First Days at Works, Creativity and Meteors

In the media world, August is usually silly season for news and features, but at Autism Works, this summer has been different, as we have had a busy testing case load which has seen me experience different software testing processes as well as the excitement and, as I write this entry, the aftermath of London 2012 and the Perseid Meteor Shower.

Learning and partaking in testing of a testing project we currently have on the go has almost been like a first day at work! One is operating outside their comfort zone when learning new tasks. With this project being hugely different to the previous one that I worked (which was web-based), learning and getting used to the procedure for the software we are currently testing was like a first day at work. First days at work are often rough for most of us. Having experienced so many false starts in my employment, I feel as though I have had enough first days at work to become accustomed to expect the unexpected. What is for sure though in the software testing world is that each new testing contract is almost like starting a new job. Being tuned into the moment at the point of starting a new testing contact really does help in learning habits and routines picked up from the previous work in progress, and the supportive environment is certainly a bonus.

Testing Flow Diagrams in the Autism Works break-out room

Since my last entry, I watched an interesting video of a talk at the TestBash, a one day conference hosted by the Software Testing Club, about the theme of creativity in software testing, almost like painting a picture or taking a photograph to explain software testing in simple terms, as well as to find creative approaches towards finding defects. this relates to the autism awareness training aspect of my role at Autism Works where I have found visual methods for learning very helpful, including colour-coded flow diagrams, which our break-out room is now full of. When giving training on Asperger's Syndrome to new staff at ESPA, I was delighted when one of the new recruits said during the Q & A session that before the session she had so many questions to ask, but I managed to answer them all!

Like just about the whole of the UK, Olympic fever has found its way into the Autism Works office and we managed to catch the cycling, rowing and canoeing successes that Team GB have enjoyed during our coffee breaks. Team GB's performance at London 2012, in winning 29 gold medals, as well as finishing above Russia in the medal table, has been nothing short of inspirational. It is a far cry from Atlanta 1996 when there was only one British gold medal. National Lottery funding has obviously made a huge difference. The next challenge though is to maintain it.

On the theme of the Olympics, I got to have a hold of an Olympic Torch in an unusual situation for such an opportunity, during a dark sky observing session at Derwent Reservoir, where one of the other observers, Claire Pazcko, brought the torch she proudly carried through Sunderland during the torch relay, very kindly letting people  have a hold of it. Claire was nominated as a torch bearer for her dedication to the St Oswald's Hospice. I went up to Derwentside to observe the Perseid Meteor Shower. Though the sky was mainly cloudy, I was lucky enough to see two shooting stars without the aid of a telescope of binoculars after the clouds started to clear towards midnight.   

Back had Autism Works, the company has a celebration of its own with Software Test Analyst Dan Cottrell passing his ISEB Foundation Certificate, which is a huge step for the company as well as Dan himself. This fits in well with Autism Works' goals in working with employees to achieve an industry-recognised qualification. With my double challenge, I am now up to 13.5 miles with my running for the Great North Run which is now about a month away as I write this entry. I have also heard that double gold medal winner Mo Farah (who won gold on the Men's 5,000m and 10,000m) is starting the run this year, which should be a great inspiration for the 54,000 participants from all walks of life and for a huge variety of charities/causes. To continue to follow this, visit the following link: http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR/

Special thanks to Claire Pazcko for letting me have a hold of her Olympic Torch and also to the gamesmakers who have made a huge contribution to making London 2012 so successful, including Claire Wynarczyk, a friend of Autism Works from Ashington, Northumberland, whom you can listen to talking about her London 2012 gamesmaker experience on BBC Radio Newcastle's Aflie and Charlie Breakfast Show at the following link http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p00wppc8 

Congratulations also to Dan Cottrell on passing his ISEB Foundation Certificate - we are all extremely proud of you!

Double Checking, ESPA Graduation and Autism for Heroes

This week at Autism Works has seen me pick up some important tips when doing functional testing as well as the delight of watching this year's ESPA graduation ceremony at the Tyne Journal Theatre in Newcastle.

As I wrote about in last week's blog entry, at Autism Works we have been testing a mobile phone app and I have been carrying out some functional testing of its links, which I managed to do without missing any errors. However, when checking to make sure that they were correct, it was only after my checking was proofed by my software testing colleagues that there was something that I missed. From this though, I realised the importance of double-checking, which I will make sure I do when working on our next contract.

