The Night Mail

[polybear]

 

49 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

@Florence Locomotive Works both of my Sons are Autistic, to be honest I cried when they were both diagnosed but then quickly realized that its nothing life limiting. My eldest is starting a college course on Motor vehicles in September he will have a Teaching Assistant with him my youngest is doing well at school but he needs help

 

From what I understand from Auntie Poly, Aspergers is in some ways a bit like a "soft" version of Autism, with some similar traits.  Bear recalls a TV feature on the news about a young lad (under 10?) who was Autistic being taken to London for the day; whilst he was there he saw The Big House (Parliament).  When he got home he drew it - and very, very accurately too, right down to the correct number of windows etc. etc.  ISTR he was on telly not long ago - he's now an adult and a successful artist.  It could be this man:

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel-and-adventure/2017/11/incredible-british-artist-can-draw-whole-city-memory

You'll need very deep pockets for an original....

 

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, bbishop said:

 

Absolutely.  To succeed as a CFR, one has to tune unto the ambulance service sense of humour.  I just have to remember at Lord's, that a story which sends a CFR into roars of laughter will have a St John Ambulance regular reaching for the sick bag.

 

 

Yes I have also found that. Initially with certain of the more genteel members of my family. Think of a 75 yr old maiden aunt from Harrogate.

 

Many years later I was interviewed for a post working as a liaison officer in a Civil service office in Leeds.   For some reason my sense of humour cropped up in the interview and apparently they thought that I might upset the natives so didn't get the job.

 

Jamie

[grandadbob]

I posted this in the Aspergers - Adult Diagnosis thread back in 2020 and hope it may still be of interest:

 

 

"I must confess that up until a couple of years ago I knew very little about autism. 

However I've just read a new book on the subject and would like to bring it to your attention.

I must declare a personal interest here as the author is a family friend and in fact my son's partner.

When I first met him several years ago I found him very hard to talk to and thought that he was quite difficult,  in fact sometimes bl##dy awkward to deal with.  It was quite a long time before my son told me some of his life story and I then came to understand him more.  All I can now say is that having read the book, which certainly won't be everybody's cup of tea (I couldn't put it down) I now have the utmost admiration for him.

The book is basically an autobiography about his struggles with autism from an early age, being permanently excluded from school at the age of 12 but eventually obtaining 5 degrees and becoming a researcher and writer.  It is available on Amazon and he is donating all profits to the Anna Kennedy Online Autism charity.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mickeypedia-autistic-savant-Mickey-Mayhew-ebook/dp/B08LVZSDNX/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=mickeypedia&qid=1606567187&sr=8-2

 

https://www.annakennedyonline.com/P.S. "

 

 

 

 

P.S.  I did ask  AndyY at the time if it was OK to plug the book.

 

 

[simontaylor484]

My youngest has a really good memory he can remember wifi passwords off by heart as an example.

He was diagnosed early on my eldest was diagnosed at 15

[Happy Hippo]

I have just been forced to go into a wine merchants and select two bottles of wine and  a bottle of Merlyn cream liqueur, which is made at Penderyn.  The icing on the cake was my mother insisting on paying for it all.

 

I decided that it wasn't worth arguing about.

 

Nyda also won two bottles of wine at the local church fetethis morning.

 

Perhaps I should nip out and get a lottery ticket😂

[Dave Hunt]

What HH and Bill day about ‘black’ sense of humour certainly rings true in the world I used to inhabit. There have been occasions when Jill or some civilian friends have overheard conversations among Squadron guys following accidents and accused us of being sick or uncaring when it is exactly what others have said,I.e., a subconscious coping mechanism.

 

Dave

[BoD]

I have just got back from a pleasant and, at times,  poignant ceremony where the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery were presented with the freedom of our town.  This means that (apart from grazing their sheep and what have you) they don’t have to camp outside the town and wait to be invited in but can, should they wish, freely march into town to music and display their colours or, rather being artillery,  their guns.

 

Having been officially invited in by the town elders the regiment marched in to a pipe band and paraded, there was a service, the official conference of the freedom and then individual members of the regiment were presented with their Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medals.  There was also an official act of remembrance, which was the poignant bit.

