Autism and Ableism

Some thoughts on autism and ableism, and some links relating to the same, topped off with some photographs.

INTRODUCTION

I have a few links to share, and of course some photos will be included, but this post starts with some of my own thoughts before I start sharing links. I have decided that all of my own text in this post will be #RedInstead as it is themed so much around Autism. Links will be underlined and in bold, and any images from other blogs will also serve as links to the posts from which they were taken (these blogs will also have a text link).

THE LINK BETWEEN AUTISM & ABLEISM

I am #ActuallyAutistic and have experienced mental health issues over the years. Do I consider myself disabled? The short answer to that question is no. However I do consider that the way in which neurotypical society views my condition (please note condition, not disorder) does disable me. To give just one example of this, 74% of all autistic adults in the UK, my country, are unemployed, and that percentage rises to 85% when underemployment is factored in. I am in the 26% who are actually in paid employment but not the 15%. These statistics are shameful ones (if they differ significantly in your part of the world feel free to comment further). They are based on the pathologizing of autism and indeed a more general societal pathologizing of difference. Anyone who has seen at work can confirm that I am more than capable of being a useful employee (indeed I cannot be considered as other than essential to my current employer).

Therefore, although I do not identify myself as disabled as I do identify myself as sharing some of the problems experienced by people with disabilities.

ABLEISM

I start the sharing sections of this post with the latest in Erin Human’s series of posts about ableism. The piece is titled “What causes ableism?”, and I offer you the infographic/ meme which heads it as an aperitif:

Next, courtesy of disabledgo comes what can only be described as a ‘good news with a massive asterisk’ story. West Yorkshire Police have confirmed that they are willing to launch criminal investigations into bus drivers who refuse to allow wheelchair bound passengers on to their vehicles without good cause. The massive asterisk of course is twofold: the fact that this has to be rated a good news story at all rather than being standard, and following on from that the fact that other police forces do not as yet appear to have made the same commitment. The full piece appears under the title “Police force pledges to investigate bus drivers who ignore access laws” and I urge you to read it in full.

AUTISM

There are a total of four links in this section, with the opener and closer both courtesy of thesilentwaveblog. The opening link is titled “Yeah I’m walking for autism“, and it is her response to yet another campaign to raise funds for purposes that are quite clearly at variance with the actual needs of autistic people. She also her explains how she uses walking. I urge to you to read the full piece, and present the picture that heads it for your further edification.

Some of you may recall that I recently reblogged two posts titled respectively Autism Speaks No Longer Seeking Cure; This Autistic Person Couldn’t Care Less and Autistics Against Autism Speaks | A Civil Rights Movement – Share & Reblog Version. Well the story being told in different ways in those two posts has moved forward with a new post from boycottautismspeaks titled “Autism Speaks Hurts. Real People Speaking.” I offer you this header graphic by way of further inducement…

My penultimate link is to a post on No Stereotypes Here titled “Words are Words“, and taking the form of an open letter to the organisation targetted in the graphic above. I present this site’s header image below.

My final link is to thesilentwaveblog’s most recent offering, which tackles the subject of eye contact, under the title ‘“Look me in the eye.” (No.)‘, and below is the image which heads it.

Now it is time to conclude this post with some…

PHOTOGRAPHS

England Settle One Day International Series Against West Indies

INTRODUCTION

England, having won the opening match of the three match series on Friday could ensure a series victory by winning again yesterday. What follows is my account of how they did this. Cricinfo’s account can be viewed here.

WEST INDIES POOR WITH THE BAT

I missed most of the West Indies innings, but caught the closing overs. Some decent bowling from England and very ordinary batting from the West Indies at that stage meant that with a total of 250-260 (which on that pitch would have been respectable) having looked possible the West Indies ended up with a mere 225, which should not have been much of challenge for England…

A GLIMPSE OF THE 1990s

Sam Billings fell without a run on the board, but then Jason Roy and Joe Root settled in. At 87-1 with Roy having just reached his 50 England looked in full control. At that point Roy was out playing a bad shot, which seemed to trigger a time machine that transported as back to the 1990s. The England middle order simply disintegrated, that high water mark of 87-1 transmuting to 124-6, at which point the West Indies were looking like favourites.

