Autism Simulator: Feedback required!

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Hi guys,

So for the last 2 years i've been developing an Autism simulator to help increase understanding and compassion for those with Autism. I have family members on the spectrum, a Mum and a Brother who have extensively given input to this.

But i'm interested in more feedback and input since the more we get, the better we can make this! So please do share around. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the wrong planet members who have helped and given feedback in the past! You guys are awesome!

If you would be interested in beta-testing, please sign up to the news letter on the website:

www.autism-simulator.com and you will be alerted of updates .

I should note I intend to keep this simulator free. If you have any additional questions, please do feel free to ask!

For now, here is a quick video introduction of a slightly older version:



And another longer video walkthrough



Enjoy!

Well, I can't do videos cuz I still have Dial-up Internet; so, I went to your website thinking I could do the task, THERE, and that you had a different set-up----like, questions, or whatever, with radio buttons----but, I obviously can't do it THERE, either.

Two suggestions.....

Dial-up Internet is in-use by more people, than others realize; so, it would help if your simulator accommodated us.

I absolutely HATE static elements, on a website----when that "banner" menu didn't disappear when I scrolled-down, it REALLY ticked me off!! It's too intrusive (or, "distracting" may be a better word) in what I wanted to read----it's like the same reason I don't like widescreen movies, I want ALL of my screen to be the movie, just as I want ALL of a webpage to be about what I want to read / look-at----NOT what I am being MADE to look-at. I understand people do that because they think they are being helpful to the user----making it convenient----but, I'd rather scroll back to the top----it only takes a second.

That's a great idea.
I'd love to help test it!

Nice. I read a quote on the website that you said was from your supervisor. You did this for a Master's degree?

Very interesting. I haven't tried the beta yet, but I did watch both videos. I especially identified with the way that thoughts pile up from the bottom of the screen and make it harder to play. It was an interesting and novel way to illustrate some of the fixation/attention issues that come with.

I have two suggestions on ways to improve it. First, I think it would be useful to either randomize the severity of the various sensory/cognitive issues you're representing, or at least make them adjustable. I think one major component of educating people on what autism is really like is educating them on how diverse and different peoples' experiences of it are.

The second suggestion would be to add some sort of a social aspect to the game. I realize that could be difficult to implement. However, social interaction is a major component of the way autism disables people, so it's very important if you're aiming to give a more complete/accurate representation of the condition.

I wish it was available for more operating systems.

Hi thanks for all your feedback questions and comments! I will respond individually throughout today!

Hi,
Thanks so much for your feedback!
The simulator is not yet available and should be available for beta-testing in the next month or so. It will be available as a download and I will try and keep the files as small as possible for dial-up users! I will let you know when it is available nad we can see if it will work for you with having dial-up?

Thanks for much for the feedback on the website! I've not had any feedback on this yet so I wasn't sure how to change it but this is fab!
The banner should have disappeared for you. It may be that you're using a very old web browser. I will make changes as you suggest though and remove this strange banner so even those using different browsers will be accomodated, thanks a lot!

Just a few other questions if you don't mind(and I give these questions to everyone because it will help me better develope websites in the future)?
- Is there any colour scheme you find helpful of distracting on websites?
- What is an ideal website layout for you?

Fantastic! I'd really appreciate that!
Did you sign up to the news letter on the main website? That's how i'll be alerting people because it's much easier!

Sort of. It was an undergraduate so this was done over 2 years.
I knew I wanted to do software that benefitted someone with Autism and after narrowing 5 ideas decided this was the best.
It was started due to Masters, but continuing now i've graduated .

I did this mostly because it's what I felt would have benefited my family. We often had family members who wouldn't understand my brother and could get quite nasty towards him/us. I thought, hey, if we had something to show people, how much easier would it be to understand? Explaining with words never seems to work!


Thanks for this feedback.
I was really unsure about thoughts and was thinking of removing them! Some users have indicated it happens so fast they don't get a chance to read them. I'm not sure if the content is actually that important, but more of the buildup and thoughts being intrusive is the main point. Perhaps I should change the content to having less important info and put important information elsewhere around the house .


Some of this is already done(just wasn't in that demo which is infact a few months old now ). That's great we've had similar ideas in terms of how to convey differences!

The settings are adjustable at the moment but "random" would be quite fun at a later date! Maybe even have three different characters the user can select with a different profile of difficulties? Possibly when there are other features as currently it's a bit too heavily based on sensory differences (although working towards social ones at the moment, I have a few ideas I will share once I have them on paper ).

Thanks again all for your comments!

Yep. I received a confirmation email - that's all I'm supposed to get, right?

Whoops sorry just seen this. Yes that's right!

If anyone is interested in joining a small facebook focus group to get feedback on this, please message me! It would be really, really appreciated!

personally I think the flour event lights are way to blinks but that's me maybe be able to adjust that some how? But not goal
Y remove it?

Okay, I tried this (the short video) multiple times.
Most of the print is too small to read,
especially the text at the bottom and in the dialog boxes.
Things don't seem to work when I click on them (except maybe to momentarily stop the action)
or press the space bar.
Somehow, the screen goes to full-size mode which you then must press Esc to get out of.
Some of the text boxes want you to scroll down, and there's not enough time.
Things move too fast, so I don't get to read everything I want to.

The talking and music by themselves are okay with me, but when they're combined with the small text it's hard.
The blurriness and fluorescent lights don't really bother me in this video.

But now I'm curious as to what information I missed that I wanted to read.

Is this what the experience is supposed to be like,
or do I have even more sensory issues than I thought?

...

EDIT:

Okay, I watched the longer video once
and didn't do anything.
At least I can read more of the text.

...

I am impressed at your innovative idea. It's a terrific concept in itself. Good for you.

Website says errors establishing database connection.

I would like to sign up.