The Lab Blog

A bunch of useful and interesting links on Aspergers, local and overseas

2012-02-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.asdassociation.co.cc/

ASD Association is a team of parents, professionals, and persons dedicated to improving the educational standards of children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

(Antoinette from this group came to visit The Lab today)

Their Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ASD-Association/292038697503000?sk=wall

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http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/02/22/1203467395755.html?page=fullpage

Fight for a different normal Denise Ryan
February 25, 2008

THOUSANDS of young Victorians with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism have dropped out of mainstream high schools and are spending their lives locked in their bedrooms watching television or on the PC, say autism experts.

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http://leader-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/campaigners-win-fight-for-ferntree-gully-autistic-school/
YEARS of campaigning have paid off for parents of autistic children in Melbourne's east with last week's State Government announcement of a new school in Ferntree Gully.

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Tony Attwood interviews Temple Grandin

http://www.fenichel.com/Temple-Tony.html

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/opinion/i-had-asperger-syndrome-briefly.html

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January holiday session

2012-01-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we held the Lab's two-hour January holiday session. More people came along than planned, so the Maidstone office was a picture of flurry at 4pm as the guys struggled to find desk spaces for all the 18 excited (and often initially apprehensive) young people who came along.

How did it go? By all indications really well, thanks to the sterling efforts of Dale, Justin, Sean, Craig and Tung in settling participants and getting them stuck into something of interest. As usual, Minecraft featured strongly. One 8 year-old created a website on the fly and other returning participants had specific questions answered about particular software. At the end there were lots of big grins and requests to return.

For me observing proceedings, what was really striking was how quickly everything settled down and how at home these young people seemed to be once they got going on their activities on their laptops and their parents went to the tea room. These boys (there was only one girl present) really seemed to be in their element, like they'd been coming to the Lab for months, not going to a new location for the first time with a group of others they'd never met before. There was a surprising lot of interaction, with kids asking each other about their work.

For me, it was actually quite extraordinary and a clear confirmation that this approach works, at least in the current context - we have yet to see how this translates to other settings with different people and mentors. OK, I co-started The Lab and have been been running it since April so I'm not exactly neutral about its benefits, but this was a clearer indication than expected that we're onto something powerful here.

The main real issue at present is our ability to work with more of these excellent and fun young people, given the interest in The Lab by those who have been given a taste of it, our preference to work with people over the long term, and the ever-growing waiting list. We have to make sure we and our mentors don't burn out. The only real way to do this is to see the model adopted by other people in other places. This is our real challenge now for the next stage of the Lab's development.

For anyone living in or near Ballarat (or know someone who is)...

2012-01-05T00:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a message from someone running a great project you might like to explore:

Dear Stefan,

After reading your article in the AMAZE newsletter esprectrum 64 I thought I would contact you about another program that is running in the Ballarat Area. Flashdrive Beyond the Classroom Inc is a Not For Profit Business working with disengaged youth and people with disabilities. www.flashdrive.org.au.

From the website:

Students learn to:

assemble a computer from recycled parts
install and configure software
use Windows and common software applications
work in an environmentally-friendly way – our computers are donated by local organisations and refurbished or recycled, reducing e-waste.

Afterwards, students may purchase the computer they build at low cost.

New members and business as usual over Xmas

2011-12-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Michael and Nicholas, the Lab's two new members!

Also, The Lab will continue to run every Thursday over the Xmas break. Next week (22nd) will be an Xmas party - basically the Lab as usual but with some food (bring a plate if you feel like it) and after that every Thursday as usual.

Happy holidays and hope everyone gets a chance to relax after what's bene an intense year for lots of people.

Melbourne exhibition of autistic young man's incredible artwork

2011-12-06T23:52:00.000-08:00

Below is a message we received from the mother of a young man we have had the privilege of meeting. His name is Marley, he is autistic, and he has incredible artistic talent.

Please join us for on the Thursday 15th December at 19h for the opening of

WILD LOVE

IMAGINARIUMS
BY MARLEY JAMES WRIGHT

Marley seems to dwell in a parallel world, but from a certain age he began to gain some understanding of the conventional one. He remains adamant that the feeling of love is not to be restrained, rather shared with with every being. Unable to speak coherently for years, he communicates powerfully with color and mesmerizing forms. He was diagnosed with autism and epilepsy in early childhood. "I will be what I am" ruled,and the usual social conditioning had no foothold. From age 5, he was never apart from ink and paper...

THE PIECES FOR THIS EXHIBITION WERE CHOSEN FROM 5000 DIGITAL WORKS TO SHOW THE ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT OVER THE LAST 7 YEARS.

He is now 17 and attends special school.

www.marleyjameswright.com

Location: No Vacancy Gallery THE ATRIUM,

FEDERATION SQUARE, MELBOURNE

exhibition continues into January 2012

Please LIKE Marley on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marley-James-Wright/182025281891076

We would love you to send this invitation on to get marley's message of Wild Love out there!!!!