Then, came a reminder that this was 2017 and not a revisit to the 1990s, as Chris Woakes demonstrated his continuing improvement, albeit with some assistance from the Wesr Indies fielders who dropped two absolute sitters. With the imperturbable Root in the anchor role, Woakes’ aggressive 68 not out saw England home with four wickets and an over and a half to spare (Root was 90 not out at the other end).

Here is a photographic commemoration of the England middle order yesterday…

For the uninitiated a score of 0 in cricket is referred to as a duck. And 1990s England really were as bad as all that.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE
PLAYER OF THE MATCH AWARD

Predictably enough the Player of the Match award yesterday went to Root for his 90 not out. However, while this decision is understandable I consider it incorrect. Although Chris Woakes was wicketless from his eight overs they only went for 26 runs (a rate of just over three an over compared to West Indies overall 4.5), which in conjunction with his 68 not out when England had got themselves into a big hole, should have secured him the award.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some of today’s photographs for you:

libraryrepairwork — The recent repaired section of King’s Lynn library

libraryfrontage — The frontage of King’s Lynn library.

stnicholas1 — St Nicholas from Chapel Court

stnicholas2 — Another view of St Nicholas

customhouse — The Custom House from King Street

rmc — The Red Mount Chapel through the trees.

Artwork commemorating the voyages of Captain George Vancouver, New Conduit Street

Pictures and Petitions

A couple of important petitions, a couple of interesting links and some photographs taken in and around King’s Lynn – enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

I have two important petitions to share with you, a couple of other links and some new photos to share.

RENATIONALISE THE RAILWAYS!

For my first offering I turn to the campaign group We Own It, and their petition calling for Britain’s railways to be publicly owned and controlled. Click on the screenshot below to visit and sign this petition.

AN ANTI-FRACKING PETITION

The latest area to be targeted by fracking companies is Derbyshire. Click on the image below to visit and sign the petition against this:

PHOTOGRAPHS 1:

A COUPLE OF LINKS

Autism Mom’s most recent post is entitled “Words My Son Can Use” and is a very interesting read.

Welfare Weekly have produced a list of the 10 worst excuses produced by employers caught failing to pay the minimum wage which you can read here.

PHOTOGRAPHS 2

We finish with a few more pictures, these ones taken this morning:

Musical Keys MKII

A brief account of the resumption of Musical Keys sessions for NAS West Norfolk.

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday saw the resumption of Musical Keys sessions for people with Autism in the King’s Lynn area. The sessions will now take place fortnightly at the Scout Hut on Beulah Street (youngsters 3PM to 4PM, older people 4PM to 5PM). The sessions are now being run by two new people, John and Kirsty.

FIRST SESSION BACK

The biggest change other than in personnel was the absence of i-pads – we were using real instruments, with the focus being on percussion…

You can see here five drums that need to lifted above ground level to be played, one box which you sit on to play, generating sound by hitting the front, a wooden instrument that like the drums needs to be lifted to be played and a second wooden instrument (partially concealed), which comes with its own striking implements.

Once we had made our selections it was time to start playing, initially to instructions.

The side of the drum I chose.

After a while I was introduced to a new instrument, a wooden frog with a hollow centre, which comes with a wooden striking instrument.

Later still I switched drums to one of the larger ones…

dscn5500 — With this larger drum I could position the frog in the centre and vary the sound according to whether I struck the frog or the drum.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the session. John said that if anyone indicated that they wanted a particular instrument to be available they would try to make it happen.

SOME NEW PHOTOS

With one exception these pictures are all from today, from walks at each end of the day…

dscn5493 — This poster was on display at the Scout Hut yesterday.

dscn5528 — These last three pictures are from this evening.

Exploring Lulea -The Morning

The latest in my series of posts about my recent holiday in Sweden.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the next installment in my series of posts about my recent holiday in Sweden. I briefly interrupted the sequence of posts to respond to photographic challenge from a fellow blogger, but now the action returns to Lulea on the Gulf of Bothnia where I left it last time.

