Software Testing Ideas and Update

Upon my return from New Zealand I contacted Gordon Sanderson and spoke with him about any updates or developments with software testing.  Gordon has spoken with a representative from ANZTB (Australia & New Zealand Software Testing Board) but unfortunately this has hit another snag.  So for the moment it is back to square one. However, Gordon has been in contact with Peter MacDonald from www.autismworks.co.uk which is good news.  For software testing to go ahead in Brisbane, it is more than likely a software testing model needs to be replicated.  It would be great to see Brisbane obtain a replication and then for other software testing replications to occur in both Australia and New Zealand.  The main problem both Australia and New Zealand seem to confront is that both countries are geographically isolated from the rest of the world.  In my previous post I mentioned that we need to work around difficulties and I believe that Australasia is ideally placed and we can better utilise our geographical isolation to reinvent or greatly improve our own Autism awareness. 

There are Aspies in both Australia and New Zealand who are working behind the scenes to help improve awareness where possible.  I am trying to play my part also.  One suggestion I have is that the University of Queensland could implement within the Information Technology Department a means of testing the strenghts, abilities and performance levels of adults on the Autism Spectrum.  This would assist with job performance and how to utilise the strenghts and abilities of the adult concerned and structure this within employment.  It would be good if for instance the University of Queensland Information Technology Department could also introduce a course designed for software testing and also better educating persons with Information Technology to work with Aspies if at all possible. 

With the University of Queensland implementing a work test for software testing for Aspies, this could better prepare the adult for employment and allowing them a means of working within a framework where the work environment could be similar to Autism Works, Specialisterne, Aspiritech.  It is a matter of time to see if such proposals may be implemented.  I would like in my spare time to work on or perhaps restructure the work environment for adults so as to encourage them to perform within employment and this would not be a conventional pattern of employment.  Some Aspies for instance may be productive for a few hours but after that they may become mentally fatigued and others may be able to work for longer periods within a routine.  This is why testing the strenghts and abilities of adults at a university would be something needing serious consideration. 

Gordon whom I mentioned earlier is assisting me with advocacy work.  Gordon will be in Europe for 5 weeks and for anyone interested in getting in touch with Gordon they can do so through Facebook in my friend's list.  Perhaps Gordon may be able to visit Autism Works or Specialisterne in Scotland upon his visit to the United Kingdom?  

I believe Aspies can work but the main obstacle is employers not understanding the condition or their strenghts and abilities.  This is why change and more understanding is needed.  I would like to work with interested Aspies to ensure they are able to adjust within employment and be able to hold down a job. 

For more information and updates on software testing please visit www.autismworks.co.uk

I have also written to new Vice Chancellor Apointee Peter Hoj and mentioned Autism Works to him also.  I understand Mr Hoj is also from Denmark where Thorkil Sonne is who started Specialisterne in Denmark. 

How the NDIS could provide better services

One of the areas the National Disability Insurance Scheme needs to look into is accommodation and support for adults on the Autism Spectrum within the community.  These need to be done as follows. 

1. Autism Associations provide housing and accommodation support depending on the needs base of the adult concerned

2. Housing to be made available in areas with close proximity to services and transport etc

3. Determine the person's income status and whether or not they they can afford certain levels of support or whether they follow or have the same needs of expenditure that others do.  For instance most adults on the Autism Spectrum aren't really interested in consumer spending and some are good savers.

4. Provide awareness to the community of disability to help make society better understand.

In my contact with adults from around the world, most have different needs and abilities. My own situation is challenging at times as I still live with my elderly parents.  I just don't know what to do.  The rental market is expensive and with the Carbon and Mining Taxes soon being introduced, Australia is going to become more expensive.  Also nothing is being done about mental health.  I have followed closely the work of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who has introduced a mental health care plan in New Zeland.  I have thought about contact it and asking if as an Australian, New Zealand would be able to help me?  I just feel very frustrated in that nothing is being done in Australia.  I constantly feel frustrated in that I cannot utilise any of my skills or abilities and feel I am beating my head against a brick wall in wanting to see things done. 

I wonder also if the Defence Forces are able to employ or utilise people with Autism in sections which involve attention to detail and meticulous input.  Also the sense of discipline may help for others to understand Aspies better.  Yesterday I attended an Anzac Day Service and saw lots of younger people and wondered how they could better understand Autism.  It also seems hard to connect with the non Autistic population as they simply don't get it if you think and act differently.  Getting to the service in itself was a challenge and trying to not over step the mark with authority figures.

I don't think the NDIS is being implemented fast enough and I worry about my own future.  My elderly parents also are concerned and with everything falling on my shoulders and so many expectations of having to perform when I struggle, I really just don't know what to do.  I hope things change soon for the better!

Working around the boundaries

As an Aspie life presents itself with challenges, setbacks, obstacles and disappointments.  The regular world that humanity lives in seems to have conventions and hierarchical restraints which make achieving things almost impossible if you cannot always understand them.  Whenever I mention the difficulties I have as an Aspie, I find non Autistic people are quick to jump at my comments to say 'non Autistic people have the same difficulties' .  Let me emphasise though that despite the so called similarities, that persons on the Autism Spectrum struggle more at being socially abled.  To simply put it, disability affects the Autistic person with our inability to understand the social cues and conventions others take for granted.  We also struggle with a society largely being unaware of our internal struggles.