New article on The Lab

2011-11-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

Check out the profile on The Lab on page 14 of this magazine called Made You Look, put out by the NSW Government disability program Don't Dis My Ability. You can download it here (large download: 4.9mb)

http://www.dontdismyability.com.au/news/made_you_look

Ideas from parents

2011-11-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

A few ideas for The Lab were flagged by parents in yesterday's session. These are:

- for the mentors/tutors to put up a pic of themselves on the website next to their name, so that participants will remember them and their names

- for there to be a version of a group photo at The Lab with faces and names of participants, for similar reasons as above

- There is renewed interest in the Arduino kits, so looking at an Arduino show and tell in next week's session

- for participants to be slowly introduced to a range of different games, to avoid the Team Fortress 2 obsession gripping a couple of the guys

Lastly, a note that the sign-in book is now in operation and is working well. All parents signed participants in and out, which has really reduced the scope for not knowing where a participant is.

Adventures with Aspergers blog

2011-10-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

Some folks might be interested in this new blog: http://kavehadel.com/blog/2011/10/adventures-with-aspergers-cartoon-look-outside/

It's a cartoon blog by an Iranian artist who aims to shed light on AS.

Minecraft conference in the US

2011-10-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Minecraft is taking off in a big way it seems. Check out this conference in the US in November (thanks Greg W): http://minecon.mojang.com/

Article on The Lab in The Spectrum

2011-10-07T00:02:00.001-07:00

Here's the article that has appeared in the current edition of the Autism Victoria magazine The Spectrum - thanks a heap to Darcy, Darcy, Paul and Lily for taking part.

Images from The Lab holiday session - first at the new venue for our usual group

2011-10-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

The Lab Holiday Sessions - September 2011

2011-09-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

Today we held another holiday session with around 17 particpants(a full house).

A couple of older kids left as one in particular wasn't interested, but everybody else seemed to have a good time. At one stage 11 of the kids were on a shared minecraft server, so that was the hit of the day. It was very interesting meeting some of the young people and talking about their interests.

An overview of the room, with the IP address for the minecraft server as well as a message (NO COMPLAINTS, Expect Destruction) which was prompted by some issues in prior sessions.

An angry bird playing minecraft.

An overview of the room, which is on the 16th floor with great views of Melbourne.

This young man wasn't interested in games, just design, and tried zbrush, coming up with some incredible designs by himself, as our 3d designer wasn't there today. This is perhaps an example of what simply giving kids access can achieve - he taught himself a lot through trial and error, not really wishing to do tutorials.

Some of his creations - he ended up making videos of his creations which I unfortunately left behind but hope to recover shortly;

Current activities at The Lab

2011-09-27T02:55:00.000-07:00

With everything else happening, it's been a while since I posted an update on what is actually going on in The Lab.

Tomorrow (Wednesday September 28th) we will hold a holiday session with 17 participants at Victoria University on Flinders St. These are more casual sessions intended to reach an audience we can't cater for at the moment.

The weekly sessions continue to run well. A couple of weeks ago we had the judgement of our games competition, there were two winners, and more great entries. I will post them over the coming week or two.

We have now had one young man stop coming, unfortunately I think he was a little more advanced in terms of his skills than most of our group, so he didn't feel he was amongst peers or connect with people. Perhaps this is an issue we can address in the future if we deal with more people or larger groups.

On the positive side, our move means we can now invite back a young man who had a negative experience the first time he visited our previous location and was unable to return. He will be attending the holiday sessions and then most probably some kind of one on one sessions during the week.

Our new home in Maidstone

2011-09-27T02:42:00.001-07:00

After Stefan did a mail-out asking for assistance with finding a new venue, we were fortunate enough to be contacted by John Roberts from Just Better Care, a carer agency. He was kind enough to show us through some offices near his own which were formerly occupied by Fletcher Jones, Eastcoast, and Pelaco. He also offered the use of their board room for the parents when they come in.

As well as the agency, the building houses the Vostro Institute, which provides training to industry.

Both of these businesses are very closely aligned with our own. In addition to this, the rent was reasonable, so we spoke with the building manager and organised to rent a space.

View Larger Map

For the past week we have been renovating the space and moving our now quite considerable inventory from Footscray. We were fortunate enough to get some incredible next day service from Pierre at ET Telecom - he helped us with a situation our new provider TPG was going to take weeks to resolve.

We will finish cleaning up the new place tomorrow, ready for our first Lab session on Thursday. I will post some photos of what we have done then.

Here are some photos from before we moved in;

The board room which parent can use;

The entry to the space.

The space.

Farewell Footscray

2011-09-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

So, we are leaving Footscray.

In a way I am happy, in another I am quite sad.

The picture above is sticker art found outside our office of two(arguably the greatest two) Footscray icons. The guy the left can be found around our former office at any time from 5am-5pm asking for change(any one of our workers would have been asked many times), and the lady at the atms is a regular fixture. It's sad that after the closure of Forges, this is what Footscray(cbd) is identified with - drugs, and the homeless. It's even sadder when you look at some of the historical photos - you can't help but feel like it's gone backwards over the past 80 or so years. The not so glorious office we have been in used to be a beautiful theatre in the 1930s.

