Monday, August 29, 2011

Capstone Ideas

During our first class session, Beth explained to those of us that have not yet decided on a Capstone topic to be sure we are passionate about the content of the project. She advised us that our next (and final) two semesters will likely be miserable if we pick topics that we don't have much interest in. This was incredibly helpful to me because it made me realize how important it is to not think of the Capstone as simply a project I need to complete to graduate, but a great way to prove how much I learned throughout my career as a New Media student.

One of my biggest passions is my family. I am incredibly close to my parents, my sister and my brother. They have taught me how to love, how to share and most of all how to be compassionate. My brother Daniel has a spectrum Autism disorder called Aspergers Syndrome. For those of you who may not know very much about Aspergers, it is a form of Autism that makes it incredibly difficult for him to learn and interact socially along with having restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. For as long as I can remember,  I have have had a very strong connection with him. When my parents explained to me of his disorder, I began reading as much information as I could to understand what Autism is and how it might feel to live as he does every day. 

Autism awareness is something that I am incredibly passionate about and I would love to be able to incorporate this topic in my Capstone.

I do not know exactly how or what I can do with this kind of content but I would like to create a website or interface that would:

  1. Allow the user to have the chance to interact with the site/interface and feel for a moment what it may be like for people with Autism spectrum disorders. 
  2. Give siblings of people with Autism a place to interact and form a sense of community to talk and share stories for support. 
  3. Bring awareness to Autism so that people will become more informed and hopefully as a result become less judgmental and discriminatory.

I realize these are all just starting places, but I am hoping with this class along with more research I will be able to create a successful Capstone.

21 comments:

  1. Lloyd Roberson

    I think this is a good Capstone to do, because I also have Autism, and autistic people tend to be a minority. This could be an opportunity to educate people on Autism and other related disorders.

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  2. Amy King --

    I love all of these ideas and, honestly, think they are all achievable (though it would be a huge undertaking). The first one would be the hardest to accomplish I feel like, but it's totally doable.

    Even if you wanted to really hone in on the first one, you could do an immersive virtual reality where the person gets to experience "physically" what it's like to be a person with Autism that would be really neat. I think that in itself would be a great educator.

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  3. Sharayah Sanders

    I think this idea is probably one of the best ones I've seen so far. You first is really good. I'm not quite sure how you could achieve that, but I know that when you figure it out it'll be a really great site and project.

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  4. I think this sounds like a great idea. I work in the computer labs on campus and I deal with students who have autism quite frequently. I see how other students react to them and it breaks my heart. Just because someone learns and behaves differently does not give someone the right to judge.

    I can tell you're passionate about this too; that's also awesome.

    I really like Amy's idea of an immersive environment. If someone is looking at just a basic computer monitor, sometimes they can be easily distracted by others around him. I am visualizing a "cave" sort of technology. If you do not want to go that big, you could probably do 3 larger monitors (one in the front and two on the sides).

    Have you been in the Virtual Reality Theater upstairs in the IT building? If not, you really should ask someone to take you up there some day. Chancey Frend (?) could probably help you out. I'm sure Beth could too. That's the sort of thing I am envisioning.

    Have the immersive environment for simulation, then have a follow up/info station type thing to the side if they would like more info. You could make this part an external website so you can continue to use it and show it off in the future. Maybe even add videos of people using the simulator?

    Keep up the brainstorming! It sounds like you're off to a great start! :)

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  5. Your first idea sounds really intriguing. You might be able to work with people at Riley. You might consider exploring the flexibilty of the human brain to adapt to new circumstances after radical damage, (loss of an eye, accident, etc.,) or in your brother's case adapting to a condition from birth.

    I have many "adaptations" from my cereberal palsy, but since I've had this from birth, it is my normal.

    If you choose this project, it reminds me of Beth Tank's. You might work together.

    I appreciate your passion to bring awareness to this area. :)

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  6. Brian Graham

    I love the first idea. Forcing someone interact with something they take for granted through someone else's eyes is a very powerful concept.

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  7. Your ideals are all very interesting, cant wait to see what you settle on

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  8. The first idea is the strongest you have by far, in my opinion. People many times don't truly sympathize with something until they experience it. By somehow simulating the effects of autism, you could create a very interesting project.

    It's awesome that you're working toward something that means a lot to you.

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