Madison resident Paul Braun is an interesting man, not because he is a geographer and landscape architect, or because he is the father of a boy on the autism spectrum, but because he is marrying those two roles for the betterment of his child and others. Like Julie Sheldon (who saw a need for autistic children to have a controlled, low-stimulus visit with Santa and so created that opportunity for kids this past December), Braun is approaching his child’s need to see things from others’ perspectives and to learn to function in a monitored team environment by creating a project that will stretch the boy’s social skills, perceptions, and even his spirit.
Braun is taking autism to the sky. He intends to give a small group of kids on the autism spectrum a chance to fly and experience their world in a new way. With a budget of $2,770 in donations raised to date, provided by 52 investors, the team will “build a hexarotor helicopter from a kit that includes GPS, high definition video, and flight planning software. After building the hexarotor helicopter and learning to fly it, they will plan a mission, fly it, and then produce a video both of their time building the helicopter and learning to fly as well as the flight itself. The video will be provided to their school district to put on their web site demonstrating the team’s skills.”
First, let’s get real about the challenges. The small group of kids he wants to reach in his pilot experiment (pun intended) is a special-needs population. “Autism throws you curveballs on a regular basis,” Braun agrees. “Sounds are too loud. Attention spans are short. There’s little to no desire for social interaction. Complexity frustrates. Over-focus on details. To accommodate these, we need to be patient, scrap plans, and come back another day if necessary.”
Patience and perseverance are the skills the involved adults need to bring to the equation. As for technical expertise, Braun intends to tap into Sector 67, the Madison think tank and new product/service incubator on Washington Avenue.
The Taking Autism to the Sky website clearly defines how the budget will be used, and although the team has already met its initial green-light goal of raising $2,600, donations are being sought now to expand the program and to pay stipends to UW students and autism specialists to help guarantee its success and sustainability.
I love the project because it is an innovative approach that builds on the kids’ strengths and works around their inherent challenges. The film component is an additional cost but, I think, the most brilliant component. The idea is that kids see familiar surroundings from a different perspective, as the drone films the landscape from above, teaching them that people, like living cameras, record things differently – life isn’t viewed from one angle, in black and white. Even colors look different from different views. This is one of the hardest intellectual walls to climb, particularly for an Asperger’s child.
Likewise, how wonderful that the team is filming what goes into building and flying a sophisticated, complicated flying machine – as a team, which again is important. Providing the footage to schools is a thoughtful way to show classmates that these children have skills that aren’t always recorded and appreciated in a traditional classroom or social setting. (Continued)
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Investors making pledges of $25 or more receive credit in the film, and with a pledge of $100, you get a DVD of the film including outtakes and footage of the team building the quadrotor, practicing flying, and editing the film. Backers who donate $250 or more have an opportunity to be in the film and to get a shout-out from the kids (with your picture) in the film. How fun is that!
I don’t want to be in a film, frankly, but I do think the DVD is well worth my investment of $100 in these kids. Can you match that? I’d love to be the conduit to raise an additional $1,000 or more to assure one or two more kids could receive practice flying helicopters, etc., and a snack or two along the way.
And a note to Paul Braun: good work gets attention; great work attracts community backing. You’re doing great work here and I hope your start-up pilot program does take autism to the sky … and takes these wonderful kids over the moon with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
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