Yesterday was the day of the second stage of my contribution to some research in to Asperger’s Syndrome and Oxytocin, and also of a meeting of the King’s Lynn Social and Support Group, of which I am group leader.
I woke up at 5:40AM, which enabled me to take the morning at a leisurely pace, consuming two cups of decaf (no caffinated products for 24 hours pre testing) coffee along the way.
I arrived at Learning Works for placement in good time, but the Centre Manager, the only person to have a key to the office, was delayed at the doctor’s surgery. Nonetheless, and in spite of two separate trips out of the office, one to collect the Centre Manager’s prescription, and the other to the job centre as it was my signing day, I had a productive morning, before heading off at 12:30 to be able to catch the appropriate train to Cambridge.
The journey down was suitably uneventful, and having learned from last week I made use of the (excellent) bus service between the station and Addenbrookes. The testing session itself started with a basic language task (researcher read out a list of words, and I had to come with a concise definition for each one), then a blood pressure test (118 over 70, pulse rate 79), then the nasal spray and a 45 minute break. Then I performed the same post spray tasks as last week (not surprisingly finding them easier as it was the seocnd time I was doing them). After some very routine paperwork, the session ended with another blood pressure test (133 over 71, pulse rate 71). After this measurement the medic, both younger and obviously fitter than I, said that it was like measuring his blood pressure!
After the (clinical) trial, the tribulations. First of all, there was a delay on the buses towards Cambridge, so I arrived at the station with a bare few minutes to locate the correct platform for the train to Lynn. Then this train was delayed, good because it meant I could catch my breath, but bad because it meant that I would not be arriving early for my meeting, and might well end up being late. A blood pressure test at this stage of proceedings would probably have given a very high reading!. The train arrived into Lynn at 6:56 giving me four minutes to get from the train to the meeting room to be on time. Austin Fields is very close to the station, but given the presence of ticket inspectors, and the elongated exit because barriers are being built, it was beyond even me to get there in time, though I was only a couple of minutes late.
The meeting itself was a fun event. Somebody who was attending for the seocnd time brought along his photo album to show us, and I had a letter outlinining preliminary findings from Natalie Cross’s research into Asperger’s Syndrome and Difficult decision making.
By the time I got home I was so tired that I went straight to bed, where I read for about an hour before going to sleep. It was, as anticipated quite a gruelling day, but alson an enjoyable one. As Richmal Crompton’s William said: “A busy day is a happy day, so long as it doesn’t include scule.”
I think I have found a View from the Rooftop that I have not previously displayed…
aspiblog 