Precision and Autism

I think I have spoken about how people on the spectrum has black and white thinking.  In case you don’t know what it is, they see it from one or the other.  It is not just that there are no grey areas.  Grey doesn’t even exist as a colour.

So everything has to be perfect.  Having said that, I believe when you are working, it’s better to be working in an extremely precise job where it’s right or wrong, rather than one or the other.  Computers were built on the basis of 1 or 0 - SOMETHING OR NOTHING.  A binary system.

Kevin works in computers and enjoys the work he does.  I don’t totally understand it myself, but I know there’s a better way that things can be done.  And they need to get done in that way because it works best with what they do.  I don’t know if it works in a better way for all businesses, but for me that’s not important.

When Johnathan grows up (at the moment) he wants to be a youtube animator.  It’s not a job I would relish - too much would need to be precise for my choice.  I do enjoy seeing beautiful things done properly, but I don’t like to be tied down too much.

Having said that, Kevin suggested to me a few years ago that I should focus on the autism spectrum and I said I didn’t want to be tied down just to that.  So starting this website and REALLY looking at autism has been amazing!  I appear to have something to say I would guess about 9 of 10 times.  And I also talk about other things.  That’s ok too.

One thing i have always thought - actually I am not sure what I thought - ok, admired, for want of a better word, the fact that Kevin can generally tell how much time is passed or the length of time it takes for our family (or one of us) to do something.  I am wildly inaccurate, so it’s not good for me to guess things.

With his homework some time ago, Johnathan actually had to measure something and then round it up or down.  This caused him extreme angst because he NEEDED the precision.  For a child who when you say “it’s about 2pm,” he turns to you and says “no, it’s not.  It’s fifty-eight minutes past one,” you can guess the “fun” we had that day.

So precision, precision in what you say and do is a key to it all working.