Hi! I need a favor!

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Hello everyone!
I'm a neurotypical college student studying product design in Oregon, and I'm trying to design a product that helps people who are sensitive cope with sensory overload. I'm sorry to bust in on your lovely community (way to go, by the way), but I'd love if you could take five minutes and answer the questions in this survey:
https://efrieden.typeform.com/to/AB7ARO
Products designed for classes often go into real development, so if you see a need for something that doesn't already exist, here's your chance to influence the design process! We'd really like to make something designed both for and by people on the spectrum, so I promise our intentions are pure
Thank you so much! And have a lovely day!
Em

I sense your intentions are fine.

I sense, though, that had you engaged with us in conversation, that you might have gotten a more positive response.

I also believe you need permission from Alex, who is one of the founders of WrongPlanet, to ask for survey responses. There are people in the past who have used autistic people for exploitative purposes.

I took it. I vouch that there is nothing that could be exploitive.

Hey guys!
First of all, thank you so much to those who took the survey! I appreciate your time, and some of your responses cracked me up You guys are the best.
And to kraftiekortie, I'm really sorry if you interpreted this as exploitative. I reviewed the rules and looked for the most appropriate forum in which to post, and this seemed to be it. If I can do anything to make you feel less weirded out by this (I know surveys implicitly come across as sketchy), or answer any questions, I'm happy to! I really am going at this from a compassionate and curious viewpoint; I don't want to design something that is insensitive to real needs and issues. I figured that posting in a (relatively) anonymous forum with a strong sense of community would allow people to give input without feeling targeted or singled out for their disorder.
Thanks for your feedback, and I will try to be more sensitive in the future!
Em

Finished your survey, good luck with your project! One thing I'm curious about; at the end it says you have high functioning autism, but your OP says you're neurotypical, I was a little confused by that.

Can you invent something stronger than industrial ear plugs?

I once took a hearing test in an allegedly soundproof isolation booth wearing a headphone ... weirdest thing was when I was able to hear the alarm go off outside the isolation booth ... I raised my hand because I thought it was part of the test. The lady giving the test gave me a shocked look, opened the door, and exclaimed, "You weren't supposed to hear that!" My hearing literally verges on the superhuman. And that can be painful.

Anyways, mostly I'm not a fan of "autistic gadgets."
I would be a fan of people being a bit more patient, understanding, and compassionate.
But of course, that doesn't sell products ...

Anyways, this here is my contribution to the survey.

Hi again!

To StarTrekker, yep that was a mistake! I am neurotypical, I corrected the survey. Thanks for pointing that out!

To the_pheonix and starkid, that's an awesome suggestion. While earplugs and headphones exist, I'd bet they're engineered to block all frequencies but those of the human voice, so construction workers and such are safe. It would be really interesting to look into designing earplugs that specifically block the pitch at which humans speak!! I will definitely follow up on this, thank you for pointing that out!

And Pieplup, that does seem like a breach of privacy... if people reply honestly, I don't want to expose their responses to everyone. But I will ask this legendary 'Alex' i hear of if he/she (?) thinks it would be okay, and get back to you. In the meantime, I'll give you some highlights though: a lot of people mentioned liking soft textures, especially against their faces, which was interesting. In ideating, we'd wondered whether really subtle textures or something more rough and tactile would be more comforting, so it was great to get an answer! There were mentions of cats. There were some complaints about the survey-- about the platform, terminology, and focus-- and though it sounds insincere, we actually will definitely use these as constructive criticism . There were compliments to the survey, too, which is encouraging! I know this sort of thing can come across as spammy, and I reeeeeally don't want that to be exploitative or infringe on people's privacy. On that end, do you guys have any questions? I'm happy to tell you more about our project or the responses or heck, myself if anyone wants!

Ooh, one more question. Would people be open to answering another survey down the road that is more specific?
Thanks again, guys. You're all awesome.

Sure, I don't mind answering surveys, I'm quite opinionated and enjoy sharing

Autistic people are not the only ones who experience sensory overload. I don't know if the survey is specifically about autistic people, or intended to be about sensory overload in general, so I thought I'd mention that.

To starkid, thanks for pointing that out. We hope that the design can be used by a larger audience, but in the design process, we need to have a narrower target market (horrible word, it makes it seem like such a capitalistic venture), so we're focusing on autistic people specifically.

The survey asked about what I thought of products for people with autism. I didn't know there were any. Also there were questions about what helps to calm me down. I found that mildly offensive. Why assume that I need to calm down? I am sensitive to loud noise - such as those awful Dyson blade hand driers. But this is easily dealt with by putting my fingers in my ears and leaving the room. The survey implied that I might have some sort of emotional meltdown and need one of those special autism products to get over it.

Filled out and submitted.