So, I guess our son is normal.

 Color isn’t specifically mentioned in the DSM IV for asperger’s (I don’t know about the rest of the book).  In my case my intense interest in specific colors shows “patterns of interest that [are] abnormal either in intensity or focus.”  There are many stories online providing anecdotal evidence that, though not a DSM diagnostic criteria, a complete inflexibility with sensory stimuli such as color can certainly be an indicator worth exploring.  My concern was that his son shared this same manifestation of an Asperger’s symptom.  As Philip stated, and was supported by Johnnie, this is not abnormal for a 3 year old.  As I said earlier, I just don’t know what’s normal for a 3 year old.  Based on this I no longer have a reason to suspect that his son has Asperger’s.

As long as I’m on here I may as well apologize to Philip.  I hadn’t considered that my comment could be offensive and it probably would have been more appropriate to send a private message.  I don’t think I would have been able to ignore my suspicion because of how much your son’s preferences in color are like my own.  I am glad to hear that it’s normal at that age.

1.  Philip Berne works for Samsung
2.  He is gay
3.  He doesn’t yet realize that he is gay, and even has a son
4.  His son is also gay

I hope they can find and choose friends who also think the distinction between girl-colors and boy-colors is stupid. And if they can’t, I hope they don’t listen to them.

-Renee’

It is kinda a shame… manufacturers do need to sell to the mass market, but simultaneously play a role in developing the markets by the products they offer.  Kinda a no-win spiral as regards changing cultural perceptions.

Attempting to remotely make a diagnosis of autistic spectrum with only the info provided in this article, would not be something a knowledgeable child psychologist would do.

There’s a certain amount of realism that has to be dealt with… if the manufacturer is going to release their product, and has to pick 3 colors for it, then it’s only natural that they are going to pick the 3 colors that appeal to the broadest percentage of their target market, and while it may be stereotypical to say that boys like certain colors, in this case at least, there’s a certain amount of truth to the stereotype as it applies to the average population.  Isn’t it appropriate for them to make choices based on gender, if that information is both true and meaningful?

You’ve said, “your goal is to change perceptions” but we have to remember that this isn’t the goal of the manufacturers.   Their goal is to sell product, and if kids are going to (on average) choose the truck with a different color, that’s what they are going to make.  I’m reminded of the episode of the Simpsons, where Lisa makes a doll that doesn’t display the negative stereotypes of femininity.   The pyrrhic victory was a plus from Lisa’s perspective, but from the manufacturers perspective, it wasn’t a win.

While I support your direction here, I also understand that most people aren’t like us. They wouldn’t buy the pink item for their son. It’s for this reason, you can expect, that vendors don’t want to risk having a product sit on the shelf, because it’s the wrong color.

What I might suggest is that all vendors head down the path of allowing custom skins. That way, you (and everyone else) can get the color they want, with little effort. I can’t imagine it would be too hard, since they can easily skin an entire vehicle… why not skin a device? Make the base “aluminum” or “metal” colored, then let people put on whatever color they want. In case of cellphones, it would prevent the idiocy and premium that Apple has created for white devices since you can make the same product “underneath” and the customer can make whatever color they really want. (I’m not a fan of white devices.) What’s more, this skinning (though it can get scratched easily) is cheap, thin, lightweight, and can be reapplied or changed easily – it beats the dumb plastic/rubber things we have today, and keeps the device svelte.