What you need to know to design material for children with Asperger's and Autism?

One of the characteristics, that should be considered by the design of any adapted material for children with Asperger´s, is the tendency they have to suffer sensorial sensitivities.

Around 70-85% of children with Asperger are extremely sensitive to certain sounds; 50% to specific textures, smells and tastes; and 20% tends to avoid intense levels of luminance.

The five senses seem to be affected in a hyper or hypo-sensorial way, conditioning the perceptions and experiences these children might go through.

As researchers suggest, some of the most common causes are sensory overload, unusual sensorial processing, distortions, difficulties identifying the source channel of sensory information and “tune cuts”. (Bogdashina, 2004: Atwood 2015)

Layout design and image composition are two important fields of study to address the viewer´s attention in any illustrated story. They spot certain points with the intention of transmitting a message. ( Camera. 2007)

Focusing on the sense of the sight, it would be possible to outline the importance that design plays in colour selection, gestalt thinking, and a sensorial memory. These are three aspects in which Asperger´s individuals present special characteristics in relation to their neurotypical peers. (Attwood, Bogdashina: 2004, 2015)

a) Colours In fact, research carried out by Marine Grandgeorge and Nobuo Masataka ( 2016) reported how the preference for the “yellow” colour was very low in children with Autism in comparison with neurotypical children, whereas the preference for green and brown colours was elevated. As the authors suggest, the yellow colour has one of the highest luminance value among other colours tested on that occasion.( red, blue, green , pink and brown ); a factor that should not be dismissed.

The hyper-sensitivity of children with Asperger’s to luminance might give an explication about these findings. Our eyes are provided with three different types of cone cells for colour perception: L (red), M (green), S (blue). When yellow is perceived L and M should be involved, what implies the most heavily sensory-loaded perception of any type of colour, causing fatigue. ( Masataka, 2016)

b) Gestalt thinking

Following Olga Bosdashina (2004), when too much information needs to be processed simultaneously, very often, children with Asperger are not able to “ break down” and interpret a whole picture into meaningful units as constituents of a global context. They process “ bits”, selecting minor aspects of objects in the environment, instead of the whole scene. This is also known as Gestalt thinking and can be addressed by the use of the layout design and image composition.

Even though brightly coloured objects are allies in the case of those children with Asperger´s suffering hypo-sensitivities; the majority of children seem to dislike garish and fluorescent colours, showing priority by softer tones. ( Bogdashina, 2004)

Layout composition requires lots of experimentation. Images and text and its shapes, sizes, and typefaces can be combined in multiple ways. Nevertheless, following the Hick´s Law (1952), and having in consideration that children with Asperger´s tend to lose their concentration when they have too many stimuli around, options should be kept to a minimum. The rate of gaining information is higher when the presence of unessential elements is avoided. ( Bogdashina, 2004; Camera, 2007)

The rule of thirds, the use of geometrical forms and the shots exhibited within a picture are some of the most essential techniques of image composition able to ease the lecture of the viewer. ( Camera 2007)

-Following “the rule of Thirds” , elements in the center of the scene should be avoided, placing the important ones in the next intersecting points:

The placement of objects in the marked locations, drives the viewer´s attention easing his/her understanding of the situation. It keeps clean the picture, avoiding distractions and dispersions, that are characteristics of Asperger syndrome.

( Bogdashina, 2004; Cámera 2007)

-Geometrical forms Another source of image composition, to spotlight messages, is the use of geometric forms and letters. These shapes are easily assimilated to concentrate the focus point and emphasize what is happening: the situation, the character reactions or the intentions we expect our receivers capture. (Cámera, 2007)

-Type of shots: According to Roy Thompson and Christopher a J. Bowen (2009), behind every shot, there is an action recorded from a particular point of view. With the same elements within an image, the combination of focal lengths and camera angles can generate a diverse range of versions, triggering that way different perceptions and interpretations in the viewer. ( See appendix) Whereas Long Shots include a large amount of the environment within the space, establishing the place in which the situation takes place; medium shots show the character from their knees or waist; and closer shots begin below the character’s chin or with a little upper shoulder visible.

Following Krass van Leuven ( 2001 ) and regarding the difficulties that children with Asperger’s present it could be possible to affirm that :

-Long Shots would be the most appropriated ones to work metaphors and double meanings, in which understanding the context is mandatory.

-Closer shots would be more precise in showing details about how the characters are feeling.

c) Sensorial Memory

As the two sides of the same coin, children’s with Asperger’s have problems with generalization and overgeneralization. This has repercussions on their rigid thinking and behavior.

( Bogdashina, 2004) The generalization, or capacity to extrapolate information, fails given their gestalt and literal perception; whereas the overgeneralization leads from their fragmentation.

Children with Asperger’s remember things through sensorial experiences: smells, tastes, noises, textures and/or images, depending on the most reliable sense for the individual. This allows an easy access to memories. This is also known as “associative memory”, that might be helpful to compensate their difficulties to process information quickly, but a disadvantage when it is used in an excessive or inappropriate manner. ( Bogdashina, 2004)

Following the author, there is a high number of children within the Spectrum that “see” their thoughts: the visual thinkers. Unlike most people, they think from specific to general, not being restricted by traditional conventions, which, at the same time, requires more effort. Firstly, they have to “select” images, placing them in appropriate words.

As perceptual thinkers, they have problems with abstract words and social experiences, which can not be turned into “ mental images”. Paradoxically, that can make them great poets when their concrete thinking is used to describe abstract ideas that become original metaphors.

(Bogdashina, 2004)