It is an amazing place with some incredible people and so much potential, but it all just seems to be going to waste. I am not sure what the approach of the current governments are but it seems like they want to run it so far into the ground that it is buried and can be reborn. In the meantime there is a tragic amount of human waste.

I hope to return one day.

On the move

2011-09-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks we have had some issues at our current location, right in the middle of Footscray at the corner of Leeds and Hopkins.
Since we moved in we have watched the local area deteriorate quite a bit - I am not sure if it's a cyclical thing, but the past few weeks have seen police and junkies out in force across Footscray. Combined with several other issues, this has forced us to consider moving before our lease was supposed to be up, at the end of November.
The guy in charge of the building has been very understanding and has said it's okay if we move out by the end of this month, August, so we are now hunting for locations.
On the one hand it's sad it's come to this, but on the other hand we are looking forward to a new start in a fresh environment. This may also allow us to try again with one student who had a particularly troublesome time where we are and has been unable to return.
We appear to have at least one good option lined up which I will investigate early this week, but would be very interested in hearing from anybody else in the west who might have 80+ sq m of office space we can rent cheaply.

Some thoughts on technologists and teachers

2011-09-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is the phrase;
'Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever.'
This is a philosophy I think most good teachers follow, and I have also followed this in the past when working as a technologist implementing new programs in schools. Part of the implementation is always trying to get the staff up to speed so they can sustain whatever program we are putting in place.
In all of our experiences I can only really think of one case where this has occurred - and in that case it was for ulterior motives. To turn back to the phrase, in that case the guy in question wanted to become a fisherman himself.
In other settings despite massive expenditure and a lot of effort, educators have failed to really engage with these technologies.
As ideal as everybody catching their own fish sounds, it's not sustainable - most of us work long, hard days, and we want to simply turn up at the fishmongers and order what we like. There are so many issues I would have to overcome to go out and catch enough fish to feed my family. It is similar for teachers with technology.
There will always be those who live on the fringes of technological change, or by the sea, who will be happy to do their own development or fishing, but these people are the exception, not the norm.
I believe in future for education and technology to work, there needs to be a clear division of responsibilities. Teachers cannot be expected to learn new technologies on top of their already heavy teaching loads. Likewise technologists cannot be expected to become educational experts overnight. Working out how these two areas can work together is crucial.
For us at The Lab this has some important implications as it leads to the question of how this model, if proven successful by rigorous research, can be expanded to other settings.
One of our original plans was to embed what we have learnt into existing teaching practices, potentially through student teacher placements or talks to groups of student teachers.
In our case with young people with Asperger's, I think perhaps we can assist the teachers in identifying such students, but I am then not so sure about their capacity to deal with them. This requires a very different mindset to traditional education, and even if we do train up student teachers, what is relevant today probably wont be by next year. Engaging these young people takes constant devotion to technology.
What I do think we could help the teachers with, is how they should deal with technology and technologists to achieve their pedagogical objectives. I don't know much at all about teacher courses, but I suspect this is an area which has not been properly explored.

September 28 holiday workshop: full house and details

2011-08-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

We now have a full house for our holiday introductory workshop on September 28.

Details are as follows:

1.00pm - 4.00pm

Room 16:14 (the games lab), Level 16, Victoria University, 300 Flinders Street, Melbourne.

The campus is opposite Flinders Street train station, near the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street.

We will have desktop computers on hand, or participants can bring their own laptops - this might be useful if you'd like us to load any software.

The session will see our techie tutors introducing some fun software to participants, based on their interests, plus maybe some joint activities in environments like Minecraft.

Parents/carers can either drop off their child and do shopping/coffees etc (plenty of both in the vicinity!) or stick around, chat to us and other parents/carers plus checks emails etc on the lab's computers. We'll bring some snacks too.

Stefan's mobile number is 0410387622 for any further queries, directions etc.

Look forward to seeing people there!

How things are travelling

2011-08-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got an email from one of the parents which helped remind me how different things have turned out than what we originally imagined, possibly for the better.
The initial vision was that the young people would come in and would be keen to learn technical skills, as has generally been my experience when working with small numbers at limited-time workshops in the past.
At The Lab we have found the students are often more interested in socialising - which is normal for most kids, but unusual for some of these, and it's having positive results.
Despite being slightly unexpected, it gets back to a couple of things we have witnessed in the past;
- These young people know when they are surrounded by like minds, and feel very comfortable.
- The technology acts as an 'object of affinity' - allowing the young people to communicate through devices they are familiar with.
In terms of inspiring the kids to learn, we haven't wanted to force anybody so we started a gamemaking competition, which is completely voluntary, although we offered a prize as an incentive(a logitech gaming keyboard attachment). After one week one young man was already making quite a bit of progress, and this has caught the eyes of others, who are now learning by themselves to use software we have had difficulty interrupting their Lab gaming session to teach them.

