Writing myself a new car

I honor of the World Autism Awareness Day 2017: I have reward systems for myself and my two sons with autism. The principles are as follows:

• Reward the behavior we want more of. Don’t reward required activities, but reward when we choose to do help with chores. Ignore when we choose not to, do not remove credits.
• Rewards are things you would not get otherwise. Verbal praise and encouragement are given even so. You have to earn it – and get it when you finalize (a deal is a deal).
• We use token economy and postponed gratification. Training for the mash mellow test improves forward thinking.
• Rewards are usually LEGO. Specific piece request from Bricklink.  Every token/mark is a ten’er (DKR 10).

The teenagers (13+11) have been rewarded for doing the dishes, preparing food, taking out the garbage etc. Initially 15 tokens gave a trip to McDonalds, but as mastering progressed the rewards became bigger. One time 50 tokens/marks was needed for a reward. The options to help (“The Mark Menu”) was at one point over 20 chores. Over time they lost interest in saving but did the chores anyway, so some of the chores where made required. One day the oldest added “Do not fight” to the list of required (non-rewarding) activities 😉 Next up is to save for a game on Steam..

I’m being rewarded every time I run (5K, outside. Half a mark for treadmill), for my morning exercises and a few other thing I struggle with. I have just finished a sheet of 140 marks that I worked on since September 2016). The new target is to buy myself first a Bugatti and then a McLaren. Not a new minivan..

“I hope this drives the right behavior”

Similar posts on leadership and praise at work: In a star team – the team gets the stars, I know it is your job – but thank you anyway

Similar posts on autism: Pragmatic choices of what is important and possible, Stakeholders,

Similar posts on drive and motivation: More than carrots and sticks, 16 points that may rock the boat

Test Like Sherlock

Sometimes testing is like being Sherlock Holmes – You find your clues hidden in plain sight: Where the users scratch their nails; how the application user interface is cobbled together; odd patterns in the error logs….

But seldom without experimenting, seldom without pushing the subject under test or consulting the weather report, time tables – and getting out in the rain, doing some footwork.

They always seems to know better, always asking questions. They are so passionate about the problem solving skills that their standard by default seems arrogant [1]    (but that is usually not on purpose).

This is very clear in the recent BBC TV Series “Sherlock” – that illustrates and mentions their Asperger clearly. Almost on par with the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Still when they are out solving mysteries they are a hero – if there ever was one. [2]

—

1: If your standard is to never be called arrogant, you’ve probably walked away from your calling. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/12/in-search-of-arrogance.html

2: Don’t make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist, and if they did, I wouldn’t be one of them. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_(TV_series)

Related: The yardstick of mythical normality, People are people – despite their labels,

The yardstick of mythical normality

Those that accepted me, worked with my neurology not against it. Their yardstick was not a mythical normality but the potential that they felt that I could achieve. They recognized that my way of doing and learning certain things was different. Instead of proceeding from the assumption that was somehow wrong, they worked with it and helped me to find the place where my neurology and the world could safely mix. 

[ What Acceptance Means to Me | Published on April 20, 2013 by Lynne Soraya in Asperger’s Diary on http://www.psychologytoday.com ]

People are people – despite their labels

I generally despise the “despite” in the following sentences

• Despite being black … they became a president
• Despite being a Dane … they described atomic theory
• Despite being a child carer .. they where astronomer
• Despite being asperger … they was a genius scientist
• Despite having ADHD … they became a an educational inspiration for kids (dk)
• Despite being autistic … they were an expert in finding patterns (dk)
• Despite being autistic … they can play together (dk)
• Despite being autistic … they had complex emotions (dk)

I’d rather we use a child with autism, a child with ADHD, a person with asperger… A mother, a woman, a Dane, a black person – a person. Children with a diagnosis is so much more than the diagnosis – they are children. People are so much more that their labels, they are people first – labels second.

See also:
https://jlottosen.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/they-are-just-people/
https://jlottosen.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/har-du-set-en-med/
https://jlottosen.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/the-geeks-and-nerds-syndrome/

They are just people

When you have met one child with XYZ, you have met one child. That also goes for children without labels and letters. Behind the letters (ADHD, ASD, Red hair, Dark skin, …) – they are all children, as we are all grownups.. and humans. We might be somewhat alike, but we are also different.

[ Stigma and the “Othering” of Autism | Published on April 1, 2012 by Lynne Soraya in Asperger’s Diary on the UN World Autism Awareness Day ]

If my autism had been recognized as a child, and I heard someone say, “I hate autism.” I would certainly have felt it to my core. The logic here is simple; I would think as follows: If “autism = bad,” and “me = autistic”, then “me = bad” must be true.