 

The parade itself and minute’s silence were started and ended by the firing of their guns.  Probably nothing to some here, but I got the feeling that the blank rounds carried quite a full charge because they were much, much louder than the ones used for the one o’clock gun in Edinburgh.  Perhaps their guns are bigger than the one used in Edinburgh Castle but they seemed similar.   I suppose those there should be grateful that they are a light artillery regiment rather than heavy.  Whatever, the appearance, deployment and timing of the gun crews was precision itself and very impressive.

 

Altogether a rather enjoyable morning.
 

 

[Happy Hippo]

4 Regt RA is a light gun Regt so is equipped with the L118 105 mm Light Gun. Same as the gun at Edinburgh.

 

The blank round should have the same amount of propellant as a live round.  It sounds different because it is not  having to use its energy to push a projectile, it just ignites and escapes to atmosphere down the barrel.

[Dave Hunt]

When I was on my first tour on Hunters in Singapore in the late 60s we were tasked with supporting a joint RN/USN exercise by pretending to be soviet air launched anti-shipping missiles. We flew in close formation with Vulcans at high level then at the correct range dived away from them, dropped to low level and made for the ships. What no-one had told us was that the ships would be firing break up shot, which I believe was lumps of frangible material in the shells in place of the usual projectile, that disintegrated when it left the barrel. It was, therefore, something of a potentially knee wetting moment when the sides of the ships lit up with gunfire as we were closing in on them.

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Douglas's latest news makes for very interesting reading as my adult daughter was recently diagnosed as having Autism. That neither myself or Nyda noticed anything untoward when she was growing up begs the question as to why not?

 

Because we considered her behavioural traits and the way she processed information and acted/reacted, were completely normal.

 

So where does that leave us?

 

We both loved lockdown! Happy in our isolation and found that reintegrating with society afterwards quite a daunting step. Both of us have similar traits in some areas, whilst in others we are at opposites: Nyda will be quite happy to sit in isolation, whilst I am more gregarious. The trouble with that is that, I can and will engage on full afterburners. So when someone asks what I've done to my fingers. They get told the full story and not the Reader's Digest condensed version. However, by the time I've finished they are laughing because I have weaved humour into the tale.

 

The humour is there because that is a trait vI have as my coping mechanism. Something goes wrong? Let's turn it around so it's funny. Why do so many members of the Armed Forces and the Emergency services have the same black sense of humour?  It is a subconscious coping strategy.

 

Jamie's comment about the almost fanatical attention to detail, and getting things absolutely right are supposed indicators, but you cannot lump everyone together in the same compartment because no two brains are wired the same.

 

One man's timetabling obsession is another's almost fanaticism with S7, or the GWR.

 

From a statisticians viewpoint, I would suggest you can place the whole population on a graph or bell curve and come up with a rough statistical analysis. But, and it's a big but, once you, go into more detail and produce more data, you find there are many points at which there spikes and troughs or crossover points which are personality traits/actions that are supposed identifiers.

 

But we are all there to some degree. Some have very few spikes and troughs, so we can refer to them as  the 'normal'. Those that are not in that  stable environment and who show heightened or lowered processing and interaction abilities are categorised either generally as being on the autism spectrum, or more specifically with conditions within that area.

 

I an definitely not saying that this who lack the stable environment are unstable, far from it. But they do have much heightened awareness/response to certain situations.  Their brain is processing and telling them go do something, sometimes quite literally.

 

As an example of that, I once taught a young man to drive who had Aspergers. He processed and acted exactly as you told him, so if you told him to turn left he did, instantly!

 

Now teaching someone like that, can be difficult, but the process has to be a two way thing. It is one thing for me to frame instruction/direction so that X is always told ' At the next road junction, I want you to turn left' which gets the correct response. Whereas 'Turn left in approximately 100 metres' will just get X turning immediately after you said the word 'left'.

 

Dealing with the issue is a two way process. Instructions have to be phrased exactly, but it is also imperative that X knows that in certain environments one cannot react instinctively and instantly, but process the information and react accordingly.  

 

Sadly, it's not always possible as there are  some very extreme cases where help from only the professionally qualified can make any headway. 

 

But on the other hand it can be said that apart from an eccentric trait or an action/ reaction you might unusual consider unusual, you would not know the way an individual brain is wired up.

 

Did my daughter's diagnosis make a difference?

