mark ty-wharton

blog.aspergineering.com

I have just returned from giving a talk in Cambridge about my experience of CBT.

While my intention is to benefit the people listening, the open discussion that followed proved to be useful as well.

I got to remember the human brain makes shortcuts, I make the processing of creative tasks simpler for you to undertake.

Though you consciously learn things, once we have done the steps a number of times, the brain will simply log the routine and go on auto pilot, your “aware” thought processes can be used for other things.

This situation = this result, without having to think out each step.

For example, if I learn to be afraid of dogs, rather than taking all the steps needed to initiate a fight or flight response, all that needs happen is for someone to say the word DOG and the adrenal glands will put me into a heightened state of alertness.

I won’t remember the first twenty or so times I encountered DOG, I got bitten by one, or it at least looked as if it would bite me again if it could get off the leash!

So I got to see where I have re-programmed some of MY dog thinking this evening.

As I talked through a couple of things I said things like “yes, well in that scenario, I do…” and then found I needed to correct myself and say “used to do…”

I got to see movement.

I was there, now I am here. You are here to!

You probably need a reminder to buy my book, or one of my audio products. You do that when you visit my Lulu store after you finish enjoying the blog.

I haven’t entirely solved social anxiety (if I choose to look at it as a problem), but I have created some new routines that don’t even entertain the old possibilities in certain situations.

Something else came to light too, as I looked through my medical notes to research my speech.

At each stage along the way, mental health services have discharged me after a few sessions.

What is missing for me is, I need ongoing help with some areas of my life.

Each time I need help with something I go to the doctor and ask for a new referral, which leads to a new assessment and so on.

The process of referral and assessment sometimes takes months.

Then after six sessions, I get discharged.

Surely, this is a total waste of resources.

I will ALWAYS be autistic. And I would be fair to say after 44 years of consistent diagnosis, anxiety is not going to just disappear.

I am actually going for another assessment tomorrow, to start the whole process again.

Okay, I am the guy who wrote a FREE eBook suggesting it is possible to view anxiety as an extreme sport.

At 46 however, there are some social situations that could be handled another way, rather than surfing through them on a fu*king roller coaster

So there’s ups and downs. What I can handle today may be tomorrow’s problem. And your problem child may become the perfect adult and inspire millions!

Surely it would be cheaper to provide mental health services to high functioning autistic patients on an ongoing and as needed basis?

Put all my medical notes in a central database, perhaps organised into key areas of ability and disability so that whoever is assigned to help me can easily see where I am at.

Food for thought perhaps?

As I said, I am here. You are here to!

Browse around, read more here… Visit my Lulu store!

See you on the other side of the looking glass,

mark ty-wharton, creative thinker | innovator | visionary

Buy my book now: http://stores.lulu.com/logicofattraction

Listen to my podcast: http://podcast.aspergineering.com

Blog via email: http://subscribe.aspergineering.com

Schedule me to speak at your event: http://www.autismhero.com

Tweet with me on twitter http://twitter.com/mark_tywharton

blog.aspergineering.com

It is not really social networking in the same sense as FaceBook is it?

And I have an opinion about why Twitter works.

As a long term Internet user (since CIX back in 1990) I am going to make a simple observation about a few trends.

I have used AOL and MSN style messengers to communicate with my friends and acquaintances for a long time.

I also use SMS to communicate on my phone, where speaking might not be appropriate.

It has become second nature to send and recieve messages in both the above ways.

Twitter follows a similar format to SMS.

As most of my messenger based friends are on Twitter, I DM them instead of using messenger.

Half the time I forget and simply bang out an @ message.

And there in lies the rub.

It is easy to forget, Twitter is not a private messenger or SMS service.

It is easy to slip and divulge personal details about my life, once out there, I can be amused by my own candidity, or shamefully embarrassed.

If I choose to be amused, my ego tends to want to follow the same path to more amusement.

Tee hee, I just stuck my willy in the toaster!

In the not so distant past Jonathan Ross was having private conversations with his lovely wife Jane, which were fascinating to follow.

Why?

Because human beings, including me, by nature are intrinsically nosey.

Our curiosity drives us to follow people, just to find out what they are up to.

What makes them tick?

The simple truth!

See you on the other side of the looking glass,

mark ty-wharton, creative thinker | innovator | visionary

Buy my book now: http://stores.lulu.com/logicofattraction

Listen to my podcast: http://podcast.aspergineering.com

Blog via email: http://subscribe.aspergineering.com

Schedule me to speak at your event: http://www.autismhero.com

Tweet with me on twitter http://twitter.com/mark_tywharton

blog.aspergineering.com

I have been watching a BBC television series we currently have here in the UK called “The Speaker”.

It follows a competition to find Britain’s best young speaker.

Something struck me.

One of the judges told one of the participants not to ask the audience a question in a speech then not answer it.

Apparently it is bad speaking practice not to “wrap up”.

Okay, here’s another bit of bad speaking practice…

Bollocks!!!

So, if you listen to my podcast it is thought provoking.

Why?

Because I ask questions and leave you thinking.

If you read my blog, you’ll find I often do the same.

People want to be told the answers because they don’t get asked enough questions.

We are told what to do through life by teachers, politicians and others.

And at the end of the day most of them will actually admit they don’t really know what they are doing!

So here I go again…

I have been thinking about integrity.

If I buy something from someone and it is priced £950 plus tax and the vendor tells me they will knock of the tax if I pay cash, am I out of integrity if I buy it?

Answers in the comments please…

Second scenario…

If a tradesman comes to repair something and tells me it is £45.67 plus tax, then tells me he will do it for £40 cash without putting it through the books, am I out of integrity of I choose this option?

I’ll go on to say, the legal answer isn’t the right answer.

For example an anarchist who paid taxes would be out of integrity.

And I am not saying I am an anarchist and another person’s tax is their issue, however, in the grand scheme of things, who am I, if enable another to break the law?

See you on the other side of the looking glass,