Aspergers and writing: ‘build’, not just ‘revise’

June 26, 2010 — xanthippa

‘Everyone’ who is familiar with Aspies knows that most of us struggle with writing.

Not all of us – Aspergers affects each person a little differently and to a different degree.  And, it affects males and females a little differently, too.  Perhaps that is why my post  ‘Aspergers and writing’ continues to get so many hits.

Today, I got a comment on it which raises something important.  That is why I’m posting this comment – and my quick reply to it – as its own post here:

Your comments about perfectionism and the difficulty Aspies have in putting words to paper make me wonder if this is why it’s so difficult for Aspies to revise what they’ve written: that once they get something down on paper they have committed their ideas to writing and there is no other way to put it. As a writing teacher, I often run into a wall when I ask my Aspie students to revise and I wonder if you think this explanation is accurate.

My response was:

I think that you are on the right track. I would like to nuance it slightly, if I may.

There are several things going on.

It is not that the Aspie may not be able to think of different words to put things into: it may be true at some times, byt certainly not at others. For example, many Aspies are very verbal – and they can say things out loud in many, many different ways. As a matter of fact, you may have a hard time shutting them up – they’ll describe the same things in so many ways.

The problem comes whith ‘investing’ into writing the words down. They have been ‘selected’ and ‘sweated over’ – why do you want to change them?

This constant ‘revision’ most writing teachers insist is part of ‘proper writing’ reduces me to white-hot fury! It it’s worth writing down, it’s worth doing it RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

Once an Aspie HAS written something down and you are asking them to ‘revise’ it – you are asking them to take something that is ‘right’ and change it….obviously, if you take something that is ‘right’ and change it, you make it ‘wrong’! Then, when they hand in the version you forced them to change from ‘right’ to ‘wrong’, you give them a bad mark…

No wonder we don’t want to ‘revise’!

OK – that was the ‘emotional’ response.

Now, for more ‘reasoning’….

There is a problem – an actual physical problem in the neural connections – in the brain which makes it difficult for MOST (not all – we are all individuals), especially male, Aspies to write. Physically write.

Forcing us to ‘write’ and endlessly re-write the same sentences over and over is mental torture to us. It rubs our noses in our failure. So, we avoid it like the plague. If it’s a computer file, we’ll be less freaked out by it. But asking us to hand-copy out the same bits over because other bits had changed is unreasonable.

I actually can tell – byt the style of writning – if something I ‘produced’ was first spoken and then trans-scribed/typed into the computer, or if I wrote it on a piece of paper in longhand and then typed it into the computer, or if I directly typed it into the computer. Honestly, my sentence structure and syntax are significantly different in each one of these styles of ‘writing’. Perhaps you could experiment with your students on this theme….

But!

This is the way I helped my kids ‘get over’ the whole ‘revision aversion’ (I could not very well undermine the teacher, right?).

I explain that the teacher is trying to teach them how to build a piece of writing ‘from the ground up’. It is a particular methodology to teach, and marks are awarded at each stage: sort of like when you learn to swim, they first teach you to put your face in the water and only later want to see you perform the full butterfly stroke…

So – first ‘version’ is NOT supposed to be ‘a written story’ or ‘a written essay’.

Instead, organize your thoughts and put 1-2 words for each paragraph: enough to ‘record’ the ‘main idea’ or ‘main thrust’ of what this will say. This will be handed in as ‘brainstorming’ – teacher needs to get it to keep a record of it, so they can prove what they gave you the marks for if someone audits their work.

On the next ‘version’, you go to each one of the paragraphs and put in 1-2 words for each sentence you will write in the finished piece. Check that each paragraph still has the same ‘focus’ as the ‘brainstorming’. This will be first draft – again, marks, teacher keeps for records…

In between each step, take the teacher’s feedback and incorporate it in – again, this needs to show up. It’s the teacher’s job to give you feedback, so it’s important for the records they keep to reflect it. If you don’t, they’ll think they are not teaching you right, be sad, not like your work….pick your sentiment.

On the next ‘version’, you write BARE sentences for the 1-2 word things. Make sure all ideas are there, but not really all the descriptions, and not nicely or fancily. You’re hitting the highlights. That is the next draft.

Finally, you take your draft and connect up things, dress up the sentences, and so on.

It’s a method of constructing something. Teachers must document they taught it to you.

This way, you’ll show how you built the written piece. It’s not so much ‘revision’ or ‘revising’ it – that is a very poor label for this. But, that is the label we are stuck with.

Does this help explain the thought process?

Posted in Aspergers, education. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments »

CanGames weekend is here!!!

May 21, 2010 — xanthippa

Yes!

THE event of the year is upon us:  CanGames 2010 is ON!

I originally came across it in a somewhat unusual way…

When we first began to look for ways to help my older son (as Aspie as the rest of us) develop the tools to integrate into the greater society, we found Warhammer – the Fantasy version.

The game itself has been described as being ‘like chess, but with 100x more complex rules and no helpful grid on the play area’.  Oh – and you have to select and build/paint your own playing pieces…

We got into it as our son was interested in strategy games, and the whole building/painting of his entire ‘army’ was excellent physical therapy for his co-ordination.  He did it because he wanted the result…. I helped and got hooked on the ‘making/painting’ bit.  Years later, I still make a 1-3 pieces a year (by request only) for some collectors…

Building that first army was really fun:  I even bought a set of (much cheaper) plastic soldiers and ‘his own paints’ for my younger son:  while my older one and I worked to build his ‘army’, I would put a garbage bag over the tray of the high chair, sit my younger one in it beside me (he was the right age for it and loved his high chair), and he would ‘paint’ his very own army, too!  (Yes, I still have most of it…having been cautioned by several of the people at CanGames that once he grows up, he’ll treasure ‘his first army’!)

THE single biggest Warhammer tournament in our area was (and is) at CanGames.

That is how I first learned about it – and that is why I first went there.

