As some of you will be aware Stickman Communications (R) has a number of cards which are relevant to people on the autistic spectrum. Some are specific, like the one about difficulty making eye contact. Others are more general, like the card saying "Thank you".
I am in the process of putting a set of cards together as a 'starter' pack of the cards which are relevant to most people with ASC, which will then be sold at a discount (compared to buying the cards individually). This pack will go on sale on Tuesday 28th October (the delivery date for the new designs). The aim is to have a simple 'starter' set of the key cards that people can customise by adding other cards relevant to them.
The 'traffic lights' card set is already available at a discount, and so I'm not planning to include them in the ASC starter set. (But I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this.)
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So far, my ASC starter pack list has the following cards:
But which cards do you think belong in the ASC starter pack? There are many more cards in my shop, and the ones I think may be relevant to ASC are here. (The full keyring card range can be seen here (Scroll down the page).)
If you'd like to leave your feedback in the comments, on my facebook page, or by email, I would be most grateful. I won't be able to do exactly what everyone says because everyone will have different opinions, but at least I will be able to get a better idea of what most people will find useful, and therefore end up with a good selection.
Also let me know if you think there are products on my site which are not keyring cards which would be useful to include in the pack.
(and if you have ideas for cards that I haven't yet made, feel free to make suggestions. I can't always make the cards suggested, and sometimes it takes a while, but I do my best.)
I am in the process of putting a set of cards together as a 'starter' pack of the cards which are relevant to most people with ASC, which will then be sold at a discount (compared to buying the cards individually). This pack will go on sale on Tuesday 28th October (the delivery date for the new designs). The aim is to have a simple 'starter' set of the key cards that people can customise by adding other cards relevant to them.
The 'traffic lights' card set is already available at a discount, and so I'm not planning to include them in the ASC starter set. (But I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this.)
So far, my ASC starter pack list has the following cards:
But which cards do you think belong in the ASC starter pack? There are many more cards in my shop, and the ones I think may be relevant to ASC are here. (The full keyring card range can be seen here (Scroll down the page).)
If you'd like to leave your feedback in the comments, on my facebook page, or by email, I would be most grateful. I won't be able to do exactly what everyone says because everyone will have different opinions, but at least I will be able to get a better idea of what most people will find useful, and therefore end up with a good selection.
Also let me know if you think there are products on my site which are not keyring cards which would be useful to include in the pack.
(and if you have ideas for cards that I haven't yet made, feel free to make suggestions. I can't always make the cards suggested, and sometimes it takes a while, but I do my best.)
I hope I'm not too late for this.
ReplyDeleteThe major issue I have is that if I'm in a stressful situation (usually a new situation where something has gone wrong or not as expected) I can get overwhelmed and can no longer cope with questions or talking. This usually results in me gradually getting more and more stressed and eventually either seeming angry/agitated or bursting into tears and not being able to talk for several minutes. Unfortunately when I'm crying everyone wants to talk to me and ask me even more questions about why I'm crying and/or can't talk, which is very counter productive.
It would be incredibly helpful to have a card that apologises for being agitated or emotional and asks for space and quiet (or quiet company) to calm down, including explaining that I have an autistic spectrum condition and sometimes things get too much.
If there could be extra cards for "Please could you just sit with me quietly until I stop crying" or "Please could you just leave me somewhere safe and quiet until I stop crying" that would be amazing. Perhaps also a "I can't speak right now but I think I could write it down" card would also help, even if it's just a prompt that reminds me that I can do that when I'm in an overloaded/meltdown state.
Another problem when I'm stressed in new situations is that people talk in confusing indirect ways like asking what I want when they're really telling me what to do "Would you like to come with me?" etc. What would help with that is "I'm stressed out and find questions and decisions difficult right now. Please could you talk to me very clearly and directly. This is because I have an autistic spectrum condition".
Again, really sorry if I've seen this too late, I really like your work but so far none of your cards have been quite right for my autistic traits.
Sorry, I realise there is some overlap with the existing cards in my suggestions, I was trying to do this in a rush because this is the last day.
DeleteThe main point of differentiation is, I think, that often I want the person I'm interacting with to stay with me and help me but I can't talk (or stop crying) or cope with indirect communication.
Something like 'I find this situation overwhelming and can't communicate well. Please stay with me while I recover - if I can't talk I may be able to write.'
Also separately 'I find this situation overwhelming and can't communicate well. Please speak to me very clearly - don't ask unnecessary questions.'
I would want the traffic light cards in the ASC pack if possible.
Sorry for the previous comment being unclear.
Both your comments have really useful suggestions. As I am creating the pack from existing cards, they won't be part of the pack, but I will add your requests to my list of suggestions, I hope I can do some of these in my next print run (probably in a few months time). In the meantime I do have a 'I can't speak but can write' card http://stickmancommunications.co.uk/epages/747384.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/747384/Products/CC032&ViewAction=ViewProduct, and a 'please keep questions to a minimum' card http://stickmancommunications.co.uk/epages/747384.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=5386706&ViewAction=ViewProduct
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