ENABLING PROPER EXPLORATION

Having had a decent night’s sleep and having a clear head I was able to plan this day, unlike its predecessor, to best effect. After checking out of the hotel my first port of call was the station to ask about stowing a bag there (my smaller bag contained stuff that I was determined to keep with me at all times). An enquiry elicited the information that the station building closed at 5PM, which meant that I could stow my heavier bag safely until then, after which the only practical option would be to await the arrival of the overnight train out on the platform. This still gave me plenty of time for a detailed exploration of the town.

THE START OF THE EXPLORATION

My heavier bag safely stowed I set off to the main shopping area to purchase food for the day from a supermarket I had identified the previous day. This done I then left the shopping area heading into an area of parkland. Even before entering the parkland I had added three photos to my burgeoning collection:

DSCN9361 — A close-up of the device in the upper centre of this first picture.

THE PARKLAND

Entering the parkland I was delighted to find that it was far more extensive than the first view had suggested. Here are some pictures from the first part of the walk through the parkland…

DSCN9372 — Polar bear sculptures like these can be seen all around Lulea – this set is unusual for their being so many all in a line.

The second part of the walk through the parkland area, which took me to the waterside, where I stayed for a considerable time featured this…

The last point of interest before getting to the waterside was the County Governor’s Residence:

THE WATERFRONT

Then I was at the water-front, and after a brief diversion heading towards maritime Lulea. Here are pictures from the first part of the waterside section of my explorations:

DSCN9398 — The ducks swimming around this model lighthouse make it obvious that though close this is not actually the sea.

My final set of pictures ends with a pointer to the next post in this series…

DSCN9444 — I had not previously seen seats like this (and have not seen any equivalent since then)

DSCN9449 — This is the seat I sat on to eat my lunch.

DSCN9454 — The subjects of this picture will also be the subjects of my next post in this series.

An NAS West Norfolk Coffee Morning

An account of a coffee morning organised by NAS West Norfolk, some photos and some important links. I draw your particular attention to the levitycropscience crowdfunding issue.

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some photos from the King’s Lynn area to share, some important links and a platinum quality infographic.

A MUCH ANTICIPATED COFFEE MORNING

Having received more than one email from my friends at NAS (National Autistic Society) West Norfolk about this coffee morning I was hoping for a decent event. From my perspective the rest of the story involves three elements..

THE WALK THERE

With the event due to start at 10AM I set off from my small town centre flat at 9:15AM and headed for the Scout Hut on Beaulah Street by way of Bawsey Drain and Lynn Sport. It was grey and uninspiring, but there was the odd photo worthy moment…

I don't all that often include pictures of ducks, but this was a particularly fine specimen and there was not much else to command attention at the time. — I don’t all that often include pictures of ducks, but this was a particularly fine specimen and there was not much else to command attention at the time.

AT THE EVENT

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who had shown up – in total there were 14 of us present. One of the others, who I had not previously met, noticed the fact that i had a camera and had snapped off a few pictures, so I provided her with details of my blog, twitter account and email address, which she gratefully accepted, along with the explanation that all my best pictures are on the blog.

One of the two posters on the wall of the upstairs meeting room at the Scout Hut.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and I felt that this was a good start to what is intended to be a series of such mornings (and Karan, who organised the event, mentioned having people come to give talks in the future, which I also approve of).

The other wall poster - might be though of as 'zooming out' from the subject matter of the first. — The other wall poster – might be though of as ‘zooming out’ from the subject matter of the first.

THE WALK BACK

For the walk back I completed the circle by going via KES (King Edward VII Academy) and the train station. The only picture worth sharing that I was able to get was on the way out, heading down the stairs.

I look forward to more events like this in the future!

SOME LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Yesterday was a sunny day, and I got some fine photos, the best of which I now share…

My first four pictures related to classic local landmark, Greyfriars Tower, with two information boards... — My first four pictures related to classic local landmark, Greyfriars Tower, with two information boards…

This up-tower shot... — This up-tower shot…

...And this external shot, taken from next to the the projector that displays a light show on the walls of the tower. — …And this external shot, taken from next to the the projector that displays a light show on the walls of the tower.

The next five pictures are of a remarkably coloured butterfly that was just near the Greyfriars Tower, in the Peace Garden.

A westering sun reflected off the Great Ouse yesterday evening.