I guess it is natural for most people to think that a difference needs to be obvious but for many Aspies we can look like non Aspies and yet we can be pushed around or misunderstood simply for not responding in an automated fashion which others assume to be endemic in all people.  If you can imagine employment and social lives, you can begin to understand why persons on the Autism Spectrum alone experience difficulty.  Just thinking and acting differently which I think needs emphasis due to Aspies having different wiring raises the needs for awareness.  If you can imagine that within the non Autistic world there are no boundaries just a different means of wiring, then you can begin to understand the challenges that Aspies confront.

I have come to the realisation that within life there are many setbacks and despite people having said 'you just need to try harder' or 'you have to stop using AS as an excuse and break free' that this is not always possible.  For instance, life seems to be largely dependent on a person's social skills and measured on how well socially a person may be.  For men on the Autism Spectrum, I feel that our greatest challenges are in terms of making friends, entering relationships and in finding employment.  The very few of us in employment also confront the difficulties of being unsuccessful in 'promotion' or in being allowed more opportunity in tasks which involve a lot of mental energy and intelligence but not so dependent on social skills.  I guess anyone reading this post would be quick to criticise my comments as being unrealistic or too Aspie focused?

I often find that within Australia and less so in other cultures, thinking and acting differently has with it many obstacles.  Furthermore, there are the past bad experiences of being bullied just for being different or pushed around.  Why does this happen?  I have come to accept that in life challenges, expectations and opportunities are something not to take for granted. I try to live a life where I live in the moment but try not to have expectations because they simply wont work out.  I often stumble and make clumsy mistakes on occasion with my interaction with people and try to hard to expect the world to change within the 'southern hemisphere' of Aspie awareness.  I often over think Aspie awareness in the southern hemisphere in draw conclusions that perhaps being on the lower extremities of the equator that land mass is less so than water.  Australia and New Zealand being English speaking countries are more remote from South Africa and the non English tongue of South America.  A voice is needed within the southern antipodes and there are many Aspies in the southern hemisphere but our means of awareness is perhaps different to our northern counterparts.  I think low population density, a lack of publishers, a vacuum of  complacency and other factors just makes our struggle so much harder should we wish to link to the northern hemisphere.  Perhaps people don't know what I am talking about?  If you can imagine the world like the human brain having two spheres then you would understand that the left and the right side operate differently.  Within the southern hemisphere perhaps being similar to one hemisphere of the brain a lot of work needs to be done so that our region can catch up!

The way around obstacles is to not let them get you down but instead work around them. Every bit of work no matter how slow it may be, advances Autism awareness one inch further.  Despite my efforts in trying to get software testing in Australasia, I think that it can be done.  If New Zealand adopt software testing before Australia then, Australia can expand from New Zealand and visa versa.  I think Australasia, is geographically remote from other countries of the world but there is Facebook and other internet facilities where us Aspies can link with other countries in the globe.  Have you ever wondered why so many persons on the Autism Spectrum are linked or rely on computers as a means of communication?    I see boundaries as not so much brick walls but more so challenges that can be got around but with small steps.  

People just don't get it

Imagine arriving in another country not understanding the language being unable to communicate and struggling to speak the same language, Imagine how it would feel? for many adults on the autism spectrum such questions are reality. Just because you look like everybody else does not mean that you think and act and process information the same way that they do. I have received comments in my life how I just use Asperger's syndrome too much as a crutch an excuse not to do things. Do you really think that I would be doing this when I'm affected by something that makes life challenging and difficult? In my contact with other adults from Australia and around the world I hear a similar story of depression and anxiety and bullying in past experiences. Quite simply why is nothing being done any society unaware and not able to understand such issues? I spend large amounts of time in social isolation because I just feel that people are unable to connect and I think and feel that whatever I think that people dont seem to understand! As I get older I find it challenging wise and I'm not sure what will happen by way of support after my parents are no longer around? To answer this question there just doesn't seem to be anything available and what is happening with the National Disability Insurance Scheme? Many adults on the autism spectrum are confronted with this very issue in their day-to-day lives and their parents and families. Also what support is a available in terms of employment, housing and support and services? Within the community there are many families affected by autism but they remain a silent minority and how much longer does this need to continue? I find it difficult but every time I seem confrontational people react in a defensive manner and this does not help! It It just seems that people are unable to see behind the person with Autism to exactly know what struggles we are personally confronting. People cannot be blamed for not knowing what to do and have to be aware which means more awareness and support reaches the wider community and this needs to happen as soon as possible! Some men on the autism spectrum have given up looking for relationships because they feel that the opposite sex just don't understand them and the dating process all to traumatic. People on the autism spectrum don't often want special treatment more so just want greater support awareness and understanding! So again I ask what is happening in terms of the National Disability Insurance Scheme? Australian Society seems largely unaware of autism especially in adults because most adults look like other people but yet cannot function in the same way that others do. So something needs to happen! What am I can see is that the government wanting to just put people with autism onto pensions and forgetting about them when most really want to work and have some form of structure in their lives. I tirelessly push for software testing for adults on the autism spectrum to provide meaningful and long-lasting employment. So it would be good if something were to happen Some people find social situations daunting but if a person is shy they are unable to have the social skills and the body language and are able to read social queues whereas if the person on the Autism Spectrum struggles often to communicate at all. It is pleasing that more people know what Asperger Syndrome and struggle to sometimes even talk autism but yet there's little training on specific people to know how to deal with autism.