In the early 2020s, many with disabilities were socially outsiders in their wider communities. Autistic individuals reported issues in attempting communication with others or being able to reciprocate other’s attempts to communicate with them. One medical name for this occurrence is alexithymia, meaning that many autistic individuals are not able to recognize what emotions they are feeling at any moment, and they also struggle to identify or anticipate the emotions or tone of others. It is because of this specific challenge for autistic individuals that we created the first ToneTag™. 

 

To give some further insight into how it was back then, here is a quote from one of the first additions to our company team, co-designer Nat Doe, “For my first day of classes, I tried getting up early but still ended up late due to my bus schedules getting changed this semester. While rushing to the room, I finally made it 30 minutes late. All the students took up the front half of the workshop, so I sat on one of the lab desks knowing I would make a terrible first impression. I did not know what to tell anyone, whether I should tell the truth or if they wouldn’t believe me. If they didn’t think of me as an equal because of one mistake, I may never recover. So I spent the rest of class scared out of my mind unable to concentrate on what was being said. During the lecture I could not even tell when the professor was serious, sarcastic, or making a joke. After class, I hesitantly went up to the teacher to ask what I missed in the first half hour. He gave me the information and made a comment saying I would surely fail the course for missing the first half hour, and everything could only be downhill from here. I didn’t even know how to respond. Should I continue the train of conversation? Should I try to say that I’m sorry for being late? I just didn’t know what he meant by the comment so I had no real way to respond. I just ended up being silent until he continued. I would be much less lost if I actually knew what he meant by it but instead I was confused by his tone, and I think it was awkward for him as well. I could ask for clarification on what he meant, but how could I even convey that? Making someone feel bad just because they do not know how my head works, and I don’t know how their head works? All the uncertainty of just trying to talk about something, and never knowing how the other person will respond, just makes things worse. I cannot anticipate their emotions or how they will take it. If I could just let them know how I feel, and make sure they know my tone and I know theirs, everything would be much simpler.”