Points of note in autism:

1. Autism impacts the nervous system.

2. Autistic children exhibit a range of symptoms unique to every child, including but not limited to
compulsive behavior, inappropriate social behavior and sensitivity to sound.

3. Children start showing symptoms of autism, as early as 12 to 18 months. To qualify for a

diagnosis of autism, children must exhibit symptoms before the age of three. Older children,
teens and adults cannot develop autism.

4. As children turn into adults, symptoms turn milder in intensity.

Issues:

1. Sensory Meltdown is a huge problem for autistic children.

Faced with a sharp increase in intensity in some external stimulus, such as sound, autistic children start
to panic. In such situations, they usually run away from the stimulus or use noise-cancelling headphones
to cancel out the sound. They remain in a state of panic for a short amount of time after being triggered
by the stimulus.

2. Social situations are extremely difficult for autistic children.

Ideas:
1. Soft Toys fitted with a microphone so that parents can pre-record messages for children. During a
sensory meltdown, the voice of the parent brings a sense of familiarity during the entire situation.

2. A Virtual Reality Game filled with real-life social scenarios, such as a day in school, relevant to an
autistic child, to train and develop the child for the future scenarios. VR gives the child an opportunity to
face the real world. Additionally, autistic children are more likely to get addicted to video games than
other children their age.

3. Developing a game for autistic children, featuring the child as a protagonist facing real life situations.
This would be easier to develop than a VR game.

4. A fidget toy fitted with an emergency button to notify the parents that their child is having a sensory
meltdown.
 5. Nearest Exit/Safe Space: An app fitted with specific directions to the nearest exit or safe space.
During a sensory meltdown, a child needs to be in a space that is free of a particular trigger, such as a
loud noise. This app directs the child to the closest exit or designated(by the parents) safe spaces in the
building that the child is in.

6. Private Emergency Buttons: An autistic child can go through a sensory meltdown at any time. Such a
meltdown can even take place in the middle of class. Often times, the child cannot express his or her
situation to the teacher, which results in outbursts of emotions, which further causes the child to feel
ashamed in front of his classmates. If the child had a button which informed the teacher of the situation
privately, the teacher could help the child in a calm manner, preferably away from the rest of the
students.