My son – even though a kid (so I had to be along to supervise) – entered the all-day-long Warhammer Tournament.  My goal was simple:  to use this game to helpmy seriously Aspie son…. to use this rules-based environment to learn social skills necessary for him to integrate into society.  Like, say, not having a ‘meltdown’ if he does not win (no shame for a ‘starter’ kid to loose to ‘expert adults’ – so, knowing this ahead of time, learning that ‘loosing to the best-of-the-best’ is ‘the expectation’ and no reason for tears).

And, I must admit, the whole event outdid our expectations!

Not only did various people ‘take him under their wing’, and not only was this the main place where he learned ‘good sportsmanship’ from the example of many excellent people who were not only ‘not threatened’ by having points scored against them by a ‘kid’, but by positively delighting in his successes, congratulating him on ‘excellent moves’ as they occurred, they successfully taught him ‘sportsmanship’:  how to be both ‘a good looser’ and ‘a gracious winner’!

It worked.  Now, my older son is much in demand to ‘run gaming events’ – bot for kids and for adults.  He is regarded as having excellent sportsmanship, he appreciates – and praises – excellent moves, no matter who makes them, even against him, he is often called upon to referee disputes (he reads the rules once and know them for ever – and applies them fairly and in an unbiased way)….  Yes, I would like to take the credit for myself, but, I know a parent can only be an example so far…  It was the example of many excellent ‘expert’ gamers whom he admired at CanGames which deserves the credit!

I must admit that  my son has not been entering the Warhammer Fantasy tournaments at CanGames in the last few years.  Still, this is not a criticism of the tournament itself!  It is most excellent!

Rather, he has succumbed to curiosity…  There are SO MANY other games offered that he cannot bring himself to spend a whole day in a single tournament, when he could be learning so many new games!  After all, CanGames only runs Friday night, Saturday and Sunday…

Saturday morning, CanGames has a special program for kids.  Having watched his older brother eagerly await CanGames much as Sheldon Cooper awaits the annual Comic-Con, he was eager to join in the Saturday morning games (especially the Nintendo64 Mario-brothers-themed ones).

One year, one of his opponents was an Autistic girl – much more Autistic than my son was Aspie, if you get my drift.  The Autie’s therapist/supervisor explained to me that playing these types of games was ‘the only effective way’ her charge would socialize:  and meeting her and playing against her in the game helped my young Aspie son realize that there were others, with much more to overcome than he had… and showing that deep down, we are all a lot more similar than our ‘external-expression’ might suggest!

Now that he is older, my younger one plans to participate as fully at CanGames as his older brother does!

And, yes – I will be along!

To supervise and help, of course.  But also to have fun on my own!  Seeing the same people, once a year, is really neat in a weird sort-of way.  You can watch young people grow and develop, see familiar faces, talk to people who can out-strategize you any time they wish…  Oh, yes – and you can match your mind against some really, really awesome strategists (yeah – the political strategists ought to sit-up and take note – they could certainly use the training!)

Like I said: fun!

Posted in about, Aspergers, education, society. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Autism Registry: a pilot project by Ottawa Police

May 20, 2010 — xanthippa

If you read my blog, you are probably aware that I have a strong interest in Asperger’s Sydrome:  I am an Aspie, I am married to an Aspie, both my children are Aspies, most of my friends are, if not full-Aspies, at least ‘almost-Aspies.

Hence the interest.

Or, perhaps, obsession…

While I like to explain that Asperger’s is to Autism like ‘wearing glasses’ is to ‘being blind’, it is an Autism spectrum disorder, there is some overlap (OK – I’d have to  go on a tangent to explain this ‘right’:  let it suffice (for here) that both Autism and Asperger’s have the same ‘thing’ which affects how the brain is wired ‘differently’, but the difference is that each affects a different bit of the brain….some people have a bit of ‘re-wiring’ in both areas – thus, the overlap).  So, I am always paying attention when I hear about both…

So, I was quite interested when I heard that the Ottawa Police were doing some sort of a pilot project to do with interacting with members of our community who are Autistic or have Asperger’s Syndrome.  Thanks go to my favourite Ottawa City Councillor, Eli El-Chantiry, for getting me in touch with the people running the pilot project.

It looks excellent!

This – in a nutshell – is what it is about…

When a call comes in to the ‘911’ emergency service, the operator pulls up the info on the address where the call is coming from:

  • the address
  • map
  • other relevant info (like the much reviled gun registry, and so on)

A person who looks after an Autie or an Aspie (or the Autie/Aspie themselves) can register in this program.  When they do this, the ‘relevant information’ will include some information about the Autie/Aspie that lives there.

This can save lives!

The information can be, say, there is a small Autistic boy who fears loud noises.  If there is a fire alarm, he is likely to hide under the bed or in the closet.  Only answers to ‘Xxx’ nickname….  Touching him makes him panic.

Or, it can say something like ‘this is a group home for adult Auties.  These are their names, this is how they react to being agitated,’ and so on.

Information is power.

When emergency responders are walking into a situation where they know they will encounter a person who is not fully functional – and, the stress of emergency situations does often push ‘partially functional’ people (especially kids) into a non-functional state – they will be able to do their job better.

This Autism Registry pilot program harnesses the power of information into better helping vulnerable people in emergency situations.  Into saving live.

I liked what I learned about the program so much, I offered to help out as best I can.  And, perhaps, there may be a tiny role I can play.

One way I – and you – can help is to ‘spread the word’!

If you know someone in the City of Ottawa who would benefit from registering – tell them.

If you live outside of Ottawa, tell your police department to check out this pilot project in Ottawa.  The model is highly portable – perhaps your community would benefit from something similar!

