Poem: "Through Repetition of Thought"
Jun. 22nd, 2016 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the April 19, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from alatefeline. It was sponsored by janetmiles some time ago and is now unlocked since "New Wine in Old Bottles" has been sponsored and posted. This poem belongs to the series An Army of One.
"Through Repetition of Thought"
When Embry slipped away
from her parents for 2.5 minutes
and in that time somehow managed
to get an airlock halfway open,
Armelle had a panic attack
and three more people moved
out of the "kiddie corridor."
"Puzzle!" Embry said
every time they passed
a locked door.
"That's not a puzzle,
that's an airlock,"
Bottleneck said,
leading her away.
"Embry is going to get
herself killed," Armelle said.
"No she won't," said Bottleneck.
"She just needs some toys
of her own to play with."
He found a set of nesting bowls
in different colors and painted
numbers on their rims.
He cut slats of metal and
fitted them onto pegs along
the length of a curving board,
so they would chime when hit.
Embry sat on the floor and
played happily with the toys.
Then she went right back
to trying to open the airlocks.
They couldn't simply seal the airlocks,
because sometimes people needed
to go outside or bring things in.
That was a problem.
It was Darmid who found a solution.
"People here have routines," he said.
"They're brilliant at finding the best way
to do something and then repeating it
precisely every time. Embry is doing
the same thing, and Tyson is also
pretty good at it. Let's do what works."
"You mean just ... teach them by rote,
the rules for airlocks, instead of trying
to make them mind adults," Armelle said.
"Some kinds of problem have
only one right answer," Darmid said.
"Two plus two will always equal four,
and this is the routine for airlock safety."
"It is for Orion airlocks," Bottleneck said.
"Carinan ones are a bit different. I had
to learn how to handle this kind
when I first moved here."
"And you did fine with that, so if
the children move later, they can learn
the other style then," Darmid said.
"We'll start with the home kind."
So he read the regulations that
had come with Sargasso Base,
and he observed how the adults
held themselves and moved through
the safety steps one after the other.
Darmid got some paint and added
pairs of large and small footprints to
the markings around the airlock doors.
Then he copied the safety rules in
simplified language onto the wall,
with cute illustrations of what to do
so that the children could understand.
Finally Darmid brought all of the children
to a newly decorated airlock and said,
"This is an airlock. It keeps air in so we
can breathe, and it keeps space out.
So we only open it when we're wearing
spacesuits. First we're going to learn
the routine for airlock safety. After we
all know that by heart, then we will
move on to spacesuit safety."
He showed them where to stand.
He showed them what parts were
safe to touch or dangerous to touch.
He showed them the pattern of lights
and how those changed depending
on whether there was air in the lock
or people standing too close.
"They're never going to remember
all of that," Armelle said.
"Let's find out," said Darmid.
"Tyson, Mair, Embry, how much
do you remember of today's lesson?
Show us the steps that you know."
Tyson and Embry did pretty well,
and even Mair remembered
to put her feet on the prints.
"Well done!" said Darmid.
"You really paid attention.
Let's go get some yogurt.
Tomorrow we'll come back
and practice this again."
Then he looked around and
realized that a small crowd of
adults stood behind the children.
"What's this all about?" he said.
"We're new here too," said Janus.
"Do you mind if we follow along?
You make a lot more sense
than the regulation pages."
"Of course," said Darmid.
"My lessons are open to anyone."
"You really think this will work,"
Armelle said, leaning forward.
"Some people learn best from
interaction with each other,
while others seem to learn best
through repetition of thought,"
said Darmid. "It's just a matter of
teaching people however they learn."
"I wish I could have had a teacher
like you," Bottleneck said with a sigh.
"Mine just thought I was stupid."
"You can now," Darmid said.
"My lessons are open to anyone!
Whenever we're learning something
you don't know yet, you're invited."
Armelle looked at Embry, who
still had her feet on the tiny prints
instead of reaching for the handle
or the colorful control buttons.
"All right, we'll try it your way," said Armelle.
* * *
Notes:
"Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought."
-- Napolean Hill
All children get lost sometimes, and panic makes it worse instead of better. It is vital that adults and children understand what to do when someone gets lost. Coping with this annoyance is part of developing your life skills, although some people may need different techniques for it than others.
Panic attacks may come from traumatic stress. Understand how to calm yourself or help someone else through a panic attack. There are different challenges depending whether the fear does or does not have an identifiable cause.
While people in mainstream culture tend to view autism only as a disability, in fact it has many advantages. In a society of neurovariant folks, it is the neurotypical ones likely to be viewed as somehow lacking -- for example, incapable of memorizing or repeating a precise routine, dilettantes who can't learn a topic with any real depth, prone to chattering with friends instead of doing their work, etc.
