don't have a VR headset, I still found the video chilling. Glad to see more media representation of females on the spectrum.
I've seen quite a few autism videos about sensory overload (e.g. the boy in the shopping centre and the one with the girl in the cafe), but this is the first one that I could personally relate to. Parties are the absolute worst for me, and I've always hated them ever since I was little - so this video actually struck a chord in me and made me personally uncomfortable.
I found it particularly difficult to watch when everyone started singing Happy Birthday. I was dreading that moment with the girl in the video when I turned round and saw the cake.


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Daniel89
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14 Oct 2017, 7:07 am

I only got one minute in and found it far too annoying it was basically a middle class sitcom.



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14 Oct 2017, 8:37 am

My experiences is just as loud and chaotic :lol: minus overstimulation and exhaustion (That requires to recover from -- it'll take me more than that much before it could happen), and minus the anxiety and panic (Reactions. Either I'll be at one place being bored, or bored enough to be nosy).


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14 Oct 2017, 9:04 am

That hit a bit too close to home for me, especially at the end.

"I ruined it, didn't I? I always ruin things."
:pause that says she's trying to think of a polite/gentle way to say "Well, yeah, you kind of did":
"I think Dad got a bit carried away there. You know what he's like. I don't think he realized how hard it would be for you."

"At least Mum gets it."

Reminds me too much of my own situation with my parents and brings back too many memories of my dad not even trying to understand, and my mom trying to make excuses for him. But she does at least try to understand, and that helps.


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17 Oct 2017, 9:39 am

Well I got through half way of that video before my heart started pounding. Aaaaaaand stop video. Whew. That party atmosphere got me right off the bat. All those strangers in such a confined space?!? And every family member telling me to go talk to people I don't know?!? And then the children walked in. Holy crap... Children on the whole make me very uneasy, but if they start crying? MELTDOWN. And fast.

Here's what would happen to me in that situation:

First, I'd put my hands over my ears, next, I'd start making noise to block out the sounds of their cries, next I would be freaking out and then the tears would come, lastly I would do a typical Autistic bolt out of there out of ear-shot. After all that, I would be upset for hours afterward and then for days after I would re-live the entire event in technicolor and crystal-clear sound thanks to my ultra-advanced Aspie memory retention.

Children crying is a level 10 trigger for me - the absolute most extreme reaction.

That video was unsettling to say the least so if any other Aspies watch it, be warned guys, it ain't fun AT ALL.


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dragonsanddemons
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17 Oct 2017, 6:56 pm

xatrix26 wrote:
Well I got through half way of that video before my heart started pounding. Aaaaaaand stop video. Whew. That party atmosphere got me right off the bat. All those strangers in such a confined space?!? And every family member telling me to go talk to people I don't know?!? And then the children walked in. Holy crap... Children on the whole make me very uneasy, but if they start crying? MELTDOWN. And fast.

Here's what would happen to me in that situation:

First, I'd put my hands over my ears, next, I'd start making noise to block out the sounds of their cries, next I would be freaking out and then the tears would come, lastly I would do a typical Autistic bolt out of there out of ear-shot. After all that, I would be upset for hours afterward and then for days after I would re-live the entire event in technicolor and crystal-clear sound thanks to my ultra-advanced Aspie memory retention.

Children crying is a level 10 trigger for me - the absolute most extreme reaction.

That video was unsettling to say the least so if any other Aspies watch it, be warned guys, it ain't fun AT ALL.


I had to take off my headphones for part of the video, but I knew that was probably going to happen since it was depicting sensory overload. I was afraid the kids were going to start screaming, and was very glad when they didn't - that's also a major problem for me. I would probably have a similar reaction to all that as you would.


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xatrix26
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17 Oct 2017, 8:57 pm

dragonsanddemons wrote:
xatrix26 wrote:
Well I got through half way of that video before my heart started pounding. Aaaaaaand stop video. Whew. That party atmosphere got me right off the bat. All those strangers in such a confined space?!? And every family member telling me to go talk to people I don't know?!? And then the children walked in. Holy crap... Children on the whole make me very uneasy, but if they start crying? MELTDOWN. And fast.

Here's what would happen to me in that situation:

First, I'd put my hands over my ears, next, I'd start making noise to block out the sounds of their cries, next I would be freaking out and then the tears would come, lastly I would do a typical Autistic bolt out of there out of ear-shot. After all that, I would be upset for hours afterward and then for days after I would re-live the entire event in technicolor and crystal-clear sound thanks to my ultra-advanced Aspie memory retention.

Children crying is a level 10 trigger for me - the absolute most extreme reaction.

That video was unsettling to say the least so if any other Aspies watch it, be warned guys, it ain't fun AT ALL.


I had to take off my headphones for part of the video, but I knew that was probably going to happen since it was depicting sensory overload. I was afraid the kids were going to start screaming, and was very glad when they didn't - that's also a major problem for me. I would probably have a similar reaction to all that as you would.


Right? The overload was crazy in there. I felt trepidation after the very first image was shown. What's worse was that girl's thoughts were being narrated and I had every single one of those thoughts as well. I hope you feel better now that it's over because that was a nightmare scenario for me too. Ugh...


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19 Oct 2017, 2:13 pm

My triggers and methods of copy are a little bit different:

For example I don't think about specific rules(I just do whatever I feel like and I don't care till I accidentally hurt someone), I don't listen to music to filter out sounds (I do wear headphones if I am already nearing a sensory overload but with no music - they are like earplugs - but only if I really have to), I don't mind food touching each other (in fact I would be the first one getting to the table and taking everything on my plate - to try all the taste) and I am not counting things I can touch etc. (although I might actually touch something).
Instead I will do my best to find something to focus at and kill boredom (playing with kids and eating are decent ways to keep my mind focused) - focus prevents being overwhelmed. And once I am actually overwhelmed - I will go to a silenter place (my room or a restroom) and close my eyes and ears for a while.

But I totally get her reaction towards the loud sounds and the restricted vision during an overload - that's exactly what happens when I am overwhelmed. First I lose my ability to understand what I hear, then everything besides the thing right in front of me gets blurry (it isn't literally blurry though - I just can't make sense of it). Eventually I might stop hearing or seeing anything.

So: Good video. I found this one way more accurate than the kid in shopping mall.