Though I initially felt a little 'bad' at not spotting something, I do feel some reassurance in that it was only one error out of so many and that one does have to make mistakes to be able to do it right, and that not coming from an IT background together with limited knowledge of IT, in many ways I have a good background for software testing as I am not used to working within IT processes familiar to software developers. With experience, I am sure that I will continue to improve and gain confidence when working on future projects, especially since I enjoyed testing my first mobile app!

Gaining confidence was very much a buzz-term throughout this year's ESPA Graduation. It was the second time that I have had the pleasure of seeing how much ESPA has made a difference to so many students at this event, not just in formal education and successful work placements that many of this year graduates have had but also in terms of independent skills that they feel they have developed, such as using public transport, cooking and many others that most of us take for granted. When starting at ESPA, many of this year's graduates had perhaps either been told that they would 'never be able to do this because they were autistic' or never personally believed they could, but their ESPA experience, including the travel training that the charity provides for its students, has made a huge difference to them to the extent that it has enhanced the quality of their life, including beyond ESPA.

This year though, what was particular delight to see, especially in relation to the work I do, was how the confidence that ESPA students had gained had benefits not only for the students but also for charity. This year has seen another innovation in Autism4Heroes, a unique charity made up of young people with autism from across North East England supported by family and friends who have two missions:

1. To raise as much money for a chosen charity
2. To raise awareness of the potential of people with autism through a variety of performing arts events


This year, their chosen charity is Help for Heroes. In recognition of their hard work, Autism4Heroes have been invited to give a performance at the Catterick Rehabilitation Centre, where injured soldiers receive treatment, which was built using funds from Help the Heroes.

Stack pillar at Marsden Beach, South Shields

Elsewhere, I am now up to ten miles with my training for this year's Bupa Great North Run, running up from Roker to Marsden and back. One of the biggest challenges I am finding with running, especially at this distance is the continuous nature of it, but I am finding that my mindfulness practice is helping me notice the breath during running, including the variation in breath length, so that I can be mindful of when my heart is in need of more air, thus enabling me to continue without stopping. A big thank you to all who have donated to Daisy Chain for whom I am running in aid of so far. For further donations, please visit my sponsorship page at http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR/

Autism Works would like to say a huge thank you t Autism4Heroes for their very inspiring work and for what they have raised for Help the Heroes. To hear members of Autism4Heroes discuss their project on BBC radio Newcastle, click here

Mobile App Testing, Meteors and Newcastle Apocalypse

Welcome back to Adventures with Autism Works. My last two weeks at Autism Works, as you may have seen in my two previous blog entries, have been highly varied regarding what I have been up to and where I have been. Though the variation and change of setting and scenery have been enjoyable, in accordance with how I am affected by Asperger's Syndrome, it is nice also to have some routine and repetitive work for a change.

For much of this week, I have been testing a mobile phone app, using functional testing techniques to see if the links from the app worked. In the world of software testing, which I am still very new to, functional testing involves identifying the functions of the software component being tested, in this case the mobile app, and its execution and recording the expected and actual outputs on a spreadsheet. I was pleased to find that I was able to do it both quickly and successfully without missing anything, and most importantly, it made me feel valued within the team, further enhancing my role in the company. According to Deloitte, mobile phone apps is a huge growth area. Currently, there are two million mobile apps and this is set to double over the next two years. Hopefully we will test many more!

Water at car roof height, Heworth

As I briefly touched upon in my previous entry, two weeks ago I found myself, as did the whole of the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the surrounding area caught in the middle of floods and a thunderstorm. Described as 'Newcastle Apocalypse' on Twitter, when the sky suddenly seemed to go dark it reminded me of the film Independence Day where a huge shadow is cast over New York by an invading alien spacecraft. The experience of Newcastle Apocalypse was a huge step outside of my comfort zone not only regarding coping with walking through floods, but also seeing sights that I had never previously seen including water at car roof height and people being rescued from flooded houses by lifeboat. Previously the only times I had seen such sights was on television. The most iconic image from what turned out to be a quite memorable day was the huge bolt of lightening that almost struck the Tyne Bridge, which featured on the national news.