Stacking and sorting toys offer multiple benefits for children. Browse some toys in this category. I favor wooden toys for children, but here I'm focusing on metal and plastic because that's mostly what they have on a space station.
I like to look for a xylophone that has at least eight keys, with each note a different color, to help learn scales.
Stacking bowls, especially if color-coded, help children learn about amounts and proportions. This is especially true if you use them for pouring water, sand, or some other substance.
Teaching how children learn is crucial for younger and older students if you want them to love learning and actually remember what you present. Otherwise both the experience and the results tend to be poor. This is true even for neurotypical people, as there are many types of intelligence that people use to learn. Teachers should understand how to use different techniques in class to help all their students learn the material. In short, Darmid is a genius and they are extremely lucky to have someone who can design an effective educational approach for the Lacuna.
alatefeline. It was sponsored by janetmiles some time ago and is now unlocked since "New Wine in Old Bottles" has been sponsored and posted. This poem belongs to the series An Army of One."Through Repetition of Thought"
When Embry slipped away
from her parents for 2.5 minutes
and in that time somehow managed
to get an airlock halfway open,
Armelle had a panic attack
and three more people moved
out of the "kiddie corridor."
"Puzzle!" Embry said
every time they passed
a locked door.
"That's not a puzzle,
that's an airlock,"
Bottleneck said,
leading her away.
"Embry is going to get
herself killed," Armelle said.
"No she won't," said Bottleneck.
"She just needs some toys
of her own to play with."
He found a set of nesting bowls
in different colors and painted
numbers on their rims.
He cut slats of metal and
fitted them onto pegs along
the length of a curving board,
so they would chime when hit.
Embry sat on the floor and
played happily with the toys.
Then she went right back
to trying to open the airlocks.
They couldn't simply seal the airlocks,
because sometimes people needed
to go outside or bring things in.
That was a problem.
It was Darmid who found a solution.
"People here have routines," he said.
"They're brilliant at finding the best way
to do something and then repeating it
precisely every time. Embry is doing
the same thing, and Tyson is also
pretty good at it. Let's do what works."
"You mean just ... teach them by rote,
the rules for airlocks, instead of trying
to make them mind adults," Armelle said.
"Some kinds of problem have
only one right answer," Darmid said.
"Two plus two will always equal four,
and this is the routine for airlock safety."
"It is for Orion airlocks," Bottleneck said.
"Carinan ones are a bit different. I had
to learn how to handle this kind
when I first moved here."
"And you did fine with that, so if
the children move later, they can learn
the other style then," Darmid said.
"We'll start with the home kind."
So he read the regulations that
had come with Sargasso Base,
and he observed how the adults
held themselves and moved through
the safety steps one after the other.
Darmid got some paint and added
pairs of large and small footprints to
the markings around the airlock doors.
Then he copied the safety rules in
simplified language onto the wall,
with cute illustrations of what to do
so that the children could understand.
Finally Darmid brought all of the children
to a newly decorated airlock and said,
"This is an airlock. It keeps air in so we
can breathe, and it keeps space out.
So we only open it when we're wearing
spacesuits. First we're going to learn
the routine for airlock safety. After we
all know that by heart, then we will
move on to spacesuit safety."
He showed them where to stand.
He showed them what parts were
safe to touch or dangerous to touch.
He showed them the pattern of lights
and how those changed depending
on whether there was air in the lock
or people standing too close.
"They're never going to remember
all of that," Armelle said.
"Let's find out," said Darmid.
"Tyson, Mair, Embry, how much
do you remember of today's lesson?
Show us the steps that you know."
Tyson and Embry did pretty well,
and even Mair remembered
to put her feet on the prints.
"Well done!" said Darmid.
"You really paid attention.
Let's go get some yogurt.
Tomorrow we'll come back
and practice this again."
Then he looked around and
realized that a small crowd of
adults stood behind the children.
"What's this all about?" he said.
"We're new here too," said Janus.
"Do you mind if we follow along?
You make a lot more sense
than the regulation pages."
"Of course," said Darmid.
"My lessons are open to anyone."
"You really think this will work,"
Armelle said, leaning forward.
"Some people learn best from
interaction with each other,
while others seem to learn best
through repetition of thought,"
said Darmid. "It's just a matter of
teaching people however they learn."
"I wish I could have had a teacher
like you," Bottleneck said with a sigh.
"Mine just thought I was stupid."
"You can now," Darmid said.
"My lessons are open to anyone!
Whenever we're learning something
you don't know yet, you're invited."
Armelle looked at Embry, who
still had her feet on the tiny prints
instead of reaching for the handle
or the colorful control buttons.