King's Lynn landmark no 1 - the Custom House — King’s Lynn landmark no 1 – the Custom House

With two local landmarks pictured above this an opportunity to draw your attention to Heritage Open Day, this coming Sunday, when no fewer than 57 places of interest in King’s Lynn will be open to the public, some for the only time of the year.

LINKS

Cosmos Up address the question of why Pluto is no longer classed as a planet.

From secularism.org.uk comes this piece about a Norfolk council doing the right thing (yes ir does happen occasionally!)

Charlotte Hoather has produced a wonderful post, laden with lovely pictures, under the title “Charlotte’s Secret Garden“.

POLITICAL LINKS

dwpexamination feature with this piece about the British government surveilling kids as young as three years old for signs of extremism (yep you read that right – three years old!)

Tax Research UK have produced this piece whose title says it all: “11,000 People Die In The UK Each Year Because George Osborne Is Obsessed With Closing The Deficit”

From the Joseph Rowntree Foundation via The Guardian comes this piece about how budget changes will hit single parents hardest.

Currently running on thepetitionsite is among others this “call for a full scale investigation into years of abuse by the DWP“.

I have previously mentioned that the UK is currently being investigated by the UN for human rights abuses because of the way the Scameron government treats disabled people. Courtesy of samedifference I can now tell you that there are no fewer than 41 issues that prompted this and provide this link (already widely shared on twitter).

This piece from politicalsift takes on the arguments about Corbyn and electability.

From cultureandpolitics comes this reminder that “I was only obeying orders” is not a recognised defence these days.

A LINK AND AN ADVANCE NOTIFICATION

While I have been producing this blog post I have received information about a crowd-funding campaign to support an autistic crop scientist, about which I shall be producing a full post sometime soon. For the moment, to prepare you, here is a link to levitycropscience.

A PLATINUM INFOGRAPHIC

This, from politicsbeginner comes this superb infographic about Kim Davis:

A FINAL WORD

I hope you have all enjoyed this post. I end with a request: please share widely. Even if you choose not to share the whole post, please share at the minimum the stuff about levitycropscience.

A Figure of Eight Walk

An account of a walk around King’s Lynn, accompanied by photos. Also some important links.

INTRODUCTION

I am in the process of putting together a very large post indeed as an experiment, and meantime I offer you this little post…

THE FIGURE OF EIGHT WALK

I did this walk immediately after lunch yesterday. Setting off I headed through Baker Lane Car Park, across the upper Purfleet and down to the Great Ouse by way of the lower Purfleet. The first photo I got was this one of a bird that was perfectly positioned for the shot…

I headed along the river bank and across the Millfleet, then took the path that skirts old Boal Quay round to…

CORMORANT PLATFORM

This meeting point of the Nar and Ouse provided some fine photos…

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Just beyond Cormorant Platform is the path through Harding’s Pits, from which I then headed across the Nar, stopping to photograph a swan…

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Up through the South Gate, across the London Road, through a little known passage and along to Seven Sisters, at which point I entered…

THE PARKLAND

The water by the bandstand is generally good for a few pictures, and today was no exception…

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After the bandstand I followed the path the exits the parkland by way of the church of St John the Evangelist, walked up past the train station and on to the second loop of the figure of eight, following another little river in King’s Lynn until the path diverged from it to go past the first of two ponds separated by the width of a road. The river provided a few pics, but nothing was happening in either pond…

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From the second pond I followed the road I was round until I reached the path through the meadow that leads to a bridge across Bawsey Drain, on to another path that I followed back towards the town centre. This section of the walk yielded only one picture – a green insect that because of its size I was not sure I would be able to capture…

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On the last stage of the walk I got a picture of the model spitfire that currently adorns the Trues Yard museum…

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After I was home, I got one final picture of a military aeroplane that flew very low (by the standards of powered aircraft) overhead…

LINKS

My first link is to a document outlining Mr Corbyn’s mental health policy, for which I am using a quote from the document itself – the second bullet point to be precise…

“Challenging the stigma around mental health and ending the second class treatment of mental illness in the NHS – mental illness should be treated on a par with physical illness. Mental health conditions make up 21.9% of conditions faced by the NHS but receive only 11.9% of the overall budget.”