Posted in Aspergers, education, society. Tags: , , , , . 2 Comments »

ADD, Aspergers and the ‘cannot-put-weight-on-foot’ syndrome

February 24, 2010 — xanthippa

This is not a ‘medical theory’ or even an ‘expert hypothesis’,  just my own thoughts and ideas.  Still, I do suspect that ADD/ADHD and Asperges are both a type of ‘cannot-put-weight-on-foot’ syndrome:

Let us do a ‘thought experiment’…

You come to see your doctor because you can’t put any weight on one of your feet, and you want your doctors to help you. They run their ‘standard tests’ and diagnoses you with ‘cannot-put-weight-on-foot’ (CPWOF) syndrome.   You are told that predicting the success of the treatment is difficult, because different approaches work for different people.
Some people are lucky and the CPWOF syndrome goes away on its own – they ‘grow out of it’. For others, there is a variety of treatments they can try, hoping one will work.

They can try icing it – perhaps even using a brace to support it.

They might try hot baths in salty water, perhaps rubbing in some antibiotic ointment.

Some people respond well to pain medication. Or, anti-inflammatory drugs…

Or other ‘stuff’.

Or nothing.

So, let’s try cycling through the treatments!

By now, you may have guessed that the ‘standard tests’ are questionnaires to be filled out by your family, perhaps teachers, for their observations of how you walk. Pages and pages of questions like:

Does he favour his foot: all the time, most of the time, some of the time, a little bit of the time, never. Circle the answer that fits best….

If they want ‘hard metrics’ – you know, ‘scientific data’ – they may ask you to put your foot on a scale and put as much of your weight on it as you can manage. That will give them ‘a hard number’ to work with!

Of course, this diagnosis does not differentiate between the ’causes’ of CPWOF syndrome.   The syndrome itself is so fascinating, they want to take a ‘whole-istic’ (chuckle at their own little joke) approach to it and not get bogged down in the details of ’causes’. (Translation: they don’t know and don’t care.  They have a ‘name’ for it and a bunch of treatments to try, and that’s enough…)

To make a long story short – whether you cannot put weight on your foot because you sprained your ankle or broke your femur or got a rusty nail stuck in your heel – or, if your foot got eaten by some piranhas that somehow got lost and ended up in your bathtub while you were soaking in it – it does not matter. You have ‘cannot-put-weight-on-foot’ syndrome!

(I also secretly suspect that many immune system diseases and disorders, limbic system illnesses and brain chemistry imbalances are also one form of CPWOF syndrome or another…a ‘label’ hung onto a collection of ‘similar’ symptoms, regardless of their root causes.  I also suspect that this interferes with proper analysis of ‘problems’ where one set of root causes can present as a very diverse variety of external symptoms.  This then would, I suspect, prevent correct diagnosis and even preclude a search for any effective treatment…)

In other words, I think that diagnosing someone with ‘ADD’ or ‘Aspergers’ is like diagnosing them with a ‘headache’ – and treating all headaches as if they were ‘the same thing’, regardless of whether it is caused by migranes, having been hit in the head by a baseball, a tumour or having over-indulged in alcohol…or any other billion possible causes for a ‘headache’.

So, what is it that this ‘headache’, this CPWOF of Aspergers and ADD/ADHD is? Instead of ‘not being able to put weight on foot’, we  have ‘malfunctioning filters’.  But, I am getting ahead of myself…

In order to be diagnosed with Aspergers, one has to first be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. As in, everyone who has Aspergers has ADD/ADHD, but not everyone who has ADD/ADHD has Aspergers.  Therefore, it seems reasonable to see if there ‘is’ some ‘common mechanism’ to both conditions which differs from ‘the norm’.

This, then, is my hypothesis:

Both disorders/conditions could be caused by a break-down/partial development/some interference with the same ‘system’ in our brain and which could be described as: fewer ‘filters’, less conscious control over ‘filters’.

The difference is that in ADD/ADHD, only the sensory filters are broken. In Aspergers, these also don’t work, but, there are others that are also broken. And this is what leads to more pervasive disorders, problems, challenges – whatever you want to call them.

What do I mean by ‘sensory filters’?

One simple experiment that just about everyone I know has tried in one form or another is the whole putting one hand into cold water, the other into warm water. At first, we will have strong sensations that one hand is ‘cold’ and the other is ‘hot’. But, as time goes on, this will be less and less – the signal will diminish in strength over time, until we will ‘get used to’ the temperatures. Then, when we take our hands out of the water and touch them to each other, we’ll be amazed at the temperature difference between them when our brain is telling us both are ‘fine’….

That is an example of ‘sensory filters’ at work.

More simple examples:

We feel ‘clothing’ as we got dressed – but we are not consciously aware of every bit of clothing touching every bit of our skin at all times while we are wearing the clothes.

We may hear the furnace/air conditioner is on when we enter a room, but, after being in it for a while, we hardly notice its noise in the background…

People often over-apply perfume, because after they have been wearing it for a while, they do not smell it as much and keep re-applying more and more, increasing the ‘dose’ in order to get the same level of sensory input reporting it.

This is how our ‘filters’ ought to function. And, most ‘normal’ or ‘neurotypical’ people have lots of these ‘filters’, in various strengths.

In ADD/ADHD people, it is as if there were way fewer of these ‘filters’. Instead of, say, 100 (from weakest to strongest), we might have 20.

Or 3.

Or just 2:   100% ‘on’ and 100% ‘off’!

(Not all people with ADD/ADHD will have ALL their filters broken.  Some individuals may have ‘fewer’ filters in one specific area, others may have fewer ‘across the board’.  And, for some, it seems as if the ‘filters’ existed – but were only accessible at some times while totally off-line and unavailable at other times….which would drive their teachers and parents absolutely nuts about ‘inconsistencies in behaviour’! )

So, if the filter were 100% ‘on’, people might be calling your name, the fire alarm might be on, but, since you are reading a book and the rest of your ‘filters’ is ‘100% on’, you honestly do not hear any of it.

The ‘neat’ thing – the one that made me think of this as ‘filters’ rather than anything else – is that you actually DO perceive the sounds physically. It’s just that the brain sticks the information that you perceived the sound into a ‘buffer’ – and leaves it there unless you specifically try to retrieve it. Then it is a toss up as to whether the buffer has been ‘wiped’ or whether you can access the info held in it.