"All right, we'll try it your way," said Armelle.
* * *
Notes:
"Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought."
-- Napolean Hill
All children get lost sometimes, and panic makes it worse instead of better. It is vital that adults and children understand what to do when someone gets lost. Coping with this annoyance is part of developing your life skills, although some people may need different techniques for it than others.
Panic attacks may come from traumatic stress. Understand how to calm yourself or help someone else through a panic attack. There are different challenges depending whether the fear does or does not have an identifiable cause.
While people in mainstream culture tend to view autism only as a disability, in fact it has many advantages. In a society of neurovariant folks, it is the neurotypical ones likely to be viewed as somehow lacking -- for example, incapable of memorizing or repeating a precise routine, dilettantes who can't learn a topic with any real depth, prone to chattering with friends instead of doing their work, etc.
Stacking and sorting toys offer multiple benefits for children. Browse some toys in this category. I favor wooden toys for children, but here I'm focusing on metal and plastic because that's mostly what they have on a space station.
I like to look for a xylophone that has at least eight keys, with each note a different color, to help learn scales.
Stacking bowls, especially if color-coded, help children learn about amounts and proportions. This is especially true if you use them for pouring water, sand, or some other substance.
Teaching how children learn is crucial for younger and older students if you want them to love learning and actually remember what you present. Otherwise both the experience and the results tend to be poor. This is true even for neurotypical people, as there are many types of intelligence that people use to learn. Teachers should understand how to use different techniques in class to help all their students learn the material. In short, Darmid is a genius and they are extremely lucky to have someone who can design an effective educational approach for the Lacuna.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-23 05:25 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2016-06-23 05:37 am (UTC)Autism and child rearing
Date: 2016-06-23 05:36 pm (UTC)I can't tell the difference between one type of crying and another. I would run down a checklist in my mind of potential problems like diaper change, hungry, or even needing quiet time prioritized on when was each last done, but the noise was just NOISE and not good. Some music is just noise too, others are on repeat here. Fortunately, I also was willing to TRY anything that only required consistent repetition from me.
We started Boo with baby American Sign Language from 6 months old. By 9 months, she could signal for a diaper change, and by 14 months, she could sign short understandable phrases to her aunt who worked with someone fluent in sign. Boo was at "Baby like tree, pretty tree!" but it was TONS more than she could voice then and complimented her aunt on her Xmas tree. That finally convinced my mother-in-law that this baby sign language stuff WORKS! :-D Her last interaction with my dying mother at 18 months old was a chirped "Bye-bye", then a kiss on the nose where the oxygen tube was taped and some quick signs of gentle, be good, and medicine. My mom KNEW Boo meant something and was quickly asking "What did she say?!?" Mom, she told you to be careful, be good, and take your medicine, and made my mom laugh and promise Boo she would.
Also, BAD SMELLS were much more of an issue for me than I realized. BM diapers were hard for both of us, to the point that since Daddy made diaper changes FUN, she tended to let those loose when she heard his vehicle in the driveway. I did clean her up in the bathtub more than most parents I knew. I am still THE family expert on if the milk is safe, though. ;-)
Boo is more ADD like her dad, than autistic like me, but sometimes other people need to catch Boo up on social skills I just can't teach her. :-/ She's practicing different levels of makeup now at 11.5 years old... Casual, cosplay anime styles, social, and show!
Re: Autism and child rearing
Date: 2016-06-23 05:58 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing! This could come in really helpful.
>> I can't tell the difference between one type of crying and another. <<
A lot of people can't. That's why the "comfort a crying baby" advice has a checklist. One reason is because some babies signal distress with less variation than others. But the other is that people without a strong knack in audio input often can't distinguish baby cries. A neurotypical parent will think they're a bad parent instead of checking their process capacity. A neurovariant parent knows that it probably is a deficit in one or both parties and simply moves on to seeking an alternate solution. Schedules aren't great for people who can do childcare on mutual intuition, but if one or both parties lack that, then schedules can be a real lifesaver.
>> I would run down a checklist in my mind of potential problems like diaper change, hungry, or even needing quiet time prioritized on when was each last done, but the noise was just NOISE and not good.<<
Yep.
>> Some music is just noise too, others are on repeat here. <<
Same here, but I think that's true for everyone.
>>Fortunately, I also was willing to TRY anything that only required consistent repetition from me. <<
That helps.
>> We started Boo with baby American Sign Language from 6 months old. By 9 months, she could signal for a diaper change, and by 14 months, she could sign short understandable phrases to her aunt who worked with someone fluent in sign. Boo was at "Baby like tree, pretty tree!" but it was TONS more than she could voice then and complimented her aunt on her Xmas tree. <<
:D That is awesome! Because yeah, the brain turns on its linguistic center before the oral apparatus has grown in enough, but the hands are usually way ahead.