Family being rescued from flooded home by lifeboat, Heworth

Readers of this blog may also remember that cloudy skies obscured what will almost certainly be the last chance to see the Transit of Venus during my lifetime, but with a bit of luck, the skies will hopefully clear in time for the next major astronomical event this year, the Perseids Meteor Show which is due to peak between 12-13 August. Though perhaps not as talked about or observed as much as moons, planets stars, nebulae and constellations, observation and study of meteors and indeed if they are large enough to survive the fall through Earth's atmosphere to land and become meteorites, also provide a fascinating insight into the origins of the solar system, including the origin of life on Earth. At a lecture given by Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, that I attended at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland this week, I found that some meteorites found on Earth actually pre-date the Solar System. Most excitingly, studying meteorites is one of few ways in which humanity can get up close and personal with material that originates from inter-stellar space beyond the Solar System, gathered and ejected by comets.

Coming back down to Earth, I am still continuing with my training for the Bupa Great North Run, which is now only two months away. Currently I am up to ten miles, but I feel as though I am gradually getting there. Daisy Chain, the charity whom I am running in aid of, has also been in the local news recently about how demand for their services has gone up by 600 per cent, while at the same time its income has fallen. To obtain an idea of the huge difference that Daisy Chain makes to many of the families it supports, see the promotional video below:

My sponsorship page can be accessed at http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR/ A huge thank you to all who have donated so far.    


Be sure to stay tuned to Adventures with Autism Works to see how this unfolds.

Clocks, Thunderstorms, Floods and a Walk in the Woods

Welcome back to the second part of my Asperger talks journey through the north west. Last week, the theme was about train journeys and astronomy. In this week's entry, I am going to focus on aspects more closely related to a more familiar topic to readers of this blog - mindfulness and coming out of comfort zones, including applying mindfulness within giving a seminar on Asperger's Syndrome.

While giving a seminar on the theme of Mindful Living with Asperger's Syndrome in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, the circumstances of the day gave me the perfect opportunity to bring mindfulness into a working situation. I was due to speak later in the day, but due to a hold up on the motorway, the two speakers who were due to speak before me couldn't make it until later, so I needed to speak earlier than planned, thus come out of my comfort zone. Applying mindfulness to the situation, I was able to tune into the present by describing how it can feel to have Asperger's Syndrome, by coping with a disruption in routine. This is something that is difficult for many people with Asperger's Syndrome to do, but I felt that I was able to step outside my comfort zone effectively as it fitted in so well with the theme I was talking about, tuning Asperger's Syndrome into as it is in the present moment.

Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire

While in the north west, I visited the fascinating Rufford Old Hall, a National Trust property in Lancashire, home of the Hesketh family for over 500 years and also where a young William Shakespeare performed before he was famous. What intrigued me most when visiting the 16th-century property was the lantern clock in the living room. The visitors sheet asks what can you notice about this clock, and on closer inspection, one finds that it only has a hand for the hour, whereas today we are so used to seeing a minute and second had on a clock face that when stepping back in time, we forget how time used to be seen as much more fluent, a concept which it is sometimes helpful to apply when stepping back from the flow in the present.

Lantern clock at entrance of Rufford Old Hall

With the purpose of mindfulness practice being to tune one into the present, it seems odd to associate it with a place of historical interest about the past, but thinking back to when time was seen as more fluent made me realise how much of contemporary life is driven by factors that put us on 'automatic pilot', including precise times, timetables and schedules, including for work and transport requirements, to the extent that we plan our lives around them to the extent that we often experience difficulties coping when something goes wrong. Locally, a recent example of this was the floods that followed a thunderstorm in Newcastle, where just about all public transport, including the Tyne and Wear Metro, came to a halt and many of the road and rail networks had to close due to floods or landslides. So I found myself having to walk almost eight miles before being able to get a lift home!

Time is of the essence to many of us in that we become so over-dependent on it that we loose touch with the present. Sometimes it helps to step back from the flow enabling us to observe this. In Laos, where I visited in April, though it appears as a 'backwater' through western eyes being one of the world's poorest nations, when stepping back from what one may be used to in the west, we can also see what we have lost in how driven by time and demand we are that we loose touch with our natural pace of life. The official name of Laos is the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic (PDR), but the Laotians like to say that it unofficially stands for 'Please Don't Rush', which is evident in that shops and places of business still, for the main part, open and close at their own convenience, without the rush around the clock to open up stores or to get to the stores as soon as they are open.

