What is ADHD/Autism?
Autism and ADHD are a part of the spectrum, other such things on the spectrum are Dyslexia. I have dyslexia. Most of my family and friends have Autism or ADHD sometimes both. As it is a spectrum and they often cross over. Meaning you can have one but show symptoms of the other ones. This all to say I’m in a position where I partially understand the needs and wants of people on the spectrum, but everyone is different and will respond to my design choices in different ways.
Autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. People with Autism often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviours or interests. Our understanding of Autism is still developing, as the first Autistic person was only dragonised about 1938, with the term autism being coined in 1911. So this definition might not be accurate but the symptoms of autism are easier to understand. Some symptoms/ways to know if someone is autistic is they find social cues hard to understand, Anxious about social situations, seeming to be blunt, and routine is important to them, says the NHS. A key thing to help them manage these struggles is stimming.
This is a physical coping mechanism they use to manage emotional and anxious feelings, or even to express joy. Stimming can be things such as fidgeting, verbal repetition (echolalia), rocking back and forward, visual ques such as bright colours, organising objects, jumping, curling up into a ball/using weighted blankets (proprioceptive), tactile stimming such as touch and tapping, listening to music, chewing, and even smelling things can be a stim (olfactory). These act as an outlet for how they are feeling, rather than just expressing an emotion or working though it in their head, these physical coping mechanisms provide needed comfort and outlet for often overwhelming feelings as autism affects how you process these feelings not just how you understand others but how you understand yourself.
My product provides bright colours, tactile, sound as the beads clack. If the autistic person uses these stims to cope then this product is perfect for them. In future I’d hope to make a chewable version to link into another stim that some autistic people use more often to cope.
Tik tok has been a great place for autistic people to find out who they are as well as help others find themselves, misinformation is worth watching out for but with this being severely not understood it is key for people who are autistic to express themselves so we can understand the condition better.
ADHD is is a condition that affects people’s behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating and may act on impulse. This is due to how their brains functions, someone with ADHD would describe their head to be a never ending flow of thoughts that overlap, like a storm in their head. This can make simple things hard to do. It isn’t as simple as learning discipline to just focus as their brains are literally unable to do this with the sheer amount that is going on in their brains. It is thought that this is due to an ADHD brain always seeking out Dopamine which is the chemical that makes you happy. ADHD people often have a lack of Dopamine, not being happy enough further makes it difficult to have motivation to do things. As a coping mechanism some ADHD people stim and fidget.
This can be seen as being unable to sit still, tapping, repeating sounds, similar to how autistic people stim. There are fidget toys out there to help create dopamine as well as draw some of the focus in their busy brain to help focus. One major down fall with most fidget toys is that they are too good at making the person using them happy, with a brain that seeks our dopamine constantly it means they will focus solely on the toy and end up not doing any of the work they actually need to do. One fidget toy that has seen some success and is raved about among my ADHD friends is the fidget rings. Rings are often common place so don’t spark too much attention but the common place of it means they can always fidget when they need to in a non disruptive way to people around them. I’d hoped the necklaces would have a similar appeal, being appropriate for the workplace while still looking fun and useful to both ADHD and Autistic people for slightly different reasons. With the keyring attachment provided so it could be more discreetly used like the fidget ring is. Covering the preferences of both ADHD and Autism.
In the future it would be worth exploring the necklace idea for just Autism or just ADHD as this would require slightly different needs such as maybe consider smell more closely for someone who is Autistic. Or Consider the repeatability of the fidget movement for ADHD, with consideration that the fidget could be used in different ways so the user wouldn’t get bored with the product over time.