OWN IT

Our brain is a marvelous and complex thing. But, imagine all your senses are turned to 120 percent sensitivity.

Autism is a neurological condition, causing the brain to have difficulty predicting incoming sensory information. This results in overstimulation and unfortunately a lot of stress. The regular approach of reducing overstimulation is by blocking senses i.e. putting on headphones, avoiding large crowds. This works, momentarily.

If this is not possible, overstimulation can end in extreme meltdowns. To prevent this, there is a need for reducing overstimulation in a different way.

OWN IT is a smart shirt to teach teenagers on the autism spectrum to do a breathing exercise in moments of stress. It recognizes a low heartrate variability caused by stress and provides a vibrational rhythm resembling deep breathing. By learning this way of breathing, OWN IT is a new step towards less overstimulation for autism.