My younger son, for example, would not react to sounds as an infant – sometimes. Not even the ‘flinch’ which babies are supposed to have (say, when we are getting to 8 months of age and so on) when a loud sound happens directly behind them. He had absolutely no reaction. Yet at other times he obviously found even moderate sounds painfully loud…

Now, when he does not respond to what I say – not even aware of me talking to him – and I get his attention, I can ask him ‘what did I say’. He says he doesn’t know. I ask him to’ re-play it’. He does. He can repeat it word per word perfectly.

Only after he repeats it does he comprehend it!

Weird, but true.

My husband has the same thing…..as does my dad.

With Aspergers, these same malfunctions with ‘filters’ – or, perhaps ‘missing filters’ also exist. But, rather than just sensory ones (that drive one to distraction at one point while make them oblivious to their surroundings the next moment), the filters on feelings and emotions and – hormones – are similarly not all there, or broken, or whatever.  (And, having problems with ‘both sets’ it is sometimes difficult to tell where the dividing line ‘ought to lie’…)

So, it is easy for Aspies to get ‘overwhelmed’ by emotion and adrenalin, because where a neurotypical (NT) person would feel a gradual rise in these, we don’t. The floodgates are either down – and we ‘appear cold, unfeeling and un-empathetic’ or they are all the way up and we are ‘out of control’.  Total meltdown.

Many of us learn to develop various ways of ‘shutting down’ as a self-protection from this overwhelming flood….because this flood is often accompanied with adrenalin flood (we panic from being emotionally overwhelmed, which releases the adrenalin…).

This is bad.

Not only does it shut down our brain functions like, say, thinking, it also leaves us physically ill from the overpowering adrenalin rush. We get clammy and shaky and icky inside and out.

And most Aspies really, really, really do not like this feeling.  A lot.

What many people don’t understand is that  it is not just ‘negative’ stuff that can trigger this reaction.  ‘Positive’ emotions and feelings are just as dangerous to Aspies and their end-result is just as unpleasant and uncomfortable – at times quite painful, physically!

So, as we grow up and try to cope with this world (!),  we try to learn how to avoid ’emotionality’, even on a sub-conscious level.

If you know people with ADD/ADHD and/or Aspergers – or if you happen to be one yourself – please, try to see your experiences through the prism of my little hypothesis.  Then, whether it ‘makes sense’ or not – or any other observations you might have about this, please, let me know through the comments.  Pooling our observations and analysis might, perhaps, help us help each other!

(Cross-posted at Xanthippa on Aspergers)

Posted in Aspergers, perceptions. Tags: , , . 7 Comments »

Cat casserole: why are we outraged that people eat cats?

February 17, 2010 — xanthippa

A scandal has erupted in Italy over a famous chef’s suggestion that people should eat cat meat because it tastes good.

Well, well, well…

The 77-year-old chef, Beppe Bigazzi (OK – I could not make up a funnier name if I tried…. the jokes about cats and cat lovers ‘Bepping’ his ‘Big-Azz-i’ pracally write themselves) used his show to give out a recipe for a cat casserole.  He advised that the skinned cat ought to be soaked in spring water for 3 days, to ensure the meat is tender….and that it tastes even better than rabbit!

As a person with a pet rabbit, I’d tan his hide for that crack about rabbits, but…

Mr. Bigazzi went on to  say that it is hypocritical for people to eat some meat, then turn around and criticize people who eat dog or cat meat.  He claims that ‘cat’ is a traditional Italian dish, which he himself has eaten many times, and that it is delicious!

He may have some point: cats have, historically, been eaten in Italy and considered a delicious white meat.  But now, eating cat is illegal in Italy and Mr. Bigazzi’s big mouth-y got him into a lot of hot water….there is even talk of criminal investigation of his eating habits as a result of his comments – which he now claims were ‘a joke’.

OK – I can see that ‘eating pets’ thing happening in times of famine.  Our rules for what is acceptable and not tend to be ‘stretched’ when we see our kids starving.  But, I also know of people who would eat cat and dog meat when they had other choices:  the cultural taboo made it that much more appealing to them.

So, are we hypocrites?

Is eating cat or dog meat the same as eating beef or chicken?  Are we hypocrites if we indulge in one while condemning those who partake of the other?

This question goes much deeper than many people give it credit.  It is very closely tied to things I’ve been ranting about, on and off – like, say, that various cultures interpret the concept of ‘murder’ quite differently.   Something very similar is at the heart of this, too.

It’s about ’empathy’ and ‘drawing lines’…

As much as we think of ourselves as gentle, caring creatures, our empathy is not limitless.  The more affluent we are, the more empathy we can afford to have.  That is the nature of empathy – and that the nature of humanity!

We can only empathize with someone or something if we can, in some way, on some level, identify with them.

Actually, this is something which comes up with the whole ‘Aspergers’ thing, too.  That is when I first started to think about the nature of empathy…

Some doctors – and some books ‘out there’ by ‘experts’ claim that Aspies are not empathetic.  This could not be further from the truth!  Aspies ARE empathetic.  They just do not think that empathy is warranted in the same instances that neurotypicals (non-Aspies) do!

Plus, most Aspies find it  embarassing  when others display empathy towards us, so, we usually attempt to suppress any show of empathy on our part, in order not to add to the other person’s discomfort.  Still,the more important thing here is that Aspies will often feel empathy when neurotypicals do not think it warranted, but do not see any reason to feel empathy in many instances where people around them expect an overt show of it.

So – why do we feel empathy, and when?

When I wrote about the different interpretations of  the concept of ‘murder’ (we consider ‘killing of another human being’ to be ‘murder’, while some cultures do not consider the killing of an unfamiliar human to be ‘murder’ – but killing a familiar animal that shares their dwelling is considered ‘murder’), our reaction depends on where we draw ‘the defining line’ of  ‘expectation of non-aggression’.  In other words, just about every culture considers ‘murder’ to be killing someone or something which has an expectation of protection or non-aggression from the one doing the killing.  If that expectation of ‘safety’ is not there, it is ‘killing’, not ‘murder’.