I think one lesson in this is that we cannot force the kids to do anything(which was never our intention) - but we can motivate them by providing opportunities, as we have done with the competition.
The second lesson is perhaps that we cannot motivate the young people with our words - it must come from within. This is perhaps more likely to be inspired by other young people. If we can do something amazing, they don't care, we are old and they can't relate, but if the guy like them sitting next to them can, it's a different case. This would suggest that we should look at offering more open opportunities for the group at large - more activities they can choose to be a part of and work together on.
This is not to say the mentors aren't important - they are vital, giving the young people something to aspire to, and also being able to get the young people over those inevitable technical walls they come up against.

All of this has got me thinking about my own youth and where I got this kind of support. My parents sent me to Scouts, in the hope I would become a more social and well rounded person.

I think that's what we are doing at The Lab. We are using technology to do it - but if we can take care of the self esteem and sense of social inclusion of the young people I think they will be motivated to generally teach themselves the technical skills, and come to us for help when required.

1. Socialising through gaming
2. An increasing sense of social inclusion
3. Desire to learn technical skills
4. Increased social capital

Now back to providing opportunities....
One thing the Scouts did for me was provide a whole bunch of opportunities. I don't want to copy their military stylings, or christian rituals, but they do have some good ideas.
One of these is the badges. They have several similarities to achievements used in online gaming.
Scouts progress through three levels(Pioneer/red, Explorer/blue, Adventurer/green) depending on how many achievements they have. There are achievements involving community engagement and group work.
They provided a good framework for a lot of social activities, and they also allowed for a lot of us to achieve at least something in an area of our interest. Many of the skills were pretty obscure, but at the time they seemed quite important.

With all of this in mind I got thinking about having some online assessments for The Lab for a range of topics the kids would be interested in learning. Instead of badges, we could have online 'achievements' like many online games. These would be visible by peers, which is what would make them important.

It is also possible that this could be tied into existing courses either online, at high school or TAFE.

Achievements could include something like;

Beginner X
Advanced X
Master X

X=
Programmer(Basic, VB, C++ ??)
Web Programmer(html5, php)
Web Designer(html, css, graphic design, copywriting)
Graphic Designer(photoshop, illustrator, fireworks etc)
3d Designer(3ds max, blender, sketchup etc)
Filmmaker(vegas etc)
Music maker
Gamemaker(gamemaker, unity etc)
Arduino Programmer
System Administrator?

Teamwork(achieving something with another person)
Charity(helping others- eg http://www.spectrumvic.org.au/)
Master(teaching others)

Special interest???
Programming languages?
Specific Software?

Group activity badges?

Overall levels

Some vague ideas....
Beginner - Teamwork and 3X Beginner
Advanced - 3X Advanced and Charity or Master
Master - 3X Master and Charity or Master

Update: sessions, end of the year plans, and another Lab outcome

2011-08-11T01:37:00.001-07:00

A quick update on the Lab.

Sessions have been running smoothly of late - both the parents and kids seem to have developed a comfortable mode of interaction , and sessions are going well. There's been some (but not a lot) of interest in programming activities, but it seems the socialisation aspects of the Lab are just as important. Apparently all the kids are very keen to come, with some pestering their parents in advance. One participant called his dad on his mobile today to remind him (at 2pm) to get a move on - apparently he never does this usually.

Parents are, as usual, discussing lots in their room. Food features strongly - we don't bring food in ourselves anymore as there's usually a selection of goodies brought in.

One interesting outcome we heard about today - two participants (brothers) have started a Minecraft club at their school. There are four kids involved, and they're currently spending their recess and lunch breaks planning their world and to set up a Minecraft server. Apparently this is a big step up from aimlessly walking around during their breaks.

On another topic: Dale and I have been discussing moving from our current Lab location once the lease runs out in December. That central Footscray corner has not been getting any better of late - more people down on their luck, arrests etc - and the space itself is on the grungier side of the tracks, with a lack of decent kitchen and related facilities. Have put out some feelers with VU - will see what comes of it. Wonder too if the council might have something. We're paying around $320 a week currently, so it's not actually that cheap. Another possibility is a house in the area.

The Lab 2011 Gamemaker Competition

2011-07-26T05:20:00.001-07:00

July holiday sessions

2011-07-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

We have just concluded our holiday sessions, which included Thursday afternoons with the normal group, and two Wednesday afternoons with two new groups of kids.

One surprise was how similar the groups were, despite being filled with such unique individuals.

Playing wii

Firstly the normal sessions - we are now up to eleven, and things are going well. A few kids are not able to attend all the time do to other issues, which is perhaps to be expected. Considering that some kids are happy just using laptops, we perhaps have room to cater for 9 kids so we are always full and using our time and space well.

We took a relaxed approach to things during the holidays and didn't push anything. We pulled out the Wii and old megadrive so the kids could play games together.