 

Well certainly she hasn't got a tattoo on her forehead as a warning to others. She does not get any special treatment or privileges, nor has it impacted on her daily life.  But what it has done is give her a much clearer understanding of what makes her who she is.  Her life still goes on much as before, but she is much happier in herself, as she now understands why she acts and reacts as she does, and that is the key to her being a lot happier within herself.

 

I'll just stick with being a grumpy old crusty.

I was diagnosed as autistic about twelve years ago. Only mild autism and it hasn't had a debilitating effect on my life. In fact I have a talent for mental arithmetic that has helped me through life including being fully employed almost from the day I left school until I retired. Another trait is a meticulous attention to detail and being able to 'sketch up' a diagram or illustration to display what I'm thinking. Autism is a lot more common than most people think, there is an example of where the mother only realised that she was autistic when her son was diagnosed with the same condition. I realised when a lady of my acquaintance brought her son to an exhibition. He sat on the floor in a world of his own playing with some old carpet samples. I didn't think there was anything odd about his behaviour until his mother said to me "Excuse his behaviour he's autistic." 

[PhilJ W]

There can't be much of the original timbers left:-

https://heritagemachines.com/news/hms-victory/?utm_campaign=1007281_July 2022&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Kelsey Media Ltd&dm_i=5D8F,LL81,3IHCIX,2KHOU,1

Ironically some of the replacement oak timbers come from France.

[BoD]

43 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

4 Regt RA is a light gun Regt so is equipped with the L118 105 mm Light Gun. Same as the gun at Edinburgh.

Yes, I was doing some research and saw that.  The ones today sounded much louder though, from slightly further away too.  

 

They were on the cliff top facing out to the North Sea.   I hope those two Russian submarines don’t think they were firing at them, 

[Dave Hunt]

I suspect that diagnoses of autism/Asbergers is one of those things that has become much more prevalent nowadays compared with when many of us were not too much younger. Some of the descriptions I have read and heard of concerning symptoms of those conditions are things that I would not consider as being outside the range of fairly normal behaviour and certainly not anything to be concerned about. I wonder whether this trend has been driven by the apparently ever-increasing litigation culture leading the medical profession to be scared of 'missing' something that could later be held against them and become the possible basis for some sort of legal action? 

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

15 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

There can't be much of the original timbers left:-

https://heritagemachines.com/news/hms-victory/?utm_campaign=1007281_July 2022&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Kelsey Media Ltd&dm_i=5D8F,LL81,3IHCIX,2KHOU,1

Ironically some of the replacement oak timbers come from France.

 

Like the genuine medieval axe that has had only two new heads and three new handles?

 

Dave

[simontaylor484]

Carpet samples,  my youngest is into signs he prints a lot out from the 'net. He has a collection of wet floor signs and traffic and no waiting cones. He is highly computer literate can pass an online driving theory test. He has sensory problems he often needs a weighted vest at school to help with his concentration. He has a weighted blanket too if it wasn't for medication he wouldn't sleep at all.

Lucas has some artificial grass samples he likes to feel for sensory feedback.  Having a couple of dachshunds is also a great help to both of the boys. Whilst off college Kieran is dachshund daycare looking after both doggies

[Florence Locomotive Works]

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

A certain Sgt York learned his shooting skills shooting grey squirrels for the family pot. In WW1 he despatched over a hundred rather large grey animals and forced the surrender of a whole German battalion.

 

Douglas @Florence Locomotive Works, I'm glad that you have got a diagnosis.  It's a starting point for maki g it into a positive part of ylur life and an asset.  I am often told that I am somewhere on the spectrum because I like detail and research.  Where would we be in life as a species without such people.  Bon Courage.

 

Jamie

 

Thank you Jamie, I am glad of it as well.

 

11 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear will see you and raise you by adding those b' cyclists in London (and no doubt other places too) that seem to think that the Highway Code doesn't apply to them.  Red traffic light?  Forget it....

 

 

That's just sick.

 

 

Huh??  What did we ever do to you Florence??

😭

 

 

SBT's inbound; Bear's four 2nd cousins have the same - I believe it's a hereditary thing.  

 

A compensation package from the complaints department will be posted to you shortly. 