Similarly, when we take animals into our homes and them an expectation of safety/non-aggression from us, we have now drawn the line of ’empathy’ with them solidly on ‘our’ side of the dividing line.  They share our homes and we identify with them.  Therefore, we have empathy for them.

That is the big difference between a ‘pet animal’ and a ‘food animal’.  And that is why it is not hypocritical to eat the meat of a ‘food animal’ while being upset that someone would eat  a ‘pet animal’.

A really good example of this are rabbits….

My parents grew up in a culture where rabbits were 100% in the ‘food animal’ category.  When we got my son a pet rabbit, they were scandalized!   They thought it wrong to keep a rabbit in the same rooms as we live in!  It was just ‘wrong’!

Of course, they have come to accept him.  Sort of.  They still seem shocked to see him play with their dogs as if he were a dog himself…

But it was hard for them!

When growing up, of course, they saw many rabbits.  And, as kids tend to be, they were attracted to them – rabbits, especially baby rabbits –  are uber cute!  But, because these were `food’, there were strict prohibitions against ‘playing with them’ and turning the rabbits into pets:   having to eat one’s pet is traumatic!

Here, in North America, rabbits are ‘mostly’ in the ‘pet animal’ category. My kids are scandalized at the idea of eating rabbits!

And rightly so!

Because it does not matter what the species of the animal is:  if it is in the ‘pet animal’ category somewhere deep in our brain, we identify with it as our companion (or potential companion) and we  ought to be scandalized at the thought of it being slaughtered and turned into a piece of meat!

Unfortunately, ‘food animals’ (and ‘food plants’ are on the ‘ far side’ of our ’empathy line’.  They have to be.  We can take steps to only purchase food from places where food animals had a good life and were treated with the least amount of cruelty possible at the end:  small farmers where you can see the living conditions yourself, and so on.  These days, so many people have this as their priority, it is easier to do than many people think.  Do the least amount of harm – that is the best we can do for now.

This does not make us hypocrites:  until we have Star Trek style food synthesizers,  we cannot afford to move that ’empathy’ line to embrace all living things!

Posted in Aspergers, human nature, philosophy, society. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Musings on the existence of God – and of Richard Dawkins

January 11, 2010 — xanthippa

A few days ago, Walker Morrow had a fun, humorous bit : Is there evidence for the existence of Richard Dawkins?

In it is embeded  this link to a video (scroll down a little) which, in what I am told is a humorous manner, mocks Dawkins’s way of questioning the existence of God to question the existence of Richard Dawkins himself!

The flippant answer would be, of course, that I’ve seen a YouTube video where Thunderf00t interviews Richard Dawkins, and, when I see a video of Thunderf00t interviewing ‘God’, I’ll believe in ‘God’, too!

But, of course, my real answer is a little wordier….and weirder!

I do not know that Richard Dawkins exists!

And, making that realization is essential!

OK – perhaps this is the Aspie in me, or perhaps it is the scientist in me – or, some combination thereof.  But, by the time I was 13 (I grew up behind the Iron Curtain, so I had no access to philosophical or theological writing of any kind – this was just my simple, peasant-brain reasoning), I realized that I could not objectively prove that I myself exist!

My original formulation was very clumsy and I have not really refined the wording much, just shortened it a bit (OK – a lot) :

  1. The only way we learn about/observe/get data from our surroundings is via our senses.
  2. Our senses are demonstrably subjective (I could demonstrate this to myself, as my right eye perceives colours quite differently than my left eye does…but only just  before the onset of a migraine headache.  So, I concluded that our senses necessarily colour (pun intended)  our perceptions, making them definitely ‘not objective’.)
  3. Since the only information reaching ‘us’ about our surroundings is subjective (through the senses), it can be manipulated and we cannot make any objective conclusions based on it…like, say, to assert that any self-awareness we think we perceive is ‘our own’.

OK – so the argument is a bit ‘rough-around-the-edges’, but, you get the gist of it.

Some people think this is pointless prattle –  nothing but what Scott Adams would have called ‘mental masturbation’…

I beg to disagree!

Before a scientists makes any observation, she/he calibrates the instruments to be used.  This is important, because it sets the ‘baseline’ against which any results can be evaluated:  how good were the instruments, the accuracy of any measurements, the error margins, and all that.  If, for example, a thermometer measures temperature to the nearest degree, it will not reliably show variations of one-thousandth of a degree, and so on.

Similarly, if we are aware that all our perceptions are subjective and that we cannot even prove that ‘we’ are the bit we think of as our ‘self’, that we cannot objectively prove anything ‘absolutely’, not even our own existence as we perceive ourselves to be, it ‘calibrates’ our credulousness of what we perceive – so to speak!

Thus, if we are ‘objective’ in our reasoning, we are forced to admit that we  lack the capacity to ‘accept anything as absolute truth’ – or, if you will, as a tenet of faith.   To do so regardless would be irresponsible, to say the least.

Therefore, I ‘do not believe that Richard Dawkins exists’, any more than I ‘believe that I exist’!

It is essential that we understand that this ‘calibration’ does not mean that I can assume any such foolish thing as ‘I do not exist’ or ‘I do not need to behave as if I exist’ – not in the least.  The absence of belief in something does not imply the belief in the non-existence of it!   That is an important distinction – one too often lost on people not trained in logic.

It simply alerts me that everything has an ‘error margin’ and that nothing ought to be accepted ‘absolutely’, without reservations, without an implied error-margin.

Perhaps this is the manifesto of the ever-questioning skeptic….  Still, it prevents me (and many others like me) from being able to just ‘believe’ things, to have ‘religious faith’ – of any kind.

Posted in Aspergers, atheism, ignosticism, philosophy, religion, society. Tags: , , , , , . 4 Comments »

No Guide Dogs Allowed!

October 10, 2009 — xanthippa

School is supposed to be a place for learning.

A place where kids feel safe.

A place where all possible care is taken to make learning possible.

Yet, at least one school had set up a committee to decide whether or not to allow a disabled child’s guide dog to accompany her to school.

