First of all, please forgive me for my lengthy absence from Blogspot, but now that I am back, I have an awful lot to write about, I just hope there is enough room to cover it all!
I had better start by explaining the reason for my lengthy absence, and it has been a more than interesting and exciting one! Over April, I travelled around South East Asia going through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. The Far East is a part of the world that I have developed an affinity with in a cultural and certainly a culinary sense (the food was fantastic, very varied and full of flavour with a bit of spice). Having previously visited the Far East, this time I wanted to see some parts of it that I didn't get to last time round, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia. At the same time though, it is also interesting to revisit certain places, in this case Bangkok and Chiang Mai, to see what has changed since last time. Also when revisiting places, one often retains a familiarity with key landmarks, which allows for some freedom and confidence for self-exploration.
Angkor Wat at dawn, Cambodia |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Phang Nga Bay (James Bond Island), Thailand, where the 007 film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) was shot . |
After a month of dodging motorcycles and floating down the
Mekong, I am now back at work, where I have been doing my first piece of
practical software testing, testing a mobile phone app, which could possibly be
a big growth area for Autism Works. In relation to my Asperger traits, I really
enjoyed the routine and repetitive nature of the task. Peter was also impressed
that I remembered the terminology of the type of testing - Black-Box, testing
an application with no knowledge of the code. Elsewhere, I am working with City
of Sunderland Council to develop an autism-friendly questionnaire to send to
individuals and families affected by autism in Sunderland to collect data,
allowing the council to undertake an audit enabling them to plan services more
effectively. Even for a person on the autistic spectrum, this is a challenge,
but I am finding that my experience of forming job application form and
interview questions helpful in picking out and amending ambiguous or
abstract questions and statements, including removing them where possible.
Reflections on the Mekong, Laos |
While I was
away, I managed to reach the first target of my fundraising activity for Daisy Chain - The Bupa Great North Run. To help
prepare myself physically for the event, I have registered with Park Run,
to take part in some organised runs. The next target to aim at now is
Kilimanjaro 2013. A huge thank you to all who have donated so far! To find out
more or to donate, please visit the following link - http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR.
To see how app testing and questionnaire design continues to unfold, as well as fundraising events, stay tuned to Adventures with Autism Works.