My next two links both come courtesy of DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts):

A piece about the Marris Assisted Dying Bill.
This searing “Open Letter to Iain Duncan Smith“

This piece from disabilitnewsservice makes some unpleasant but hardly surprising revelations about Maximus, the vile American company responsible for administering the notorious fitness for work tests that have blighted so many lives.

Finally, and on a completely different note, here is a link to an excellent blog post by Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society.

On Appreciating Nature

This post may be considered my personal response to the death of Cecil the lion.

INTRODUCTION

This post can be considered as my response to the tragedy involving Cecil the lion. Before getting into the main body of it I am once again going to share details (as I did in my previous post) of The Art of Autism’s calendar for 2016, currently being sold for $12. Full details can be seen on their own post on the subject, but I offer you this picture as extra inducement…

A picture to show you why as well as wishing to support the activity I am genuinely enthused by this calendar.

ON APPRECIATING NATURE

We are now in the main part of the post, which as well as what I am writing on my account will feature some photographic highlights relating to nature from the last few months, a variety of important links, and leading from here into the rest of the post my first essay in the craft of infographic creation…

CECIL THE LION

Cecil, a 13 year-old lion who jointly controlled his pride with another lion called Jericho, was shot by a wealthy American who had paid $50,000 to have him lured out of the reserve in which he lived. Walter Palmer, the shooter, has a long and bloody history of such activities, including at least one felony conviction involving poaching. Cecil was a huge tourist attraction, and even from the purely monetary angle (not a viewpoint with which I identify) his death has cost far than the $50,000 that was paid to bring it about. Before moving on from this introduction I have a bunch of Cecil related links to share with you:

A public response from World Animal Protection
Two links to the petition site:
1)The original petition
2)The current state of play
Sumofus calling on airlines to refuse to carry the “trophies” of such activities
Take Part have produced this splendid article by way of response
Patheos have offered this interesting view
Finally, mashable have produced their own petition relating to this issue

There seems little doubt that Mr Palmer’s activities, and those activities that were paid for with his blood money were in breach of Zimbabwean law, and as a staunch internationalist I would say that the American government has a duty to ensure that Mr Palmer gets appropriately punished, either by putting him on the next plane to Zimbabwe to be punished in the country where he committed the crime or by arranging for him to be tried, convicted and punished in America.

I would also like to see a blanket ban on “trophy hunting”, enforced with stringent penalties for those who breach it. Also, I have concentrated on the American, rather than the two Zimbabweans involved in the atrocity because it is the American who bears full responsibility – without his money the two Zimbabweans would have had no motive for their nefarious contact – Mr Palmer is guilty on his own account and has made criminals of the other two involved.

SOME PICTORIAL HIGHLIGHTS

This subsection is devoted the only kind of shooting I am interested in performing – that done with my trusty Nikon Coolpix P530. Yes I have recently acquired a set of five obsidian arrowheads – but that was purchased as on object of interest, not with any intention of using them as weapons!

The first two pictures are of an insect that was crawling on the window of an X8 bus in which I happened to be a passenger.

These two robins, enjoying the local park, formed the basis of my second ever pictorial thank you message.

This lone robin was by the bandstand in the local park.

A squirrel preparing for the main ascent!

A swimming gull, reflected back by the smooth water.

This one was standing on a submerged log

A cormorant - the first of many. — A cormorant – the first of many.

A cormorant on the structure that I named Cormorant Platform because they make so much use of it.

Swans in the parkland off Littleport Street

One of my ornithological alter egos - a magpie. — One of my ornithological alter egos – a magpie.

The only time I have ever got a really got shot of one of these white butterflies - they move seriously fast — The only time I have ever got a really got shot of one of these white butterflies – they move seriously fast

A cormorant and black backed gull together.

These were the first ducklings I saw in 2015.

This crafty duckling had realised that it could use the lily pad as a kind of boat.

These three shots were gold from my point of view - usually if a cormorant is swimming it is looking for food and therefore dives regularly, making it tough to capture on camera. — These three shots were gold from my point of view – usually if a cormorant is swimming it is looking for food and therefore dives regularly, making it tough to capture on camera.