What?

Our society is rightly supportive of disabled people, and doubly so for those who work hard to succeed despite their disability.   Since different people have different needs and preferences, we have developed a myriad of tools to aid them.

One such ‘tool’ – perhaps ‘the classical one’ – is the guide dog.

These canines are not just some loving pets.  They go through a screening process which permits only the most intelligent, non-aggressive animals to be entered into a rigorous training program.  And only the best of the best ever graduate to become certified guide dogs.

And that is not the end.  Now that the dog has become a highly trained professional, it is carefully matched with the person whom it is to assist, to ensure compatibility.  And there are courses to teach the disabled person and the dog how to communicate with each other, as well as to teach the dog the skills which it will require to aid this specific person.

That is doubly so in the case of a guide dog assigned to a child!

Cargo made it through all that training!  Fully trained, graduated and certified as an official guide dog, Cargo was assigned to a young girl named Annika Merner.  A ‘feel good’ story, right?

Except that,Colchester North Elementary School in Essex, Ontario, where Annika is a grade 4 student, will not permit Cargo to enter school property!

Why?

Well, some kids might be allergic to dogs…

Please, do not misunderstand:  I am not making light of allergies, especially serious ones.  They could affect a child’s ability to learn – no question about it.

But, surely, in a civilized society, we can figure out a way to accommodate both!  The school and the parents of all the affected kids could sit, talk, figure out a workable solution based on the level of allergies of the individual students that were affected and their relative location in the school.

Could they not?

Why wouldn’t they?

But that did not happen.  Nothing like that.  Just a simple ‘No dogs on school property – no exceptions for guide dogs!’

Only after Annika’s parents pointed out that this is not only unfair to their child, but actually against the law – guide dogs are exempted from ‘no dog’ rules – the Greater Essex County District School Board formed a committee last November to examine the issue…

Now, eleven months later, they have still not come up with any decision – and little Annika is still going to school without her guide dog.

Good news:  in two weeks, the committee might come out with a decision which might permit the use of a guide dog on school property.

Ah, the mighty ‘might‘!

How grand of them!

This – in my never-humble-opinion – is indicative of a much greater problem in our society.  We have lost the ability, desire – or both – to get along with each other amicably without long and convoluted sets of rules, whose application often blurs the line between accommodating a real, physical disability and frivolous grievances which are a matter of choices and opinions.

It is precisely to deal with situations like Annika’s that the Human Rights Commissions (Tribunals) (HRCs) were formed!  Their whole ‘raison d’etre’ was making sure that people were not discriminated against based on things they had no control over, like their race or disabilities.

After all, one cannot simply choose to no longer be disabled.  A person cannot become a member of a different race by changing their opinion or belief.  These are not a matter of choice!

To discriminate against someone because of something one cannot change, one cannot choose to change, to deny a person the best possible chance to start out from ‘ as level a playing field as physically possible’ – that is wrong!  And we, as a society, must not tolerate it.  Ever.

Of course, we can never overcome a disability someone else has for them – but we should and MUST do our best to permit disabled people the tools to help them overcome it as much as possible.  Even if it means allowing their guide dogs access to places where pet dogs are not permitted.  Like, say, school…

That is a reasonable accommodation!

Instead, we – as a society – have lumped ‘accommodation’ based on ‘choices, opinions and/or beliefs’ and given them equal or greater importance than accommodation because of real disabilities.

In 2006, Canadian Supreme Court unanimously decided that even though knives of all kinds are banned on school property, a Sikh boy can carry a 10cm blade because he believes his religion requires it.  This, despite the testimony of Sikh religious leaders who stated that carrying a picture of the ceremonial dagger is sufficient to satisfy the religious requirement.

In effect, the Supreme Court of Canada said that religious belief is sufficient grounds for weaponizing our schools!

Please, contrast the two cases:  one child, based on ‘belief’, is permitted to bring weapons to school… while a disabled child’s certified guide dog is banned!

We have, with the HRCs acting as enforcers, elevated people’s choices and opinions into a place which is supposed to be reserved to stop discrimination based on things people have no control over!

Certainly, we must tolerate other opinions and personal beliefs – but we should not be obligated to accommodate them to as high a degree as if they were something the person could not exercise a choice over.  Like, say, one’s race or physical disability…

Posted in Aspergers, education, freedoms, opression, politics, society. Tags: , , , , , , . 7 Comments »

Section 13(1) and Aspergers

October 7, 2009 — xanthippa

OK – this is a topic that people who know me have had to listen to me rant on and on and on….

And, I have tried to write it up – and have at least 18 drafts to prove it…

Because… this is something SOOO IMPORTANT that it deserves the most perfectest write up ever!

Because… this shows an internal inconsistency in the Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Code – the ‘Hate Speech’ bit!

It clearly demonstrates that Section 13(1) is in contravention of itself!!!

That, if I my layman’s understanding of our legal system holds, would render the whole thing illegal.  After all, a law may not contravene itself, may it?

Yesterday, I got a comment on my last post, which said exactly the same thing I had been ranting on and on about.  (The comment, not the post – well, the post, too, but that is implied.)

Actually, I read it out loud to my husband, who thought I was reading my words, so close was the sentiment!

Hi Xanthippa.

Your blog has got me thinking… Perhaps we Aspies particularly resent censorship boards like Canada’s because we are used to “saying it like it is”, speaking the truth (as we see it) bluntly and plainly, and not being stopped by thin-skinned people taking offence. Aspies can’t detect _likely_ offence in advance, and if we played it safe and avoided all _possible_ offence, we’d never say anything!Whereas those who support Canada’s state censorship system are probably neurotypicals who are good at treading their way carefully, taking cues from context. They have picked up, for example, that joking about assassinating President Bush is “brave dissent” while joking about assassinating President Obama is “racist hate speech” that will get you visited by the FBI.

