Using his skills as a photographer, an MHC student has helped create do2learn.com, a site devoted to helping people with autism.
Junior Josh Doby has assisted do2learn.com twice, both in its creation and once again this past year. Do2learn.com is a compilation of information, games and educational activities for kids with autism to follow and learn from.
Do2learn’s creator, Dorothy Strickland, visited South East Raleigh High School in 2007 to promote do2learn, and a teacher recommended Doby. He soon agreed to work with Strickland and her team on do2learn as their official photographer.
Working for several months at a time, he took photos of 430 people. He used Mars Hill students and staff, as well as people off the street. Some subjects were paid $5 each to allow Doby to photograph them. Many of the people photographed were his friends and acquaintances.
Originally, video was to be used for the site instead of pictures, so Doby took approximately 15 hours of facial expression video before the site creators decided that pictures would be easier for users to understand.
He also filmed several people being diagnosed with autism.
“I learned a lot. Some of it was difficult [to do], but I understand it better now,” he said. When asked if he would be willing to work with do2learn again, he said yes.
Some selections on do2learn’s homepage are art projects, songs and games, get organized and picture cards.
The website includes hundreds of pictures showing different facial expressions, and its most popular feature, the emotional color wheel. It displays different ranges of emotion on a colorful wheel diagram.
For example, happiness can be diluted to being content, or increased to overjoyed, overjoyed to excited, excited to exuberant, etc. Each word on the wheel is accompanied by a corresponding facial expression. The color wheel was designed to teach children how to keep their emotions on a fairly balanced level. Kids are advised to try and keep their emotions on the outside of the scale because the inside of the scale is much more intense, including hysteria, rage, and depression.
Most of the information on the site is based on research completed by Paul Ekman, who theorized that humans only have six central emotions, and the rest fall under one of these categories: happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise.
Another component of the site is for families, parents and friends to follow and help guide their children through do2learn. For parents, the site contains links to disabilities, family advocacy, and advice.
Do2learn.com is currently being used by schools all over the country to help aid autistic children. It is also being used by a group from the University of South Australia, to help research and possibly treat schizophrenia.
Visit www.do2learn.com to learn more.
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