 

9 hours ago, DenysW said:

@Florence Locomotive Works - keep in mind that Asperger's is a spectrum disorder whose symptoms range from very mild (indistinguishable from personality traits) to pretty extreme. The extreme are more fun to study, and to report, so reading-up on what you've (apparently) got is likely to be deceptive and scary. I'd say that you were most likely to be at the personality-traits end, and can potentially use them to your advantage in life.

 

8 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

As others on here have said, Douglas, having received the diagnosis is a good thing as it enables you to get on with your life without the uncertainty you had before as well as the knowledge of where and how help can be obtained should you need it. However, from your posts here on TNM it strikes me that you are probably on what I would call the light end of the spectrum, or what Denys has termed the personality traits end. I have a friend who has had that diagnosis and not only is he a good and valued mate but he has been successful as a businessman. As far as depression, AKA the black dog, is concerned, once again the diagnosis helps. I have had several bouts of what has been called reactive depression, which from what I have been told sounds like what you are suffering from, including a period from which I am presently recovering, and the knowledge that it is an illness that can be cured rather than the future actually being as bleak as it can seem certainly helps. All in all, I don't think that your situation is all doom and gloom and since you obviously have a range  of interests in your life there is a lot to look forward to. And don't forget that there is support to be had here as well as from friends and relatives.

 

Dave

 

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Douglas's latest news makes for very interesting reading as my adult daughter was recently diagnosed as having Autism. That neither myself or Nyda noticed anything untoward when she was growing up begs the question as to why not?

 

Because we considered her behavioural traits and the way she processed information and acted/reacted, were completely normal.

 

So where does that leave us?

 

We both loved lockdown! Happy in our isolation and found that reintegrating with society afterwards quite a daunting step. Both of us have similar traits in some areas, whilst in others we are at opposites: Nyda will be quite happy to sit in isolation, whilst I am more gregarious. The trouble with that is that, I can and will engage on full afterburners. So when someone asks what I've done to my fingers. They get told the full story and not the Reader's Digest condensed version. However, by the time I've finished they are laughing because I have weaved humour into the tale.

 

The humour is there because that is a trait vI have as my coping mechanism. Something goes wrong? Let's turn it around so it's funny. Why do so many members of the Armed Forces and the Emergency services have the same black sense of humour?  It is a subconscious coping strategy.

 

Jamie's comment about the almost fanatical attention to detail, and getting things absolutely right are supposed indicators, but you cannot lump everyone together in the same compartment because no two brains are wired the same.

 

One man's timetabling obsession is another's almost fanaticism with S7, or the GWR.

 

From a statisticians viewpoint, I would suggest you can place the whole population on a graph or bell curve and come up with a rough statistical analysis. But, and it's a big but, once you, go into more detail and produce more data, you find there are many points at which there spikes and troughs or crossover points which are personality traits/actions that are supposed identifiers.

 

But we are all there to some degree. Some have very few spikes and troughs, so we can refer to them as  the 'normal'. Those that are not in that  stable environment and who show heightened or lowered processing and interaction abilities are categorised either generally as being on the autism spectrum, or more specifically with conditions within that area.

 

I an definitely not saying that this who lack the stable environment are unstable, far from it. But they do have much heightened awareness/response to certain situations.  Their brain is processing and telling them go do something, sometimes quite literally.

 

As an example of that, I once taught a young man to drive who had Aspergers. He processed and acted exactly as you told him, so if you told him to turn left he did, instantly!

 

Now teaching someone like that, can be difficult, but the process has to be a two way thing. It is one thing for me to frame instruction/direction so that X is always told ' At the next road junction, I want you to turn left' which gets the correct response. Whereas 'Turn left in approximately 100 metres' will just get X turning immediately after you said the word 'left'.

 

Dealing with the issue is a two way process. Instructions have to be phrased exactly, but it is also imperative that X knows that in certain environments one cannot react instinctively and instantly, but process the information and react accordingly.  

 

Sadly, it's not always possible as there are  some very extreme cases where help from only the professionally qualified can make any headway. 

 

But on the other hand it can be said that apart from an eccentric trait or an action/ reaction you might unusual consider unusual, you would not know the way an individual brain is wired up.

 

Did my daughter's diagnosis make a difference?