Aspies like to have the rules laid out clearly, neutrally and consistently. They/ we don’t like implications, winks and nods, and “It just is, okay?!” So you get someone like Ezra Levant (almost certainly an Aspie) asking why the Emperor has no clothes, why Canada’s censorship rules are applied differently to Christians and Muslims, and a lot of people regard him with distaste: he’s rude, he’s offensive, he’s loud, he’s rocking the boat, he “just doesn’t get it”.

Perhaps Section 13 could be struck down as discriminating on basis of a disability, do you think?

That is exactly correct!  I’ve been ranting on this for years!

*  * *

Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Code is the ‘hate speech’ section which has, lately, been applied to silence people with unpopular views.  The key bit of the wording is that a person is forbidden from communicating anything which could potentially give offense to someone or a group.  No, not ‘just anyone’ – only people who are members of ‘protected groups’.

In other words, it is illegal, in Canada, to communicate anything that might offend people, based on their sex, race, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, and so on, or stigmatize them, or is likely to increase ‘general hate’ against them.

*  *  *

Now, let us look at  the diagnostic criteria for Asperger’s Syndrome (an Autism-spectrum disorder):

Aspies For Freedom (an Asperger’s support group) lists, among others:

  • Criterion A. Severe and sustained impairment in social interaction
  • Criterion C. The disturbance must cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

About.com tells us that

“The essential features of Asperger’s Disorder are severe and sustained impairment in social interaction…

“…  The disturbance must cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Dr. Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist at Hopkins and a recognized authority on Asperger, wrote in ‘Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry with Practical Neurology’ about ‘Aspergers’:

It is characterised by impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication

I could go on, in a typically Aspie obsessive manner… but, you get the picture.  Aspies (people with Asperger’s Syndrome usually prefer the nomicker ‘Aspies’ – it is less cumbersome) have a neurological disorder, which prevents us from having ‘normal’ social interactions.

We cannot tell when we are boring you.

We cannot tell when what we are saying is offensive to you.

We cannot tell if people are so fed up with us, they are about to loose their patience and beat us to a bloody pulp, because we have just said something they consider ‘insensitive’ or ‘offensive’.

We think the rest of the world ought to get over themselves and their stupid emotionalism and its burdensome public display and grow up!  (And get some logic, while they’re at it.)

We also lack the ability to ‘believe’.

Oh, we can accept rules – and love to adhere to them scrupulously.  So, Aspies CAN follow religions.  We just can’t believe in them.

We can take some God(s)’s existence ‘as given’ or ‘pre-defined parameter’ – but not as an ‘article of faith’ to be ‘believed’.  There IS a difference.

Despite what some clinicians think, we CAN accept ‘alternate realities’ (make-believe) – as long as it is presented as a concept (not ‘truth’ – but a ‘different game’) and is internally self-consistent.  That  is why we love Spock (the first ‘real’ Aspie character on TV who was not a villain – at least, not intended to be perceived as a villain, even though his appearance followed an ‘evil-man’ archetype) and why we CAN accept alternate reality rules.

But we recognize them to be ‘non-real’.  And – naturally – we say so.  Especially when somebody is wrong and thinks it is ‘real’.

It is our responsibility to educate them!  To do any less would be insulting to them…

We are especially good at pointing out internal inconsistencies – within belief systems, ‘holy’ books (scriptures), the behaviour of clerics vs. the tenets of their faith and all kinds of things like that.  Good and persistent!

And THAT is why so many Aspies earn the wrath of religious people….. because we will never understand why it is OK to correct someone’s misconceptions regarding physic or mathematics, but not regarding bronze-age myths and demonstrable reality.

Actually – any age myths…

With our lack of social skills and inability to ‘take things on faith’ – both conditions are documented as being biologically based and not something we can just change because we want to – we are BOUND to offend a lot of people. Or, so I am told.  Especially with all that religious nonsense!  And I mean NON-SENSE!!!  As defined…

(Is this a good demonstration?  I hope so… I was trying to convey the understanding of our internal thought processes….)

I suppose it would be a fair parallel to describe Aspies as ‘offensiveness-deaf‘!  And, this disability is a well documented, recognized medical condition.

*  *  *

Ah – but our constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against on the grounds of a medical disability!

Would it be legal to pass a law that penalizes people for not standing when the National Anthem is played – even if they were deaf and did not hear it?  Or of they were a paraplegic or otherwise disabled and unable to stand?

Would passing such laws, which punish people because they have a disability, be tolerated if that disability were anything other than Asperger’s Syndrome?

NO!  IT WOULD NOT!

We would not tolerate such laws!  And, our constitution specifically forbids discrimination on these grounds!

Yet, Section 13(1) is a blatant and shameful discrimination against people who have a medical disability which prevents us from knowing when we are likely to ‘give offense’!!!

*  *  *

OK – this is where I tie it all together….bear with me, please, I’m almost there.

1.  Section 13(1) makes it illegal to communicate anything which ‘is likely to offend’ or stigmatize a group or individuals (on ‘protected grounds’), or expose someone to hate.

2.  One such ‘protected ground’ is ‘medical disability’.

3.  Asperger’s syndrome is a medical disability, whose defining characteristic is an inability to successfully socially interact with others:  in other words, rude and offensive behaviour is an invountary symptom (and even a diagnostic criterion) of this medical condition.  As such, Aspies cannot tell if they are ‘likely to offend’, just as deaf people cannot hear and react to sounds, or just like people cannot significantly change the amount of pigment in their skin!  By just existing, we are ‘likely to give offense’!

4.  Therefore, Section 13(1) makes it a criminal offense to live with this specific medical disability!

5.  By criminalizing our very existence, Section 13(1) seriously stigmatizes Aspies, simply because of how we were born! It is very likely that we, as an identifiable and protected group, will be stigmatized and we are likely to be exposed to hate, as a direct result of the existence of Section 13(1).

6.   However, Section 13(1) forbids anyone or anything to stigmatize a group on protected grounds, or expose anyone to hate – and having Asperger’s IS a ‘protected ground’!

7.  That is an internal inconsistency.

8.  Therefore, Section 13(1) is in contravention of itself.

Q.E.D.