Foxglove, Mereton Wood, Lancashire

While in the Lancashire and Hertfordshire, I also went on some short walks through woodlands, observing plant life, including some beautiful foxglove in Mereton Wood, Lancashire. A walk through the woods is a good way to step back from the flow, being at ease with nature, being with natural time rather than be constrained by clock time, the latter of which is more conducive to experiencing the benefits of mindfulness practice unfolding. In the meantime, here and now, stay tuned to this blog to see how the adventure with Autsim Works unfolds moment by moment as well as my Double Challenge for Daisy Chain.

Seminars, Astronomy, Railways and Different Perspectives

It seems as though I find myself having to do this on a relatively frequent basis when beginning my blog entries, but once again apologies for the lateness of this entry. However, readers will be quite excited to know that the last fortnight has been a fascinating experience from both an Asperger perspective with the seminars that I have been giving and a travel perspective with the train journeys and the places that I have been lucky enough to have had some time to visit.

My busy week of talks, seminars and workshops began with the Autism Show 2012 at Excel London, where I gave a seminar on Asperger’s Syndrome and Employment, including looking at some of the operational procedures that I have developed at Autism Works, before having the privilege to listen to Ari Ne’eman speak. Ne’eman (who is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome), was appointed by Barack Obama in 2010 to serve on the US National Council on Disability, gave a very inspiring speech on the rights of people on the autistic spectrum to be included within mainstream society as they are, rather than being pigeon-holed or seen as needing to be cured. This relates to what we would like to achieve at Autism Works where we would eventually like to provide opportunities for employees to earn an industry-recognised qualification, the ISEB Foundation Certificate, which can also lead to opportunities beyond Autism Works, rather than feeling as though they are in an ‘autism bubble’.

Statue of John Betjeman, St Pancras International, London

One of my favourite aspects of giving talks, seminars and workshops on Asperger’s Syndrome is that it has taken me to places throughout the UK that I perhaps wouldn’t normally visit as well as along some very picturesque railway routes. Travelling to Lancashire via Carlisle took me through the peaks of the Lake District and past the sands of Morecambe Bay. As the late John Betjeman, former Poet Laureate, said, views from railway journeys give a different and often unique perspective of landscapes.

Carr House, Much Hoole, Lancashire

While in the north-west I also found time to visit Carr House in Much Hoole, Lancashire, where Jeremiah Horrocks is said to have observed the Transit of Venus in 1639. As you may remember from my last entry, along with many others I missed out on seeing this year’s transit (the last until the year 2117) due to heavy clouds, but weather couldn’t stop me from gaining a view of Carr House! Like the view from a railway carriage gives a different perspective on landscape, observations of astronomical events not only often give us a different perspective of the universe but have, historically, often changed our perception of it. As the first to observe the transit with a telescope, projecting the Sun’s image onto the wall, Horrocks made measurements the derived a value for the solar parallax that showed that the Sun was further away from Earth than previously thought, thus a step in opening us up to a larger Solar System and Universe full of possibilities which would gradually unfold.

Having already used two of what I call my ‘Guilty Asperger Pleasures’, railways and astronomy, to illustrate the value different perspectives, I must now get back on track and apply this value to software testing. One of Autism Works strengths as an independent software testing service is that we see software products from outside the constraints under which the developers work, thus being able to see and identify bugs that most likely bypass them, which I am finding in some testing that has just come in. For more about this, as well as different and unique perspectives, stay tuned to Adventures with Autism Works.

On the subject of different perspectives, mountain treks have enabled me to gain a different perspective of who I am in relation to my Asperger diagnosis. To find out about or make a donation towards my next challenge to raise much-needed funds for The Daisy Chain Project, please see the following link http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR

Vesak, Moving Office and Cloudy Skies

Welcome back to normal at Autism Works after the circus of the bunting and red, blue and white over the long weekend! It would be unfortunate for some, but fortunately for me, I managed to avoid the majority of the Jubilee celebrations by stepping back from the flow at Harnham Buddhist Monastery in Northumberland, where I have been participating in Vesak, celebrating the birth, enlightenment and passing into Nirvana of the Buddha.

