Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
Today's article stresses the importance of movement. Note: not even exercise, just movement. Many of the typical US jobs don't involve a lot of movement, and once home from work, our leisure activities don't involve much movement either. It used to be more common to take walks, or perhaps garden, dance, or participate in some kind of backyard sport.
In this Information Age, it's much more likely you'll find people in front of the TV, playing video games, or just browsing the Internet on their smartphones. I'm more guilty of this than most: my work is a desk job, and my leisure is usually video games or watching Let's Plays with my spouse. None of this innately involves movement.
I've actually tried to fold using an exercise bike into playing my video game, but the extra shaking from the exercise has proved problematic for doing anything requiring precision in the game. I also tend to get crabby and annoyed because of the extra effort. I think I'll probably do better if I simply try to watch Let's Plays or listen to podcasts... but this is kind of why I hope virtual reality will soon include games that specifically require movement.
In any case, humans evolved to be active, mobile creatures. The lack of built in movement in our lives has consequences. This article notes one: higher chances of having depressive episodes. On the flip side, movement can protect against depression, even in people who are genetically predisposed to suffer it. Finding a leisure activity that involves movement, even movement that isn't strenuous, can protect against depression, and can reduce the amount of suffering you experience.
What leisure activities do you have in your life? Can you work movement into them? Are there activities involving movement you might want to try?
In this Information Age, it's much more likely you'll find people in front of the TV, playing video games, or just browsing the Internet on their smartphones. I'm more guilty of this than most: my work is a desk job, and my leisure is usually video games or watching Let's Plays with my spouse. None of this innately involves movement.
I've actually tried to fold using an exercise bike into playing my video game, but the extra shaking from the exercise has proved problematic for doing anything requiring precision in the game. I also tend to get crabby and annoyed because of the extra effort. I think I'll probably do better if I simply try to watch Let's Plays or listen to podcasts... but this is kind of why I hope virtual reality will soon include games that specifically require movement.
In any case, humans evolved to be active, mobile creatures. The lack of built in movement in our lives has consequences. This article notes one: higher chances of having depressive episodes. On the flip side, movement can protect against depression, even in people who are genetically predisposed to suffer it. Finding a leisure activity that involves movement, even movement that isn't strenuous, can protect against depression, and can reduce the amount of suffering you experience.
What leisure activities do you have in your life? Can you work movement into them? Are there activities involving movement you might want to try?
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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