We are happy to have Robert Johnson founder of a woodworking company as our guest blogger today!
Woodworking is an awesome way for people to relax! Please check out his blog and his website! We’d love to hear your comments as well! Would anyone be interested in maybe some online woodworking videos, for our members?
Thinking about autism is like thinking about life-long development, learning, and understanding of things around us. This is not a bad thing. Contrary, it is a positive and very stimulating approach towards life, which should also be promoted by people without a disability.
A life of an autistic person can be demanding, but it should be full of joy and happiness about every new achievement. I have recently found out that very nice source of happiness is having hobbies, a variety of them, but one especially. Woodworking. Simple or advanced one, woodworking can make you happy and satisfied and influence developing the skills that you need, like being precise, thinking about details, changing routines (read: shapes).
How can woodworking help autism become a source of joy, read in the following lines.
Woodworking is a one man show
Autistic people suffer from the influence of the high exposures to the social environment and have difficulties when they are surrounded with many people. One of the reasons for this is trading of information which can be exhausting to us,since we are not able to understand all the sources at the same time. That is why woodworking is precious – you can work on your own and in a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. One person can manage a whole workshop and deliver pieces, so that is why woodworking can be very encouraging. Usually, the very start is dedicated to learning, and at that point it is important that the teacher has understanding of your needs and enough time to share all the knowledge.
Improving visual communication and symbol understanding
Doing woodworking can be a sort of a learning mechanism for getting to know the environs and learning how to deal with communication gaps. Since it is a very diverse hobby, it can be used to help you learn symbols and work on visualizing the daily communication. Making pieces in a woodniverse can help you understand the outside world easier. Look at the example. If it is difficult for you to understand why handshaking is important, try to make figures of people handshaking and give them a new meaning. Do that with all other gestures, symbols, communication behaviors and make them a part of your world.
Use the focus you have or learn how to have focus
It is known that autistic people have a highly-focused interest which is noticeable from a very young age. This skill can be used in woodworking since most of the processes in woodworking require being high focus and precise output. In this way, woodworking can help autistic people express the skill they already possess and be proud of their achievements.
Nevertheless, the best outcome of woodworking is always shaving happy faces and unexpected shapes that can be made. And that is why it is worth doing.