During Vesak, Ajahn Munindo, Senior Abbot at Harnham gave a series of Dhamma talks after periods of meditation. most interestingly, he gave one on literal interpretation of the Buddhist scriptures. As a person with Asperger's Syndrome, literal interpretation of written word is a topic of interest to me. Literal interpretation of metaphors by people with Asperger's Syndrome can sometimes be comical, but where it can also be problematic is when it collides with an Asperger aspect that is considered a strength - rules orientation. What is often difficult for a person with Asperger's Syndrome understand though is the context in which such texts or rules are written. Ajahn Munindo also said that when reading the scriptures, it helps for one to detach from the written words of the scriptures, so that you don't become 'conditioned' by them.

The Jubilee celebration wasn't the only thing that I missed this week, as due to weather conditions, along with many others who had woken up early, was the Transit of Venus. Cloud cover obscured the event, which won't be seen again until the year 2117. Though it was a disappointment not to see the black disc of Venus cross the Sun, the clouds and rain didn't stop the happy and joyful atmosphere within a group of members of Sunderland Astronomical Society at Roker Beach who had brought flasks of hot drinks and containers of food. That we won't see the Transit of Venus again until 2117 shows us just how insignificant human lifetimes are within the broader context, especially in the context of astronomical events. As Ajahn Munindo also said during my monastic stay, no being that has ever lived is immortal, for nothing is fixed or permanent.

Having been a short week at Autism Works, other than finally having broadband installed in our new office and a process of shifting furniture, computers and cables downstairs, there really hasn't been too much to report. I can happily say though that we have a little more space in our new office, including an extra room, which Peter is especially thrilled with! However, I have a very busy two weeks coming up with four speaking engagements including at the Autism Show at London Excel, before heading to the North West to speak at the Cheshire Branch of the National Autistic Society. In between all this though, I will be watching Euro 2012, which kicks off today with co-hosts Poland facing surprise 2004 champions Greece, and will also see Bruce Spirngsteen at the Stadium Light as well as continuing my training for the Bupa Great North Run. I have my fist 5km Park Run  in Sunderland this weekend. To find out more about my challenge, visit my sponsorship page at http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR

To see how this all unfolds, stay tuned to Adventures with Autism Works.

Talks, Seminars and Funding Bids

Welcome back to some more adventures with Autism Works. I am well-known for taking a long time to settle down back into home life after being away for a while, but this year, it seems to have taken me a little longer, despite having been back home for almost a month since my holiday! Then it suddenly occurs to me that it is the first day of June and I have a busy time coming up of presentations! added to that, I am also due to start working on my first funding bid since were were awarded Social Innovation Pioneers status by Deloitte.

After a month of places as diverse as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the next few weeks sees me visit the delights of Cheshire, Hertfordshire and London to give talks and seminars, together with some publicity for Autism Works. On June 16th, I will be giving a seminar on Aperger's Syndrome and Employment at The Autism Show, which takes place at Excel London, near Canary Wharf. Readers of this blog may remember that at last year's inaugural I got to meet Jane Asher. After speaking on the theme of Asperger's Syndrome and Mindfulness Techniques last year, I am looking forward to revisiting to talk about how to shape working environments around employees with Asperger's Syndrome. As you will see on the Autism Talks programme (in association with Autistic Rights Movement UK), there are some interesting speakers giving their perspective  of autism and Asperger's Syndrome on a range of themes.

Back at Autism Works, we are just about to commence on putting together another funding bid, this time to the Investment and Contract Readiness Fund. As readers may remember, we have been unsuccessful with previous bids we have put in because we have been 'too small' to have any real impact. Now though, that we have more employees than we did back then as well as having successfully completed testing contracts together with the doors that being a Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneer has opened for us, we should be better placed to apply this time.

Away from work, after finally regaining some momentum after my 'holiday hangover', I have been doing much preparation work for my talks next month, as well as getting my training back on track for this year's Bupa Great North Run as well as my campaign to summit Kilimanjaro in October 2013. The talks also present a good opportunity for me to promote my campaign as well as the work done by Daisy Chain, particularly as 3,000 people are expected to attend this year's Autism Show. I have had some more very generous donations over the last two weeks. To find out how this is progressing or to donate, visit the following link - http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-MitchellGNR

Over the next week there are two events coming up relating to my special interests, starting with Vesak on June 2nd, celebrating the birth, enlightenment and passing into Nirvana of the Buddha and then on June 5-6th the Transit of Venus. Last visible in 2004, this transit will be the last opportunity to view it until the year 2117, so hopefully the skies will be clearer than they are forecast for Bank Holiday weekend!

To find out how these events go, stay tuned to Adventures with Autism Works!