CURRENT Television

[Roy Hunter]

^ he used to run a health food shop in my town.

[black bart]

^ he used to run a health food shop in my town.

Did the town have many mysterious disappearances?

[Roland Deschain]

^^^ If he brings a few herbs and some basting tools in next time, that's when you need to worry.

Been watching a lot of science programmes on the BBC iPlayer recently. It's mostly Horizon or one-off specials, but there is currently a really good look at the academic life of the first female palaeontologist to be made a fellow of the Royal Society. It's part of a series, so i'm really looking forward to the next however many parts.

[black bart]

Sean the Sheep...it's so funny, especially the episode with the Giant Sheep like King Kong.

[Roland Deschain]

Sean the Sheep...it's so funny, especially the episode with the Giant Sheep like King Kong.

I must admit to having watched quite a few of these, and becoming quite fond of Shaun. Nothing but gold out of Aardman Studios.

Been watching a great series on the iPlayer called Divine Women with Bettany Hughes ( ). It's a look at the role of women within the religions of the world. The second episode appeared on the iPlayer today, and it features 2 main sections. The first covers the Greek and Roman worlds, the second covers the Christian world, or more specifically early Christianity. If you want to have a look at what happened to the female priests, deacons and bishops, this will tell you nicely. Link - http://www.bettanyhughes.co.uk/divine-women.

Also, Louis Theroux is back, with the first in the series looking at the Autistic. Should be a good one from the looks of it.

[Roy Hunter]

Also, Louis Theroux is back, with the first in the series looking at the Autistic. Should be a good one from the looks of it.

Saw it. Didn't like quite a bit of it. Not that it is a reflection on Louis Theroux: his crew film what they see, and he negotiates his way into some amazing places (much in the manner of Nick Broomfield) and gets on video stuff that you might never see otherwise.

I saw some amazing work that was bringing kids out of their quite literal shells, but I also saw some parents who quite obviously had no understanding of their children's condition and whose behaviour was bordering on abuse: inappropriate restraint; unnatural barriers being placed in their way; complete failure to meet the kids halfway. Some of these kids were really, really trying to make contact - you could tell, you could see it - but there was intransigence coming from the other side.

For instance, there was one kid whose parents restrained him when he was having a crisis by lying on him. The kid submitted to this: he did not resist, he did not complain, but he did learn (and had it reinforced to him by repetition) that his violence provoked a reaction. The same parents subsequently modified their response to a crisis to giving the kid boxing gloves to stop him hurting them. I said 'giving', not 'putting on': he put the gloves on himself, he learned that this was what was expected of him, and he acceded to that. Would it not have been kinder to put him in a safe, breakables-free room and leave him alone until his rage was spent, rather than lying on him and taking away the function of his hands? I think so.

I will be interested to hear what non-NTs like ADoS and Tigger think of this.
Oh, and while we're at it, after watching the show Mrs. H. and I took the AQ test.
And one of us produced a result that suggested they might be a colour on the autistic spectrum.
And it wasn't me...

[Roland Deschain]

Louis Theroux is such an unassuming person. You look at him and see no threat, but he really has managed to get to some weird and wonderful places. I look forward to seeing it now you've said that. There is still so much education needed on mental illness.

And I scored 28, although I was unsure on several.

[Roy Hunter]

Currently watching The Little Paris Kitchen. I love the idea, because lots of people don't have a proper kitchen, and only a small oven, so it uses a small kitchen and limited resources to produce some amazing-looking food. Unfortunately, Rachel Khoo, the wumman that does the cooking, is so far up her own arse she can see herself digesting her own food.

And I scored 28, although I was unsure on several.

They're forced responses. The test used a split-half design, so your being forced one way or the other should balance out. It's a good test by the look of it. I scored 14, Mrs. H. scored 32.

[daftbeaker]

New series of Not Going Out.

And I scored 28, although I was unsure on several.

They're forced responses. The test used a split-half design, so your being forced one way or the other should balance out. It's a good test by the look of it. I scored 14, Mrs. H. scored 32.

I got 27 but like Roland there were a few where I could have done with a 'I don't care either way' option. Looks like I don't have Asperger's, I'm just anti-social

[Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I scored a 36. It's been a long time since I gave a good angry rant about autism stuff and am thus out of practice, and besides I've never raised a kid, autistic or not, properly or not, so I don't have the perspective for it anyway.

[Roland Deschain]

It appears that Roy is the odd one out amongst responders to the little test. It's an interesting one. I wonder what my score actually means?