 

Well certainly she hasn't got a tattoo on her forehead as a warning to others. She does not get any special treatment or privileges, nor has it impacted on her daily life.  But what it has done is give her a much clearer understanding of what makes her who she is.  Her life still goes on much as before, but she is much happier in herself, as she now understands why she acts and reacts as she does, and that is the key to her being a lot happier within herself.

 

I'll just stick with being a grumpy old crusty.

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

@Florence Locomotive Works both of my Sons are Autistic, to be honest I cried when they were both diagnosed but then quickly realized that its nothing life limiting. My eldest is starting a college course on Motor vehicles in September he will have a Teaching Assistant with him my youngest is doing well at school but he needs help

 

Firstly, thank you all for the responses they have made good reading.

 

From what I know (keep in mind it is early days yet) I am on the "lower" end of the spectrum i.e. I am for all intents and purposes a normal functioning human being. However, the tests indicated that I should have several outstanding problems, for example it should be impossible for me to be capable of driving any sort of vehicle, which is odd as I've been racing one for two years now and just got a perfect score on my license test.

 

However, there are some things the tests revealed that most certainly are problems. The most major one is a auditory processing problem, where I will hear someone say something, but then (completely randomly) forget what they said. This is very annoying when sitting in class, and also explains why I'm rubbish at math as the numbers have less a chance of registering than words. So far the only positive thing than has come from all this is that I have an extremely good visual and auditory memory (when that bit works), I often can remember the times people texted me from years ago. My therapist also hypothesizes that I am also mechanically gifted, judging by my work and how I typically don't need a drawing to produce it.

 

I concur with @Dave Hunt that I probably do have reactive depression, although quite what exactly I am reacting to do has yet to be determined. I also have the same black sense of humor*, as do many males my age, for reasons none of us have been able to figure out. A coping mechanism for the school system I guess. A great example is the hilarious jokes made about "who's going first" if a school shooter arrives.

 

 

*in America we call it "dark humor" the term originates from Reddit I think

Edited July 23, 2022 by Florence Locomotive Works

[polybear]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I realised when a lady of my acquaintance brought her son to an exhibition. He sat on the floor in a world of his own playing with some old carpet samples. 

 

Nothing wrong in that.  Oh, hang on.....it wasn't G.W. Green carpet was it??

 

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I wonder whether this trend has been driven by the apparently ever-increasing litigation culture leading the medical profession to be scared of 'missing' something that could later be held against them and become the possible basis for some sort of legal action? 

 

Dave

 

There was a case in the news a few days ago - a woman in the US is suing a guy for $10,0000.  Why?  Because he failed to turn up for a date....

🤣

 

28 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

A compensation package from the complaints department will be posted to you shortly. 

 

 

I'd just like to point out that the emotional hurt to Bear runs deep.  Very deep, in fact.  I'm sure the cake, sorry - compo will be sized accordingly......

[Happy Hippo]

34 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

I'd just like to point out that the emotional hurt to Bear runs deep.  Very deep, in fact.  I'm sure the cake, sorry - compo will be sized accordingly......

Dave, Dave! Q,Q!

 

He wants Compo!  

 

Yes that's right, Compo!

[simontaylor484]

@polybear wants Compo,I am afraid to say the decomposing remains of Compo will be a bit difficult to send to Bear Towers

[PhilJ W]

44 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Dave, Dave! Q,Q!

 

He wants Compo!  

 

Yes that's right, Compo!

Not Clegg or Foggy?

[polybear]

20 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Not Clegg or Foggy?

 

And most definitely not Nora.....

 

 

[AndyID]

34 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

And most definitely not Nora.....

 

 

 

Oh, I dunno. I always found her quite attractive but that's probably because my other hobby is S&M which, come to think of it, also explains my interest in model railways.

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by AndyID
typhoo

[Oldddudders]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

And most definitely not Nora.....

A number of us on here will have grown up in the era when stockings were the norm. Tights are a huge disappointment to some of us. Baggy stockings, however, are a whole other issue...

[AndyID]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

A number of us on here will have grown up in the era when stockings were the norm. Tights are a huge disappointment to some of us. Baggy stockings, however, are a whole other issue...

 

Queue Palin's "Lumberjack".

[Happy Hippo]

48 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Not Clegg or Foggy

 

I'm afraid LOTSW is way off track.

 

Real Compo predates this.