'AUTISTICALLY AWESOME'

The Project

An exciting 5-minute coded Animation exploring how Autism presents in the life of two brothers who created this project. 1.Tell us about your project, why did you choose to make it? My project ‘AUTISTICALLY AWESOME’ is a 5 minute coded animation created through Scratch 3.0 which explores how my Autism presents in my life as examined through a conversation with my younger brother. I made this project because my Autism was diagnosed after my 8th birthday. Up until then l really struggled to understand and accept my differences, l suffered very badly with my mental health and my diagnosis came as such a relief as l could now begin to understand and accept myself. The concept of 'AUTISTICALLY AWESOME' was simple....a conversation between myself and my younger brother ( whom also received a diagnosis of Autism) to help me better understand myself but also to help me accept my neuro diversity. This project organically grew from this. Discovering code has made me very happy and has empowered me tremendously. l am very proud of my project to-day and l hope to continue making animations through Scratch. 2.What did you find difficult and how did you work it out? I began this project 3 years ago in the beginners scratch class at Galway City CoderDojo. My mentor was Brendan Smith and this project began in that very first class he gave. It has taken countless hours of coding to build this project. l usually discover the best way to problem solve is to play with code, most of my discoveries with code have stemmed from 'happy accidents'. Sometimes the code could be frustrating because l would try many different blocks to achieve what l was trying to say and often fail, l find taking a break and going for a walk most helpful then because you clear your head and often get fresh new ideas. 3.ls there anything you would do differently or what would you add if you had more time? Yes l had planned to include at the end of the animation, a interactive quiz revealing all sorts of fun and interesting myth busting facts about Autism, l am still working on this and hopefully as restrictions around COVID-19 begin to lift, l will get the opportunity to exhibit it in the future.

View this project in Scratch