Mallard drake and moorhen being companionable on the edge of the upper Millfleet.

I had seen swans on various rivers, but until July 2015 never on the Great Ouse which is tidal and flows seriously fast.

These birds like marshy land best, but mud flats when the Great Ouse is at low tide are clearly also acceptable to them.

The base of my current pictorial thank you message.

Every single photo in this subsection was bagged within walking distance of my “compact” town centre flat – if you truly appreciate nature you do not have go very far to find glorious sights, and nothing need be harmed.

A FEW NATURE RELATED LINKS

These two links are both to petitions that anyone who takes an interest i nature should sign and share:

1)This from 38Degrees is an emergeny petition about bees

2)Take Part are running this petition against unsafe drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

A FINAL REMINDER

To finish the main section of this blog I have another infographic, which gives the same message as the one I opened the section with – the fundamental message of this post…

GENERAL LINKS

Just a handful of links today:

Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK on the “power of capital well used”.
An update on the change.org petition launched by the Sweets Way Campaign.
Two from Vox Political:
1)A splendid attack on the despicable Jeremy Hunt.
2)A scathing indictment of Tory plans that would amount to legalising bribery and corruption.
Finally, to end the post, a link to a new find that came by way of Fargaregardsanna, Harsh Reality, who are offering the opportunity to share a blog post, which I shall by accepting!

Study Title: Attention and Perception in Autism Spectrum Conditions

A personal account of taking part in a study at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge,, accompanied by photographs, with some interesting and important links and some more photographs.

INTRODUCTION

The main body of this post is a personal account of my involvement in the study whose title I have used for the whole post, run as so often at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge. I also have a variety of links and a few photos that are not directly connected with the title piece but which I wish to share. I hope you will all enjoy this post and that you will take the opportunity of sharing it.

ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION IN AUTISM SPECTRUM CONDITIONS

THE PRELIMINARIES

i found out about this study just five days ago, and made contact with the person conducting it. A brief exchange of emails concluded with an arrangement for me to attend at 11AM today. As part of the preparation I had to answer various questions and solve various puzzles online.

GETTING THERE

An scheduled start of 11AM meant getting the 8:57 from King’s Lynn, and to make sure that I got my travel expenses reimbursed I carefully got a receipt. It was shortly after getting on to the platform that I brought the camera into action for the first time of the day…

DSCN8526

Pictures taken through the windows of moving trains are tough to get right, but these two worked out okay…

"A goods train: the shame of it" Gordon the Big Engine in the Rev W Awdry series — “A goods train: the shame of it” Gordon the Big Engine in the Rev W Awdry series

I could get a clear shot of the whole of Ely Cathedral, but this shows the main tower and the octagonal construction designed by a 14th century Prior known only and uninformatively as Alan of Norwich. — I could not get a clear shot of the whole of Ely Cathedral, but this shows the main tower and the octagonal construction designed by a 14th century Prior known only and uninformatively as Alan of Norwich.

Arriving in Cambridge I decided to take a longer route than usual to the Autism Research Centre, heading towards town as far as this church…

DSCN8531 DSCN8532

Turning on to the link road that connects to the town end of Trumpington Road I passed the Scott Polar Research Institute, named in honour of Robert Falcon Scott, one of the most famous runners up in history. Scott also gave his name to an itinerant cricket team some of whose deeds are chronicled in Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson and Rain Men by Marcus Berkmann. Although I could not get a shot of the whole building without crossing to the wrong side of a busy road I did get these shots…

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Next up was the Cambridge University Chemical Laboratory…

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At the very point of turning onto Trumpington Road I passed Hobson’s Conduit…

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This is the first major building on Trumpington Road itself, on the opposite side of ti to me…

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A shot of the water alongside Trumpington Road…

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I next passed the public entrance to Cambridge Botanic Gardens (the admission price convinced me to go no further than the gates)…

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A little bit further along I passed a locked gate into the same establishment, with some red flowers growing next to it…

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The last shot I got before arriving at the Autism Research Centre was of this dragon fly (or similar), which although quite large was moving exceedingly fast, hence why I got only the one usable shot…

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AT THE AUTISM RESEARCH CENTRE

I arrived at the centre at about 10:40, and did not have to wait too long for Owen Parsons, who was conducting the study, to put in an appearance. After the usual preliminaries of form signing and checking the experiment itself ran in three parts…

MIND YOUR TS AND LS

For this test one had eight seconds in total to view an intermittent display of red and blue letters, most of which were Ls but one of which was a T. The task was to identify which colour the T was and click the appropriate button to record that identification. A wrong identification, or wrong button pressed, or being timed out generated a horrible beep.