>>I am still THE family expert on if the milk is safe, though.<<
Same here.
One thing I keep trying to teach people is that there are at least two branches of sensory processing issues. One is a software problem where the person has ordinary senses but less ability to manage the input, resulting in problems due to the short bandwidth. The other is a combination hardware/software problem where the person has keener senses than average, but did not get enough extra processing power to handle them without difficulty, thus creating both bandwidth shortage and practical-input problems. But the latter is far more useful if one can learn how to harness it. The brain is plastic; once you know there's a bandwidth problem, you can learn exercises to tell the damn thing it needs to reallocate more bandwidth to an area with shortfall. And then you're a lot more able to use your super-senses in practical ways.
Of course, there are people with enhanced senses who are luckily born with the bandwidth already matching, which is to say a lot of artists, chefs, perfumers, athletes, musicians, etc.
>>Boo is more ADD like her dad, than autistic like me, but sometimes other people need to catch Boo up on social skills I just can't teach her. :-/ <<
At least you know this and have a patch ready to place as needed by finding other instructors. Remember, nobody knows everything; all parents have things they will need someone else to teach their kid due to divergent skills or interests. This is less troublesome if you already know how to solve that problem than if you bang your head against it because you're used to everything working for you.
Re: Autism and child rearing
Date: 2016-06-23 06:55 pm (UTC)I also get my husband, or my daughter, to check my clothing choices if it's outside my normal and known events. I really can't seem to learn a style tree checklist. On that note, have you seen the new Harridan Township Kickstarter? They're making different lines of gender inclusive fashions, all in an online department store with Universal Sizing, what size you wear in one section is the same in the rest of the place. :-D https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marygoing/harridan-township?ref=user_menu
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-28 04:09 pm (UTC)One question -- I thought airlocks were supposed to have safety interlocks such that the outer door won't open unless the inner one is sealed. How exactly did Embry manage to get one halfway open? And I wouldn't have thought she'd be tall enough to reach controls designed for adults.
Yes...
Date: 2016-06-28 07:08 pm (UTC)Exactly. You have to find out how the habit benefits the user and what else could meet that need. Children are designed to learn by exploring, playing, and copying adults. This is extremely difficult to stop; it usually takes several years of grade school to kill it off and make them hate learning. It is much better to channel it. "You may not hit the nice dishes. You may hit your carpenter toy or a pillow."
>> I love the idea of teaching even very young children basic safety rules until they're well-drilled routines instead of just issuing fiats and expecting instant obedience; it seems to me that this will be necessary in any type of space-based community. <<
Yes, it is. Safety is a survival skill in space. And the people who reproduce successfully there are the ones dropping kids who can learn by the time they can walk. Not necessarily all the same way, but they have to be able to learn. You can't keep them out of trouble otherwise, though black gods know, people try.
>> One question -- I thought airlocks were supposed to have safety interlocks such that the outer door won't open unless the inner one is sealed. How exactly did Embry manage to get one halfway open? And I wouldn't have thought she'd be tall enough to reach controls designed for adults. <<
One door halfway open, to get into the lock chamber; and they don't know how she did it either. Since maintenance panels are often low (to access the motors for the lower hinge) that's a possibility. Or she might have jumped up to hit random buttons that somehow produced that result.
Computers do weird shit around me all the time, and that's now when I have enough control to damp down the issues somewhat. If I were growing up with the current level of technology? It probably would have killed me before I knew how not to make it go haywire.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-23 06:07 am (UTC)have tocan do as a parent is keep shoveling in the info and *hang on*...Yes...
Date: 2016-06-23 06:11 am (UTC)I have never outgrown that stage. I'm baffled by people who do. Granted, other than my parents, most adults were useless for asking "Why?" but I learned to find out the answers myself. If you don't want to play with me, fine, but then don't bitch when I end up in a corner with a book instead of paying attention to you.
Re: Yes...
Date: 2016-06-23 06:19 am (UTC)And then I discovered this Internet thingy (before there even WAS an Internet as we know it)....
oops. :)
*plugs gigabit ethernet straight into Ysabet's brain-data interface link* There. Happy? :)
Re: Yes...
Date: 2016-06-23 06:42 am (UTC)I actually grew up with a computer in the house, I'm just ... *shrug* not that fond of the things. And a mental link just makes it possible to get a virus in your head.
Being able to download information from the multiverse, however, is a favorite.
Re: Yes...
Date: 2016-06-23 08:09 pm (UTC)