For these kids there is value in playing competitive social games - it teaches them to socialise, and to accept losing.

We had a minecraft competition and thanks to some generous contributions from Logitech were able to award all of the kids with a set of headphones as a prize. We hope that this will also help with the noise issue, it's very very loud during these sessions. I often wondered what was going to happen with a group of kids who are all happy to talk 'at' each other, and now we know, it gets louder and louder, until everybody is shouting to be heard. That said, it's not an annoying noise, it's more like a fun party with computer music in the background.

Wow hoodie

The extra sessions also went well. All up we had around 15 new young people in and I think all with the possible exception of one(who was not Asperger's) enjoyed themselves. Quite a few asked if they could come back.

In the first session all of the participants played minecraft, nearly all of the time. Many had already played, those who hadn't picked it up straight away.

In the second session they all played minecraft at some stage, but they also played some wii, world of warcraft, and terraria amongst other games.

The parents seemed happy but Trish and Stefan would know more about how that went.

Parent's room

July holiday sessions

2011-07-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

We have just concluded our holiday sessions, which included Thursday afternoons with the normal group, and two Wednesday afternoons with two new groups of kids.

One surprise was how similar the groups were, despite being filled with such unique individuals.

Playing wii

We took a relaxed approach to things during the holidays and didn't push anything. We pulled out the Wii and old megadrive so the kids could play games together.

For these kids there is value in playing competitive social games - it teaches them to socialise, and to accept losing.

Wow hoodie

In the first session all of the participants played minecraft, nearly all of the time. Many had already played, those who hadn't picked it up straight away.

In the second session they all played minecraft at some stage, but they also played some wii, world of warcraft, and terraria amongst other games.

The parents seemed happy but Trish and Stefan would know more about how that went.

Parent's room

Some very useful information on Irlen Syndrome, Occupational Therapy (inc. stimming) and auditory processing from a new parent

2011-07-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

At yesterday's Lab holiday session, one parent had a lot of very useful information to pass on about strategies for working with syndromes connected with Aspergers, based on extensive research and experience with her son.

Here are the details from her:

Irlen syndrome

http://www.dyslexiaservices.com.au/melb.htm

Individuals with Irlen Syndrome perceive the printed page and sometimes their environment differently. They must constantly make adaptation or compensate. Individuals are often unaware of the extra energy and effort they are putting into reading and perception.

Reading may be slow and inefficient, or there may be poor comprehension, strain, or fatigue. It can also affect attention span, listening, energy level, motivation, work production, and mental health.

People with Irlen Syndrome are often seen as underachievers or having behavioral, attitude or motivational problems. These problems can also coexist with other learning problems, such as attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, or autism. Treatment for Irlen Syndrome can alleviate many of the symptoms of these disorders in many cases."

We help children and adults suffering from

Reading and learning problems
Dyslexia
ADD/HD, Autism and Asperger Syndrome
Behavioral and emotional problems
Headaches, migraines, fatigue and other physical symptoms
Light Sensitivity/Photophobia
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), whip lash, and concussions
Certain medical and visual conditions
spatial and sensory issues.

Irelns is different to behavourial optometry, as Irlens is based on what colours in the light/colour spectrum the eye and brain register and how that can affect how the brain interprets the visual information given, where as behavioural optometry is based on how the Visual system works ( the mechanics of it) and believe that milestones in visual development have not been met and it is possible to restore these by exercises. They do NOT address all the visual and cross sensory issues in ASD.

The Irlen Lenses have been life changing for myself and my son. The Lenses help control the visual stimulation that we receive. It is truly amazing the world that has now opened up to us. The biggest improvement was recognising and addressing the body spatial issues we had, but also the reduced uncontrolled anxiety that we had when we were visually over stimulated. Wow to go shopping in a super maket with out melt downs, and for myself the head aches.

One thing i do recommend if you are considering this, is when you get screened for the actual Lenses and the tint. To Ask Gloria to test for photo sensitivity and for Flurescent lighting.

Occupational Therapy

Highly recommend, through the use of sensory integration, you can teach your child to eventually self regulate.

if your child is stimming, like for example spinning, that is an indication that the vestibular system is not providing enough feed back to the brain.

you can use an office chair but in my case i purchased a dizzy disc from the states.

http://www.autismcoach.com/Dizzy%20Disc.htm

the following link is a shop in Australia that sells the Dizzy disc Jr

http://www.therapytoyshop.com/

Vestibular motion/movement also impacts on auditory processing issues.

Auditory Processing

the following is a link for an extensive over view of CAPD

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ears/central_auditory.h

Educational Audiology, Eddie Keir. 23 Waterdale Rd, Ivanhoe, 3079. Tel: 03 9499 1683.