IDENTIFYING DUPLICATION

For this part of the process one was required to press the space bar each time the same image was shown twice consecutvely. The images were all of full scenes, but shown at thumbnail size. Again, a misidentification or a failure to identify within the time limit generated a beep. There was then a second part to this section, involving familiarity. One was shown sequences of three images and asked to identify the set that looked more familiar. The pictures were similar in nature and size to those previously shown, but some were definitely new.

WHICH BOX WAS THAT X IN?

For this third and final part of the experiment, there were four boxes in which an X could appear. When it appeared one had to identify the box as follows: X for leftmost, Z for left-centre, N for right-centre, M for rightmost. Thus, the duration of this section of the experiment was spent with the index and middle fingers of each hand poised over the keys in question. There was then a second subsection, involving pattern identification and made more complicated by two factors:

1)Obviously enough, not knowing about this in advance I was not especially looking for a pattern in the first stage of the process.

2)The pattern was not adhered to at all times (about 15% of the time, the X appeared in a box it was not ‘supposed’ to).

All in all, I quite enjoyed performing these tests, and would say that it is a worthwhile study. If you are aged 18-45, have been diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Condition and can get to Cambridge, contact Owen Parsons: oep20@cam.ac.uk about taking part in the study.

GETTING BACK

There was a small delay getting back to the main building from the place where the study had been set up as Owen initially came out without his swipe card, during which I snared this shot…

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On my way back to the street I took a shot of the front of the main building…

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I opted for the short route back to the station,along Brooklands Avenue and past the new bus interchange to approach the train station from that angle. I got these shots in the course of that walk…

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I got a couple of shots en route to the platform as well…

A worthy effort to represent all of Britain's railways on one map. — A worthy effort to represent all of Britain’s railways on one map.

A somewhat loose definition of London & the Southeast!

On my way off the train at King’s Lynn I took the opportunity to capture this plaque on camera…

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LINKS

As regular readers of this blog or those who follow me on twitter will be well aware I regularly sign and share petitions, and my first link is to a piece from Huffington Post detailing the success of one such, concerning the Henry family.

My next link is to Mike Sivier of Vox Political on the subject of a possible Greek default.

Next up is this about the effect of London on social housing.

Then we have this on the origins of turtles.

WELCOME TO A NEW FOLLOWER

The next two links both relate to autism, and indeed to the website of a recent follower of mine:

1)The main website, ambitiousautismambassador

2)A particular impressive post taking on stereotyping.

AN IMPORTANT PETITION

My final link is to a petition on change.org protesting against a planned European law that will mean the end of photography as we know it – PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE!!

A FEW FINAL PICTURES

While my right to do so remains I am sharing these photos…

Stand E, on the occasion I first used it, Tuesday AM

The new electronic displays now at every stand.

I realised before using it as part of my bus fare that this 50p was of a style I had not previously seen.

A close up of the detailed board at Stand E

A Sharing Post

INTRODUCTION

Although I have been out and about today, and have some good pictures which will feature somewhere, this post is going to be almost entirely given over sharing stuff from other people, as I have some fantastic links and a couple of decent infographics.

VOX POLITICAL AND A VERY IMPORTANT FOI REQUEST

There are a number of links in this subsection, which relates to a long running campaign by Mike Sivier of Vox Political. As well as some stuff from Mike himself, I have a link to a piece about the MP for Newcastle, who has weighed in on our side, and a very important blog post from Jayne Linney which I have already shared with my twitter followers. I hope you will visit all the links below:

1)The Petition – please sign and or share.

2)Vox Political first post – on Downing Street and the deleted emails

3)Vox Political 2nd Post – on DWP continuing dishonesty.

