Notices by FrightenedRat 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (frightenedrat@mastodon.scot)

@joshsusser @avdi

Shudders - why would anyone give up working on the code-face to become lumbered with management nonsense?

I always thought the beauty of development and architecting was NOT having to get ensnared in that icky stuff in order to progress.

When I was young I cluelessly thought I didn't need a union - if I didn't like my workplace I'd go elsewhere. But I got attached to projects & let myself be exploited.

Older me knows a union isn't about just yourself but everyone together.

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

With smaller kids it's just watching for signs of distress - unhappy rocking, covering ears or eyes, hiding/averting gaze, difficulty with speech, etc etc.

It's just doing what all parents do to look out for their kids, but with a keen understanding that your kid might be pushed to their limits by things that don't bother other kids. [Getting irritated at their being "unreasonable" & telling them to stop "making a fuss about nothing" is unlikely to help.]

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

What you do is look for signs of overload beginning and try to head it off.

(I took my kids to a lot of plays - normally it was fine, but on the times they told me they needed to leave, we did.)

Predictable routines: it's not about stopping variety or repeating stuff till it's boring, but giving the kid enough stability for them to not feel too at sea & out of their depth. Letting them make sense of one situation before tossing them into the next one.

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

If an autistic kid finds something "normal" upsetting eg change or eye contact, an instinct of care givers can be to toughen them up by repeatedly exposing them to the situation so they can "get used to it".

While we CAN get used to things we find tough, if not done sensitively at our own pace & with consent the trauma can be counter productive.

...

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

"Ditto to whether or not the IWT is 100% +ive about Autism."

Remington says some people like IWT because it talks about autistic strengths. Then says that it also mentions weaknesses so isn't as Autism positive as it first appears.

But

1) the validity of IWT has nothing to do with whether it's positive or negative about Autism, the test is whether or not it's accurate.

2) most would agree Au IS a mixed bag of strengths & weeknesses

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

Autistic brains operate differently - so some functions are more efficient & others less.

There can be gaps in connectivity resulting in a lack of integration.

Neural resources being channelled into some highly functional areas may mean that other areas are less well served. & what an autistic brain specialises in might be odd by normal standards e.g less resources devoted to recognising facial expressions & more on eg systematising the natural world.

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

Both IWT & the extract you quote agree that since autistic kids learn differently you need an educational approach that centres the childs' unique needs rather than a one size fits all strategy. Let kids explore what fascinates them BUT ALSO be cautious about what overwhelms them.

IWT suggest an environment as enriched as a child is comfortable with but warns against overload & suggests predictable routines may be more helpful with this than chaos.

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

I went to see "Myra's Story" but have run away at the interval.

(The sounds and lights were a bit harsh for me, but on top of that I thought the play horribly trite & clumsy, plus I was deeply uncomfortable at the audience laughing along at the mocking of people with physical differences. It's a memoir of a life resulting in homelessness & alcoholism - so a serious issue but played for laughs in the first half. It wasn't my kind of humour, so a bit alienating.)

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

So, all in all I'm not too impressed with the Remington critique, but non of that makes Intense World Theory correct.

Whenever I read a Neuroscience paper on Autism I try to think about whether it supports/undermines/is neutral on IWT, & so far it seems compatible with new stuff. So it remains my working theory. But still - it's just a theory.

I'd rather have truth than confirmation, so I'm very open to hear arguments against!

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

Paying attention to your unique child's specific needs rather than taking the ABS route of forcing them to conform doesn't seem too dangerous to me.

The IWT authors speculate there are developmental windows where avoiding overload is especially important. Remington doesn't like this because parents who've missed the window might feel bad - but that's hardly an argument about the validity of the claim.

Ditto to whether or not the IWT is 100% +ive about Autism.

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

IWT of autism boils down to neural functional groupings being (relatively) over/ under connected leading to processing variations eg being hyper/hypo-reactive to a stimulus.

As the brain is highly plastic, the hyper reactivity itself reinforces the uneven (spiky) cognitive profile (think feedback loops/creating a rut).

Remington complains IWT ignores the hypo side, but IWT talks a lot about cognition being fragmented with parts being shut down/gated/isolated.

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

The IWT authors speculate that autistic kids may develop in a more balanced way in an environment that avoids sensory extremes/shocks that may overwhelm their hyper reactive neurology.

It doesn't suggest neglecting kids or sensory deprivation as Remington fears, but, during early learning, introducing new things cautiously looking for signs of distress i.e learning at the child's pace rather than forcing them to cope with what the average child usually likes.

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

Hi, I'll be interested to here anything you have to say about Intense World Theory, but I think the opinion piece you just linked to is very weak & doesn't actually engage with IWT but a straw man.

(I can give my reasoning later if I remember, but if I tried to get into it now I'd be late for attending a theatre performance. 😬 )