Session 8 - Minecraft at home issues

2011-06-30T02:12:00.001-07:00

Session 8 already - time has flown.
Today we had an interesting start to the session when the kids and parents arrived and explained what had happened the previous week on the minecraft server we had set up for the kids.
Put simply, someone had burnt down a lot of the houses the kids had built, and this had started a chain reaction where kids were accusing each other of doing it and getting revenge.
There were a few interesting points about this;
- We have been looking at minecraft and learning about it's positives - mainly that it's an open environment which allows kids to play however they like, and explore their interests. What this also means however is that the kids have the freedom to offend each other in various ways.
- With a few of the kids, perhaps familiarity is breeding contempt?
- There is a big issue where some kids are very sensitive about how others act, and others aren't. Some of the kids are sensitive about how they are treated but totally insensitive when it comes to doing the same things to others - which is perhaps something we should have anticipated. The mystery is how we deal with this...it's a fine line between allowing kids to be themselves and not be judged, and making sure that feelings aren't hurt.
- A big issue is that this server has effected kids in their home lives, and has made their parents job more difficult. That's pretty much the opposite of what we set out to achieve.
- If we are to moderate the server constantly, it would require additional funding, as it's quite labour intensive, especially when you have to investigate kid politics.
- Both Stefan and myself spoke to the parents, who ended up agreeing to shut the server down for at least a week. Perhaps we can re-open it as a privilege not a right, with more restrictions, and establish a different mood.
- Part of wanting to create a model of learning for these young people means that we will be faced with issues and have to find solutions. In that regard today was a very positive session.
Action we have taken;
- During the class damage was turned off, and TNT made their browser crash.
- At the end of the session we turned the minecraft server off until we work out some strategies(both technical and real world) which will allow it to continue in a more positive way.
- Kids have been told to build in single player worlds for the competition which will now be judged next week after the prizes still didn't arrive.
- Sean ended up introducing one young man to javascript which was a positive end to the day. Many of the young people look up to Sean as he is 21, closer to their age, and knows a lot about gaming and programming - he can answer almost any question they have.

Last week's session

2011-06-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

An interesting session last week. One thing that has come out of it is the idea of either banning online videos or supplying headphones - so as not to distract or annoy others. Dale has also instigated a Minecraft competition with a prize, which has the kids v excited.

One parent mentioned that her child had been 'trapped' within the Minecraft server by another participant that week (ie while playing Minecraft from home) and had been very upset by this. Interestingly enough, by the next day (during the Lab session) the two boys involved were playing together again, collaboratively building a bridge structure within Minecraft.

This brings up a discussion point in regard to multiuser spaces like Minecraft: might they extend and even amplify feelings of being bullied in the real world? And/or: can they be used for building a sense of resilience, for rehearsing what happens 'out there' and learning to deal with it in a positive manner for oneself? In Minecraft you can destroy or build - it's up to you, and it seems the rough and tumble of the real world will happen to some degree online. So where do we draw the line between providing a protected space and 'cotton wooling'? This is something we're still negotiating on a weekly basis.

These discussions are also informing the current development of the code of conduct, which is underway by Trish.

It also raises questions about moderation levels. Some participants it seems like the presence of moderators in online forums...one likes that someone is watching over him (he dislikes being called a 'noob'). This is the case for the Minecraft server, but it's very lightly moderated.

Holiday sessions - extra details

2011-06-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

Our winter holiday sessions are happening (see below for flyer) for young people who haven't already attended The Lab.

Here's a little bit of extra info:

- the sessions will run from 3pm to 6pm on Wednesday July 6 and Wednesday July 13 in Footscray. If your child is interested in taking part in one of these sessions, please contact Stefan at: 9919 1618 or stefan.schutt@vu.edu.au. Bookings will be on a 'first-come-first served' basis.

- sessions are free, but you're welcome (though not obligated) to bring any snacks for kids and parents!

- we have a separate room for parents to meet and chat

- the technology we will use will depend entirely on the kids' interests. (Lately there's been a lot of interest in the collaborative game Minecraft as well as the Arduino programmable circuit boards.)

- address details are here: http://thelab.org.au/location

Snapshots from inside Minecraft - kids creating and collaborating

2011-06-23T02:48:00.001-07:00

Interview with Metaverse Journal about The Lab

2011-06-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough to do an interview with the Metaverse Journal's David Holloway about The Lab;

http://www.metaversejournal.com/2011/06/19/the-lab-virtual-worlds-learning-at-its-very-best/

Next holiday sessions announced

2011-06-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Session five

2011-06-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

This week went very well, we had kids dancing to youtube, playing minecraft together, and exploring arduino kits which was new and quite a success. It is taking less effort every week.

Some images.

Last night's session

2011-06-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a calmer session than usual - three of the kids were away, as were Dale and Trish.

Worth noting was the way all the four participants were getting on and interacting, talking firstly about Minecraft then about themselves - their ages, what grade they were in at school etc. There were quite a few questions of each other, showing a growing interest in the other kids, which is quite exciting to observe, especially for these kids who largely don't have friends or interests in peers' lives.

