Predicting Overload: Autism Spectrum Disorder | Paul Fijal | TEDxEastVan

In this moving talk, Paul Fijal paints a vivid picture of what it’s like to live with autism. He explores the concept of empowered care; a personalized approach that bridges the information gap between individuals with mental health disorders and currently available care solutions.

Paul Fijal is a young social entrepreneur and Lead Biomedical Engineer with Awake Labs, who provide personalized, quantified care solutions to people living with autism. He is also dedicated to growing Vancouver’s reputation as a hub for social entrepreneurship and impact ventures. Paul is currently involved with the Coast Capital Savings Innovation Hub and is helping to bootstrap the brand new MedTech Development Hub at VGH with a group of young engineers and entrepreneurs. A Francophone originally from Calgary, Alberta, Paul graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical option, in May of 2015. He’s interested in new ventures focusing on social impact, as well as the biomedical and biotech industry.

[OldHagslore]

The thing people always seem to forget is that autistic children become autistic adults yet people do not have the same understanding and patience for adults as they do children.

[junehanabi]

A lot of this information is based on pre 2013 research. The cortex thing is also more complicated. There can exist a large percent of people that exhibit higher cortex and executive functioning traits but that are in fact deeply autistic. In other words that are simultaneously at both ends of the spectrum and don't have most of the executive functioning issues that were considered "traditional" to autism. This is why autism was renamed to ASD in 2013 and why the concepts like "traditional", "high functioning" and "low functioning" were removed because there was no way to define them and too many people that either got mis-diagnosed or not diagnosed all-together due to these outdated beliefs.

[bookbunny]

In all such talks of autistic people given by non-autistic people, when the presenter addresses the audience, they never say, "Or some of you here tonight may be autistic." I think that's pretty telling.

[vocalsunleashed]

Six and a half years ago I asked a teacher at my (special needs) school what she saw when she looked at a tree. She said she saw a tree. So then I told her, "Well I see a stam, lots of branches and a huge amount of leaves." She had asked me how the eye for detail thing works. It's just amazing to me how she was, while purposely trying to see what I see, not even experiencing the amount of censory overload that I get when my brain does that automatically. I mean it's not like I get to choose to turn it off. But it is also very useful. For instance when something falls to the ground. All my senses are "overly" sensitive too so I hear almost exactly where it fell and with the eye for detail it is found in a couple of seconds. Though it does not always go that way. Anyway, what I wanted to say (yay for the distracted mind) is that I used the exact same reference as you. I have Aspergers' Syndrome.

[Stormyweathers]

I suspect Paul didn't think this through. The last thing a kid with highly unusual traits needs is a device attached to him that tells his mother what his emotional state is. In a lot of ways, the only real defense I have against a neurotypical world is the privacy of my own mind. I'd rather be forced into a dog-collar and a leash than be strapped to a device like this.

[Meghan]

I very nice speech. Thank you.
I have nobody. No family, who would try to understand me or love me for beeing just - me.
No friends.
I‘m glad to hear that there are people outside, who love their kids, take care of them & help them to live a nice life & to feel loved.

🤍

[lschisel]

Late diagnosed female 49. Had meltdown yesterday. This explained so much. Highly functioning and ADHD

[clairebessel]

I think this has some potentially useful info in it but unfortunately it reinforces us and them mentality and told from the point of view of 'us'. I was hoping for more nuance and recognition of spectrum and individuality rather than relying on clichés of high functioning/low functioning/instiutionalized. the helper/helpless.

[pasik]

4:07 - 6:55

An interesting difference between Autistic brain and normal brains and how it causes each other individuals to see the world differently.

Autistic brain is more details focused and it focuses on every single data and information and process them to understand the bigger picture like how everything is interconnected together to work like in a system while neurotypical brain is not sharply details focused as same as Autistic brain and it subconsciously filters extra information and only focus on the generalized concept instead of focusing on every single data and information and systemizing them to a single framework.

Things like emotions, social rules, manners actually cannot be systemized, they change every time according to the situation. This is the reason why Autistic people struggle so much at understanding other people's emotions, social rules, manners....etc.

[ksthoughtpalace]

How about 'Jamie' learns what situations may overwhelm her son...rather than attach a mechanical device to

[weignerg]

3:20 thank you for sharing that in this way.
I hope it comes across to people the stress that is induced by what seems normal to most people.

[rinmolton]

The title seemed so promising, the conclusion was sickening.

[bobca]

As The Great Grey so eloquently reminds us, many of us do, or in my case did a long time ago, grow up to be autistic adults. Some of us, like me, have not been aware of that until we are pretty old...in my case in my 60's.

[racebiketuner]

I appreciate the thought and effort you put into this, Paul. But I think you got it backwards. IMO, what the ND community needs is a device to install on NTs that would activate whenever they disrespect our reasonable accommodations. It would bombard them with an enormous amount of sensory input until they had emotional and physiological responses they could not control, then leave them exhausted for a random amount of time between several hours and several days. Afterwards, we would make it OK by telling them "sorry."

[Ema]

the sound cutting out ... i find it ironic cause its driving me nuts

[btthpod]

i'm autistic, but i have trouble with the word "disorder" - i understand it, and my autistic comrades on the other end of the spectrum whose behaviors are "severe" as labeled here certainly often require a level of assistance that i don't, but i think "disorder" can obscure the idea that we are wired differently, not incorrectly - it only becomes a "handicap" when we don't fit in with a world not made for us and that does not meet us halfway to understand us

[Autism_Forever]

And here is me who came to this presentation while shopping for sound proof curtains. I am on that extreme end of the spectrum. My hearing starts at a negative 18 Db. I have hearing range of 1 mile. I had that exact same situation happen to me. People just stood around and yelled at me. They thought I did it on purpose. You know why Jacob ran into display shelf? Because he was overwhelmed and his vestibular, proprioseptory, and interoceptary systems failed. You know why Jacob was hitting himself on the head with his fists? To knock his mind out of its entrapping tormenting body. I scratch. I usually scratch. I try to scratch myself out of myself.

[Shpakbak_yt]

THANKS FOR SHARING WHAT SPECTRUM AUTISM IS I COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT BY READING ABOUT IT, BUT IF SOMEONE LECTURES ABOUT IT.... THEN I UNDERSTAND.... THANKS....

[seatbelttruck]

I was hoping for something a bit more practical than an app... I'm (high functioning) autistic, and sometimes have trouble realizing how close I am to melting down, but an app would be useless (for one thing I don't have a smartphone...)

Oh well. It's a cool idea anyway. And I'm sure it would be helpful to a lot of people. And like you said, you're an engineer, and that's the idea an engineer would come up with.

[GalleryofHorrors]

This was brilliant 😁❤️ I have autism and found this to be a little glimmer of oasis amongst the confusion. Thanks for this.