Goose bumps

I went to the science museum with my son yesterday. They had a special day for inventors to display their work and answer questions so I was trying to focus on that and steered David away from the exhibits, saying we would get back to them later. I had noticed that there was a new exhibit, called Goose Bumps. Not knowing anything about it, I had thought it had something to with a children's book series and would be kind of like the grossology show I skipped last year.

David and I finally entered late in the day, and it turned out to be about fear and anxiety. In fact, a good of the show deals with social anxiety, mixed in with really cool features about the fear response in humans. David spent a lot of time in a room where you practice hiding your shaow from a predatory leopard. I spent a lot of time watching video loops of adults talking about their experiences with a variety of social anxiety disorders. There were booths where you could test your reactions to common sources of fear, and a lot of explanations about how the brain processes fear. There seemed to be a lot of information and advice to help parents understand how children process fear. There was a film about the history of fear, and how society shapes and relects our common fears.
I really want to come back with some of the kids I work with, if possible. I am hoping they could get something from interacting with the various features. From my observations there were more than a few Aspies there yesterday (especially given that it was inventor's day.) The show has a website, for the curious:
http://www.fearexhibit.org/
Go if you can!