Everyone seemed very comfortable and relaxed in the space - it felt and sounded like any other group of kids. I'm guessing that the very presence of techie guys had a lot to do with it - they are guys who have demonstrated to the kids that they somehow 'get' them and their interests, and that they are around, ready to help but not pushing either.

Enquiries: the demand is obviously there

2011-05-31T18:10:00.001-07:00

For the last few weeks since the media stories about The Lab in The Age, local papers and more recently ABC Radio, I have been receiving a steady stream of enquries from parents about The Lab. This is noteworthy because none of the stories had our contact details - people have found out about us and contacted us independently. I would say that I have had an average of one enquiry a day. The Lab now has a waiting list of 12 - enough for another group or two already. I've received enquiries from Melbourne, the Sunshine Coast, Perth, Tasmania, and one from the US. I think we're definitely onto something important here.

Trying to get sponsorship so we can get the kids new laptops

2011-05-16T18:22:00.001-07:00

One issue we had on Thursday was the participants computers.

Half of them crashed running programs like minecraft or spore(including one of our dells), which are not very intense games. They would have no chance of running something like Opensim. Not many of them were actually capable of running two screens either. Very few if any of them would be capable of doing something like video editing. Most looked like old work laptops from a parent.

The laptops we have are on their last legs. Two crash regularly.

One other issue with us helping was that many of the PCs were running XP or vista, meaning that for on young person it took us half an hour to get her computer online(we still don't know why) and for many others using the dual screen or installing software was more painful than it could be.

Today I contacted the following companies asking them for support;

NEC
IBM
Fujitsu
Steelseries
Razor
Dick Smith
Harvey Norman
Apple
Asus
Officeworks
Pioneer Computers
Logitech

Our first official session - success

2011-05-14T22:08:00.002-07:00

On Thursday we held our first official session.

We were expecting 8 kids, we got 7, a couple couldn't make it because of the torrential rain, and we got one extra younger brother.

We were lucky enough to have ABC radio come along and cover the event live, a podcast of this is online here.

All of the young people seemed to have a good time, many ended up playing minecraft together, they also played spore, and one young lady started to learn web design.

All of the parents and participants seemed very positive about proceedings.

Our website is also finally online at http://www.thelab.org.au.

Here is the room finally in action.

Second intro session, April 23

2011-04-26T21:56:00.002-07:00

Our second intro session last Saturday was if anything more successful than the first, even given the initial logistical glitches such as the campus being officially closed for Easter and the very grumpy security guard showing his displeasure at having to open up the lab and lifts for our group (even though we had booked). Of particular note was:

- signs of communication and interaction between participants, especially some with whom we've worked before and for whom this was a first;

- Trish's excellent coordination and support work with the parents

We're on track now to run the first weekly sessions on a Wed or Thurs afternoon after school, starting the second week of May.

Here are some photos that Dale took:

Images from our first session

2011-04-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

Some images from our first session.

One of our teen mentors doing some 3d design.

One participant exploring Second Life.

A couple of the mentors and a couple of participants.

One participant playing a flash game.

An overview of the room used, it's 16 floors up on Flinders St.

First introductory session, 16 April - some observations

2011-04-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Set in the relatively slick surrounds of the gaming lab at VU's Flinders St campus, our first session is underway as I write. So far, so good - participants seem to be engaged with a variety of technologies: Second life (for the building of avatars and environments), Spore, Minecraft (a new discovery...kind of a cross between a first person game and a virtual world involving mining, costs $15 to buy and install on a server - thanks Sean for installing it), Crayon Physics, Flash games - and in one case, looking at the bones of the technical setup of the lab including shared drives, registry keys etc.

Almost everyone showed up bar one (and a couple of Gippslanders who will be coming next week)

We have five paid mentors in the room - Dale, Craig, Justin, Sean and Tung - plus Nathan as a peer mentor.

The mood is quiet, calm, and positive, with everyone seemingly into what they're doing and quite a bit of discussion between participants, mentors and parents.

Logo and flier for our first event

2011-03-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Finally we have a logo for The Lab.

Thanks Kaan.

White bg version.

Black bg version(with border on the head).

And here is our flier, and first official activity, which will be held during the next school holidays.

How the room is looking

2011-03-14T20:05:00.001-07:00

We are now planning to start sessions in April(during school holidays), so last weekend we had another go at finishing the walls and roof.
Here is how it looks at the moment - as you can see it's a bit of a mess;

The remaining work includes;
- Carpet
- Wood for the corners and to cover joins
- A wooden plank running around the room which we can attach screens and frames to(we need to hire a man)
- Covers for the lighting
- Blinds/curtains

Some more stories from the local papers this week

2011-03-01T15:29:00.001-08:00

More media - local Leader

2011-03-01T03:13:00.000-08:00

Here's today's article in the local paper:

Connections made

2011-03-01T02:48:00.000-08:00

Our Asperger's club idea, and associated publicity, has generated a lot of interest and contact from others. It seems that a lot of the people we speak to think we're on the right track - especially the parents of kids with Aspergers, which is probably the most heartening and useful feedback of all. Experts are important to consult, but really for us there's no greater expertise than having struggled with the realities of trying to get the best outcomes for one's child.

