Autism+and+Vod+or+Podcasting

Autism and Vod/Podcasting //By Amy Lynn Murray//

At 16 years old, my son is an expert. Should you ever need advice on three things, he is your man! Gabriel was diagnosed with Autism when he was four and a half years old. At that point, the only thing in the world that mattered was Thomas the Tank Engine. You could not understand most of what he was trying to say to you, except the word “Thomas.”

Fast forward twelve years. You can now understand all of what he says, but what he says (as with Thomas) is limited. You will not have a very long conversation with him unless it deals with (1) Transformers, (2) Pokemon, or (3) his Halo Mega Blocks structures. You see, Autistics have very narrow interests.[|__[1__]] So narrow that it seems like an obsession.[|__[2__]] This, coupled with an inability to notice the person they are speaking with has long since lost interest, due to the fact that they struggle with reading social cues.[|__[3__]] Given this propensity to become an expert in their topic of interest, coupled with the fact that they struggle with socialization and communication,[|__[4__]] why not use vodcasting or podcasting to allow the former to aid with the latter?

Vod/Podcasting would afford teens like my son Gabriel a platform from which they could share their wealth of knowledge about their subject of interest. It would also, simply by creation of their posted material, give them practice with communication skills. Provided it is monitored by a caregiver, the discussion that takes place in the comments section can afford a measure of social skills practice as well.

Done properly, and monitored well, Vod/Podcasting could prove to be a powerful therapy tool that takes full advantage of the limited interests of the Autistic person.

[1] http://www.snagglebox.com/article/autism-special-interests [2] http://www.snagglebox.com/article/perseveration [3] https://www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/common-challenges/picking-up-on-social-cues/4-types-of-social-cues [4] http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Autism-Corner/How-Autism-Affects-Communication/