NeighborSpectrum

A little sneak peek of my interactions with Claude ;))
NeighborSpectrum on v0
Community Inclusion for Autism

Inspiration

Desperate Housewives- In Desperate Housewives, there's a character named Caleb who has a disability and the dynamic between him and his family- apart from the drama- reminded me that families of children with disabilities actually face struggles in real life. Also, growing up, I met a few people in primary school who are autistic. I appreciated all the love and care their families put into supporting them.

What it does

NeighborSpectrum is a hyperlocal platform designed to break the isolation that families of autistic children experience in their own neighborhoods. Despite living near each other, these families often don't know one another exists, missing opportunities for mutual support, shared resources, and community building.

Our solution connects autism families within specific zip codes and school districts through a mobile-first web app featuring: a community feed for sharing experiences and questions, a crowdsourced map of autism-friendly local businesses and services, a meetup coordinator for organizing playdates and support groups, and a resource exchange for borrowing or sharing sensory toys and equipment.

By focusing on hyperlocal connections, we empower families to build sustainable support networks right in their own neighborhoods, reducing isolation and creating lasting micro-communities. What starts as a simple connection can grow into carpools to therapy appointments, shared babysitting arrangements, and a network of understanding neighbors who truly "get it."

How we built it

I first of all researched on Autism Awareness to get my facts right. Then I created a concept and shared it with a few people to get their feedback and we generally just started brainstorming. After that I fleshed out the idea using Claude and worked on the functionalities of the app, the theme and color coordination and finding the colors that represent what I want to share.

Challenges we ran into

I struggled with the functionality part;) I used v0 app to create a base for creating my app and seeing the nits and bits of each of its features. I wasn't really able to get everything done in this time frame but I'm proud of even starting this in the first place.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud of how far I have come in not only signing up for this hackathon but seeing it through. I am proud of being able to think of an idea that will hopefully actually help people.

What we learned

I learned that when thinking of solutions for people, you have to start with finding the specific community you want to help and understanding fully the vastness of what they're facing. So yes, we need to support people with autism, but we don't really think of their families, who go around in the background, you know. And I just think it's important to take note of the entire picture first before diving in.