4)Newcastle MP weighs in our side.

5)Jayne Linney blog post “Truth Seekers“.

AUTISM

Two excellent pieces in this section, firstly one of the finest explanations of Asperger’s Syndrome (my particular form of autism) that I have so far come across, courtesy of Durham Regional Autism Services. The second link in this section is to an old favourite, Autism Mom, and her latest post on visiting these shores with the Navigator.

THE ABI LONGFELLOW CASE

Two links here, a Mirror article and a petition:

1)Read the latest article about this case.

2)View, sign and share the petition.

THE LAST FEW LINKS

I have three more links to share with you. First, courtesy of Take Part Daily, a story about the method used by inhabitants of one tiny island to tackle illegal fishing in their protected waters. Second, a piece in the Independent about the disgraceful treatment of Raif Badawi. The links section began with Mike Sivier, and we finish by coming full circle, to his piece about Tories deeming it clever to back Corbyn for Labour Leader.

INFOGRAPHICS

First up in this section is a graphic representation of TTIP…

TTIP

My other infographic, saved on my computer as “Sprawl-mart” concerns a certain US Supermarket and tax havens where it has shell companies but no stores…

Sprawl-mart

ANOTHER EVENT AT KING’S LYNN LIBRARY

Details of an upcoming event at my local library in pictorial form…

SOME PHOTOS FROM TODAY AND A CLOSING STATEMENT

I hope that you have enjoyed this post, and that you will be encouraged to share it. I finish with a selection of today’s pictures…

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	The First Two Days i… on A Successful Auction
	Marizanne’s Mastercl… on From Victory to Rout in Two…
	From Victory to Rout… on An Extraordinary Opening …
	amsutcliffebtinterne… on Thunder v Scorchers
	Thunder v Scorchers… on Brilliant Bray Bosses Sydney…

INTRODUCTION

THE LINK BETWEEN AUTISM & ABLEISM

ABLEISM

AUTISM

PHOTOGRAPHS

INTRODUCTION

WEST INDIES POOR WITH THE BAT

A GLIMPSE OF THE 1990s

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH AWARD

PHOTOGRAPHS

INTRODUCTION

RENATIONALISE THE RAILWAYS!

AN ANTI-FRACKING PETITION

PHOTOGRAPHS 1:

A COUPLE OF LINKS

PHOTOGRAPHS 2

INTRODUCTION

FIRST SESSION BACK

SOME NEW PHOTOS

INTRODUCTION

ENABLING PROPER EXPLORATION

THE START OF THE EXPLORATION

THE PARKLAND

THE WATERFRONT

INTRODUCTION

A MUCH ANTICIPATED COFFEE MORNING

THE WALK THERE

AT THE EVENT

THE WALK BACK

SOME LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHS

LINKS

POLITICAL LINKS

A LINK AND AN ADVANCE NOTIFICATION

A PLATINUM INFOGRAPHIC

A FINAL WORD

INTRODUCTION

THE FIGURE OF EIGHT WALK

CORMORANT PLATFORM

THE PARKLAND

LINKS

INTRODUCTION

ON APPRECIATING NATURE

CECIL THE LION

SOME PICTORIAL HIGHLIGHTS

A FEW NATURE RELATED LINKS

A FINAL REMINDER

GENERAL LINKS

INTRODUCTION

ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION IN AUTISM SPECTRUM CONDITIONS

THE PRELIMINARIES

GETTING THERE

AT THE AUTISM RESEARCH CENTRE

MIND YOUR TS AND LS

IDENTIFYING DUPLICATION

WHICH BOX WAS THAT X IN?

GETTING BACK

LINKS

WELCOME TO A NEW FOLLOWER

AN IMPORTANT PETITION

A FEW FINAL PICTURES

INTRODUCTION

VOX POLITICAL AND A VERY IMPORTANT FOI REQUEST

AUTISM

THE ABI LONGFELLOW CASE

THE LAST FEW LINKS

INFOGRAPHICS

ANOTHER EVENT AT KING’S LYNN LIBRARY

SOME PHOTOS FROM TODAY AND A CLOSING STATEMENT

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE
PLAYER OF THE MATCH AWARD