…

For me, autism means I have certain traits that can be very disabling in some conditions. However, if supported correctly, and in the right environments, a great many of them be turned to advantages. I attribute the bad things that have happened to me not so much on the traits themselves, but ignorance (myself and others’) of them.

…

If a person is autistic, autism goes with them wherever they go. If autism is something to be hated and feared, hate and fear will follow too. In the scope of things, it’s fear that is the most damaging. Don’t teach people to fear your child. 

Let’s all work together to help others to see that people (with autism) are just that, people. They are different, but not less. They are nothing to fear. 

They are just people

My bold and parenthesis. See also   Lidt autist har man nemlig lov at være

Geeks and Nerds by xkcd.com

Har du set en med …

Har du mødt et barn – har du mødt ét barn. Det gælder uanset om det barn har bogstaver i bagagen eller ej – alle børn er forskellige med styrker og svagheder. .. Det samme er der med voksne, rødhuder og andet godtfolk.

Med-mennesker med handicap og sværre sygdomme – har det sværrere end du lige ved det…

[ Hvad førtidspension har gjort for mig, 27 år, kronisk syg |  Syrene Theresia den 29. februar 2012 ]

Når du ser en person, du kender, som er førtidspensionist/kronisk syg/handicappet/psykisk syg, ser du et meget lille udsnit af den persons virkelighed. Måske 5 %. Resten har vedkommende formentlig ikke lyst til at vise dig. Fordi:

 1. Det er pinligt at være syg. De fleste skammer sig over at være på førtidspension og over deres lidelser/handicap.

2. Man vil gerne være privat omkring sine vanskeligheder, udfordringer og handicaps.

3. Mange forsøger at vise et pænt billede/en mere rask facade udad til, da de føler, de vil skræmme folk væk ved at vise sandheden.

4. De fleste er bange for, at ved at fokusere for meget på deres sygdomsidentitet, vil de blive mere syge og forsøger derfor ofte at lade som om, sygdommen ikke er der.

Se også: Lidt autist har man nemlig lov at være

Lidt autist har man nemlig lov at være

[ ing.dk | august 2006 ]

Ingeniører har oftere aspergers syndrom, som er en mild form for autisme, end folk fra andre faggrupper, vurderer eksperter. Det giver dem særlige evner for mange af de specialistopgaver, men samtidig problemer med at fungere socialt.

Karen Brøndum-Nielsen, professor, dr.med. i genetik og direktør ved sektorforskningsinstitutionen Kennedy Instituttet, understreger, at der ikke findes undersøgelser, som direkte viser andelen af ingeniører med aspergers syndrom.

»Men der er ikke mærkeligt, hvis der er en vis overrepræsentation af asperger blandt ingeniører og teknikere, fordi de jo bruger de samme matematiske hjernemæssige funktioner, som personer med asperger er stærke i,« siger hun.

[ PHLOGGEN | maj 2011 | http://ing.dk/artikel/118859-syg-i-hovedet-og-stolt-af-det ]0

Autistiske symptomer dækker et meget bredt spektrum, fra folk der er lidt rigeligt pernittengrynede med tegnsætning, til personer der simpelthen ikke kan fungere, overhovedet.  

Heldigvis er fordelingen meget tynd i den slemme ende, langt de fleste af dem der har autistiske træk har modtaget behandling. Ofte på DTU, eller AAU.

DTU og AAU bør naturligvis herefter overvejes som et relevant behandlingstilbud i distriktspsykiatrien.

Resten af os kunne passende starte en kampagne for at slippe for storrumskontorer, følelsesporno-HR og rundkredspædagogik og i stedet at få lov til at lukke døren til vores kontor bag os og koncentrere os ordentligt.

Lidt autist har man nemlig lov at være.

From http://adsoftheworld.com

The Geeks and Nerds Syndrome

[ http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html |  9.12 | Steve Silberman ]

Autism – and its milder cousin Asperger’s syndrome – is surging among the children of Silicon Valley. Are math-and-tech genes to blame? 

Geeks and Nerds by xkcd.com

Who has excellent memory and strong attention to detail

[Wired | September 2009 | Drake Bennett | 12 Shocking Ideas That Could Change the World – Recruit People with Autism]

In Sonne’s native Denmark, as elsewhere, autistics are typically considered unemployable. But Sonne worked in IT, a field more suited to people with autism and related conditions like Asperger’s syndrome. “As a general view, they have excellent memory and strong attention to detail. They are persistent and good at following structures and routines,” they say. In other words, they’re born software engineers.

See also The right brain for the future