I've now watched the Louis Theroux programme, and can honestly say that it was more than a little heart-wrenching. Those poor kids going through all that, and the parents just needing to understand how to cope with it all. The parents restraining the child seemed a little off to me too, and when they moved onto the boxing gloves and leaving him alone, it did appear to be a step in the right direction, at least.

I must say, though, that the school they attended seemed nothing short of amazing. The simulated street, complete with classrooms set up as shops, was most excellent, and really stood out as one of the most important aspects, teaching them necessary skills to function as much as possible in the outside world. More places like this are needed, with dedicated teaching staff who understand the subtleties involved, and some decent government funding.

Roy, you really could see those kids reaching out in the only ways they knew how, and I think Louis' interactions with them were interesting. I can't remember his name, but the 19 year old who was just about to attend High School seemed to really like him (I had to chuckle at him looking Louis up on Wikipedia), and connected with him in some way, as did a couple of the others. It's just so sad that we know so little on the causes.

[PKMKII]

31, so I'm borderline.

[Roy Hunter]

It's just so sad that we know so little on the causes.

It is not really that useful to think about causes when you are looking at something as complex as autistic spectrum disorders. There is a heritability component; there is a neurological difference around the brainstem (can't remember exactly where - too lazy to look it up) but we have no idea if it is pre-programmed to develop like that from before birth, or if it is a reaction to an environmental or genetic stimulus after birth; and there is the fact that we include some identified conditions in the autistic spectrum and exclude others (which is nothing to do with the condition and everything to do with our signal detection paradigm). We can't agree on what an ASD is, let alone identify a 'cause' for it. That is why simple 'magic pill' identifications like Thiomersal or MMR smell like bullshit to me.

ADoS, I don't really care whether a child is autistic or not - I don't think physical restraint is an appropriate tool for parenting. Autistic kids learn just like non-autistic kids, and if you teach them that restraint is OK and that violence provokes a reaction, you propogate that behaviour and it will be passed on to their peers and the next generation. I think that, when it is necessary for your own safety, you should remove yourself from the situation where a kid is being aggressive or violent. If it is going to happen on a regular basis, maybe you need a space or a room where the kid can act out safely without smashing up anything valuable. That is, to my mind, the compassionate and loving way to deal with the situation. You only teach a kid bad things by restraining them.

[Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Oh, I agree. I just can't remember my own opinions sometimes.

I was recently ranting to Ashley in Friendly's with regard to the well-behaved kids and their properly-parenting parents sitting behind us and how they seemed to be doing the right thing and how more people should do the right thing and how and why people do the wrong thing and how I would do it if I had kids, which basically boiled down to "don't make empty threats and you'll have no need to beat your kids". But then again if I had kids they'd turn out to be monsters because me talking to kids is like trying to connect to the Internet wirelessly using a non-wireless NIC. We don't understand each other and we don't like each other. Ashley gets along with kids much more than I do. If I even come near kids they back away with a horrified expression on their faces. I don't know why, I'm a nice guy, but it must be my bad exophoria and strange body language. That again probably comes down to I'm autistic and they're not.

My first-cousin-once-removed was over here the Friday before last, the day after his second birthday. He was afraid of me. It's probably because my cousin Joe always lets Noah kiss everyone goodbye before they leave and I always withdraw and put my arms up in front of my face to block it. Noah must think I don't like him. It's not that I don't like him, it's that I think he's a little monster (his "Terrible Twos" started immediately) and he's gross and disgusting. He announced, TWICE, that he was going to pee on my grandmother's rug, and then did so TWICE, while he was over here. Why would I want that creature kissing me? He was eating his own poop for a while. My Auntie Donna (Joe's stepmother) said he'd probably like me more when he gets a little older. Maybe someday he'll find the mix CD I made for him before he was born, read the cover, and ask "Who's Uncle Vincey-Wincey?" (Vincey-Wincey is a name given to me by a former friend of the family, who called me Vincenzo and when I said I didn't like being called that she gave me that dumb nickname, and my siblings and cousins have adopted calling me that as well. I used to get upset about it but now I just accept it. Please don't call me that here.) Joe will say, "He's that guy who cringes and freaks out whenever you come near him!" And Noah will say, "Oh, maybe he's not so bad," or more likely he'll just say, "Oh," and toss it aside.

[Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I just watched the season 1 finale of MLP:FIM. I'm done watching for the night. Tired.