My Year Zero Moment

Has anybody had what I would call a ‘Year Zero Moment’?

A Year Zero Moment relates to a time where one’s self realisation after several years had finally paid off. Did anything change for the better? Did you find your inner peace and did anything go upwards thereafter?

Four years to the day I began this post [28th November 2002], was mine. The most part of 2002 was about gaining self realisation and acceptance. It was at that year I realised who I was. It was then I started being ‘Stuart’ rather than some accepted form of ‘normality’, which made me seem more acceptable to the wider world.

In February of that year, I heard a word for the first time in several years: ‘autism’. Having tried to fit in elsewhere through this pastiche of normal, I started borrowing books on the subject and related disorders. Before recently, I too had, like several others been fed the media version of this lifelong developmental disorder. These are the special interests, movements (stimming), savant skills and being ‘trapped’ in a world of one’s own.

A meeting with a National Autistic Society employment agency was the watershed moment.  In the last three months prior to then, I had read several books on autism spectrum disorders and visited numerous websites on the subject.  On mentioning my interview with one of my relatives, she was - by coincidence - reading an article on Asperger’s syndrome - and thought “That’s Stuart!”  Before then, Tony Attwood’s first book on the subject made me think “Yes!” that’s me all along.

It seemed as if an answer had been found for my (then) 23 years, which reduced me to tears of relief.  I thought: ‘At last, this explains why I seemed different to most others’.  My diagnosis of Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder in 1986 was one reason.  Was there another?

What has happened since them?  In that time, I tried (and failed) to seek a professional diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, or other ASD (though a proud SPLD-er).  This is due to its co-morbidity with SPLD.  I had also created my own website with examples of artwork and poetry, done talks, written articles on Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder and this very blog.  For me, I have experienced more activity in the last four years than the previous twenty three!

Stuart.

Oldham Wakes Uncovered

‘Disappearing Britain’, 20/11/2006, 2100 hours, C5

For the purpose of this post, the title has nothing to do with a lost version of Sky One/LWT’s Ibiza Uncovered type programmes.

For the first time on a national television station, the joys of the Oldham Wakes were revealed on Channel Five’s ‘Disappearing Britain’.

The programme, a three part series, explores parts of Britain that have gone the way of the dinosaurs and Quatro, such as Oldham being a cotton town and the mining industry.  In the first programme, shown yesterday, Sarah Lancashire rekindled her memories of Oldham, with some background on her family and vox pop interviews with fellow Oldhamers.  The actress (late of ‘Coronation Street’ as Raquel Wolstenhulme, and ‘Where the Heart Is’) also visited Blackpool, the seaside resort favoured by Lancastrian mill workers - which no doubt led to the Fylde Coast town becoming the UK’s favourite seaside resort.  Sarah saw Blackpool in her August 2006 visit as a shadow of its former self, with the beaches devoid of deckchairs and holidaymakers.

Using archive footage and vox pop interviews to back her story up, the programme explored the history of the Wakes Week in a concise way, plus the mills and changes in holiday habits.  She was also augmented by Stalybridge’s very own town crier Barry McQueen.

For anyone unfamiliar with the concept of the Wakes Weeks, this was a good programme and a good introduction.  Being a resident north of Birmingham, I found most of this as familiar ground.  Apart from that, it was good to see the North West of England given fair representation on national television.  It was good seeing Heron and Durban mills, and the sadly derelict Hartford mill on the telly.  It was also good to see our sub standard Pacer units departing from Oldham Mumps - a world away from Waterloo’s 8 car units.

Next week’s programme will feature Ricky Tomlinson, with his film on the mining industry.  This will be shown at the same time next Monday.

I’ll know when we’ve arrived, if we see televised coverage of the Whit Friday band contests.

Stuart.

How to be the Albert Pierrepoint of Hangman event management

A nice fun topic on how to manage a successful game of Hangman.

1. Avoid words using palindromes; the game will be over too quickly;
2. Choose a variety of subjects to keep your fellow players amused;
3. If possible, use a flip chart or blackboard. If you have the technology, and the money, consider MS PowerPoint or Openoffice Impress with a RGB projector;
4. Begin with familiar subjects and phrases, starting off with short ones first. Gradually increase the length of each phrase as the game progresses;
5. Consider a gradual difficulty curve.

Hangman is best played in large groups, with a team of four or more players. Consider playing Hangman in the traditional way, or a more competitive way. For the purpose of this posting, the traditional way is ‘collaborative Hangman’, where the person who solves the puzzle suggests the next phrase.

Competitive Hangman should be played in a way similar to ‘Family Fortunes’, with a presenter and two teams with four players each.  A topic is selected at random by the MC’s computer/brain cells.

If desired, the drawn noose and gibbet could be replaced by an electric chair.

If anybody wishes to comment on these ideas, please do.

Stuart.