    Posted in Aspergers, atheism, ignosticism, opression, politics, society. Tags: , , , , , , , . 12 Comments »

    Aspies and careers

    July 20, 2009 — xanthippa

    Many parents of kids with Asperger Syndrome worry about what will happen to their child once they have to go out into the great, wide world and fend for themselves.

    Ok, so all parents worry about this!

    But parents of Aspie kids have some very particular concerns:  we tend to be ‘anything but middle ground’ people!

    And, let’s face it:  our school systems are teaching a series of skills (a sort of a skills ‘tool set’) which will enable ‘middle ground’ kids to succeed.  And that is understandable – aiming at the ‘middle-ground majority’ will definitely provide a statistically successful outcome in that the most kids will learn how to succeed the most; the old ’80/20′ rule (80% of results are obtained by 20% of the effort, but the remaining 20% of results will demand 80% of the effort to get them ‘right’).

    This is not at all helpful when you (or your kid) falls outside the proverbial ‘2 standard deviations from the mean’… and need to learn a very different set of tools in order to succeed in life!  Many Aspies have a difficult and frustrating time in school and they are not ‘getting as much’ out of it as their peers do.  Therefore, many parents worry.

    Just today I was talking to a mom of an Aspie who is worried about his future.  She can see the potential in him – he is truly very, very intelligent!  But, his school marks are not reflecting his intelligence, he often gets sad and sometimes he becomes withdrawn.  To my untrained eye, that sounds like the Aspie (10 years old) might be slipping into depression:  it is very common for even child-Aspies to become clinically depressed when they see they are more intelligent and know more than their peers, yet they are not succeeding and people (parents, teachers) are disapointed in them (or their peers mock them for it).

    This very intelligent mom (herself an educator) saw the potential in her son, both on the ‘good’ side as well as on the ‘bad’ side:  she could see him as either a professor or scientist – or homeless and destitute… depending on whether he learned to ‘fit in’ to the school system, or not!

    That is not so!  Of course, Aspies could end up without marketable skills, poor and homeless!  But then again, everyone could…

    There ARE non-academic careers where Aspies DO excel!

    All kinds of artisans, or any kind of ‘specialists’ – skilled in a very particular thing – those are all things that Aspies can shine in!  Or, in the least, make a name for themselves and make a living at it.

    Think about it:  if an Aspie finds a field in which they are interested, they will not stop before they learn everything there is to know about it, refine their knowledge, build specific rules and procedures which they have extensively tested and found to be most optimal.  They often see ‘solutions’ where others do not.  And, they are (usually) not afraid to tell people how to ‘do it right’…

    From goldsmiths who craft the most beautiful jewelry to blacksmiths who make old-fashioned swords and armour (actually very popular these days), true to the ‘old methods’ – or who can make custom metal railing and chandeliers.  From chefs, who specialize in a narrow field of cooking and become most sought out for their skill and knowledge in how to prepare the best tasting bits of food to clothing designers, who look at a garment and see the pattern of how it was made. From cabinetmakers who can replicate period pieces using traditional tools and methods or make the best quality, modern pieces of furniture that ‘works’ or those who can make the most specialized custom kitchen cabitnets to landscapers who feel the best way to pattern interlock bricks and flowerbeds!

    And that is just the tip of the iceberg!

    Don’t get me wrong, many Aspies do succeed in the world of academics:  I suspect that more Math/Physics/Linguistics/Engineering professors are Aspies that not.  That is why ‘Aspergers’ is often called ‘the little professor syndrome’!  But academics are not the only options open to Aspies when it comes to careers!

    We just have to find a field – and we CAN ‘own it’!  We just have to be told that we can…when we are young and before we give up trying to find ‘our field’.  Once we know we can, we WILL succeed:  after all, that IS ‘the rule’!

    If we can stick with just one field long enough…

    Cross-posted on ‘Xanthippa on Aspergers’

    Posted in Aspergers, education. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

    ‘Xanthippa on Aspergers’ – a new spot for my Aspie stuff

    June 10, 2009 — xanthippa

    This blog does not have a very tight focus…to say the least!

    I bounce around, from current political stuff – global, Canadian and local to me, to a bit of political theory/history (with help from others!), to philosophical/religious stuff…and just about everything in between.

    Oh, and I also have a few post about Asperger Syndrome:  my experiences in living with it and some of the perspective from an Aspie point of view, as well as some things that worked when I helped my – and other – kids master their Aspieness and turn it from ‘a curse’ into ‘a gift’.

    Well, it seems that some of the things which I tried and which worked for me and mine have also worked for some other Aspies!  And, it has also attracted the attention of some educators of Aspies – and, perhaps, over time, it could become an unlikely resource.

    From what I hear, many professionals who work with Aspie kids have great amount of theoretical information available to them, but very little practical ‘stuff’ to go on.  So, reading the experiences of an adult Aspie – even one who is not a specialist in their field.  Perhaps they can read my experiences and see what worked for me, and interpret it at a higher level than I could hope to.

    While I think that my ‘Aspie posts’ fit quite well in with my other rants, I cannot but help thinking that my other rants do not exactly fit in seamlessly with my ‘Aspie posts’, so to speak.

    Therefore, I have decided to start a blog to house just my Aspie things.  It is called ‘Xanthippa on Aspergers‘.  OK – so it sounds a little pretentious:  but, I wanted the title to retain some of the keywords which get rated high on Google and help people looking for my take on Aspergers…

    One advantage of this place will be that the tags/categories will be more specific, so it will be more easily searchable.  And, since none of the political or philosophical or religious rants (yes, I am a tiny bit opinionated) will be there, it will be a little more acceptable to ‘educational professionals’.

    Over the next little while, I will re-post all my Aspie things on the new site – starting with the most read ones first.  (Of course, I will not take them away from here!)

    In the future, I will post my thoughts on Aspergers on ‘Xanthippa on Aspergers’ – but I will still cross-post them here.

    Thank you all for all the feedback and support!

    Posted in about, Aspergers, education. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »
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