We've learned that:

- Western Autistic School had technology workshops planned in 2010, with a focus not too different from ours, but, accroding to the parent who told us about it, had to cancel them because they couldn’t find a teacher. (see flyer attached that the parent sent us)

- WAS now runs the Base Room at Essendon/Keilor College - one parent we spoke to said this is a great program for ASD kids, and her kids attend. More info here: http://www.westernautisticschool.vic.edu.au/services.asp

- Debney Park Secondary College is starting a new technology project this year for ASD and other kids, funded by a large grant...the student support person got in touch totally independently through the media - not knowing that we have already worked at the school on previous projects for two years. We look forward to working with him very much.

Visiting the Computer Clubhouse

2011-02-28T00:03:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we met with Tara from the Computer Clubhouse in Napier St, Fitzroy.

Stefan was involved in the creation of this clubhouse and this was his first visit in some time.

The purpose of the visit was to learn how they operate these days and the reasons why, to learn from their experience.

Things we learnt included;

- They run from 3pm-6.30pm plus extra late sessions during the week.

- They have around 20 kids in most afternoons.

- When kids come in they sign on and sign off. This allows them to track when kids are in and reassures parents. Kids must be members to come in.

- There is a phone for kids to call their parents on.

- Kids aren't allowed to leave after 5pm without a guardian.

- Much of the help seems to be about helping kids with homework, and there seemed to be a real need for it. At least one kid was waiting for help when we were there, another was working on some school work.

- Mentors help to train mentors.

- Kids help to train kids.

- Mentors cannot contact the children outside of hours due to lack of transparency or any way of recording it. I think we can come up with a technical solution that will allow this.

- Mentors are given an orientation of the space.

- Some of the pcs don't have internet access, Tara mentioned it might be a distraction for what they are trying to achieve. She also mentioned there was more original artwork being produced offline as opposed to derivative.

- Facebook is banned.

- Mathletics is very popular.

- There is a music studio with a keyboard, mic, monitor speakers and mixing desk.

- One young girl showed us some stop motion, she said she was shy but did very well.

- They had an exhibition themed 'respect' - where kids did a range of multimedia art.

Meeting the lawyer and Project Schedule template

2011-02-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

Today we met with a lawyer at Victoria University, Cameron Murrell.

Cameron was extremely helpful, and helped explain how we should go about creating a project schedule(here is a link to the file), which covers aspects like;

- Creating a strategic partnership agreement

- Project outline

- People involved

- Term

- Parties obligations

- Fees

- Reviews and reporting

- Special conditions

We also spoke about the possible risks;

- Inadvertant injury to kids

- Damage to equipment

Other points included;

- He recommended we keep other parties who are hiring people in the space(at the moment Monash) well informed.

- Currently the people who are working in the space are covered by workcover, or if they are contractors it's their own responsibility. That will change when we have members of the public(kids and their families) attending, and we will need insurance.

- We need ethics approval from VU.

- If we have student teachers in, we need a 'learning in the workplace agreement' in which case those student teachers will be covered by VU's public liability insurance.

- I need to speak to our 'landlord'(Michael) about health and safety, and fire issues. What is already covered and what is not(there was a fire hydrant placed outside our door recently so I am hoping that is all up to date).

Article in ITwire

2011-02-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

Sam Varghese from ITwire also did a story about the Lab, thanks Sam;

http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/45386-project-to-help-aspergers-kids

He also had some suggestions about using Ubuntu and how that would help teach kids how to really use computers, not just the windows interface. I think this is a good idea, it's what a lot of kids miss these days as the actual workings of computers are hidden behind a graphic interface(windows, apple).

Articles about The Lab in The Age

2011-02-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

Last week we were fortunate enough to have a journalist(Natalie Craig) and photographer(Craig Sillitoe) from The Age newspaper here in Melbourne come for a look at what we have been doing and are planning to do. Thanks to Daniel Clarke from VU for organising it.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/autistic-kids-learn-to-fly-in-cyberspace-20110219-1b0fj.html

The page was translated for a Chinese paper the next morning;

http://www.singtao.com.au/AUSTRALIAnews/public/article_v.cfm?articleId=137550&intcatid=3

and also created quite a bit of chatter on Twitter;

http://twitter.com/search?q=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/autistic-kids-learn-to-fly-in-cyberspace-20110219-1b0fj.html

So far this has helped us make quite a few new connections as well as aroused interest from some people we already know.

Meeting Amy from SFYS

2011-02-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today we met with Amy German from School Focussed Youth Services.

We discussed a range of ideas which I am unfortunately updating a bit late, but issues included;

- Transport and the possibility of a bus.

- The existence of a mac lab in a school focussed youth service space which was using technology in similar ways.

- Some interesting schools/models to look at - Pavillion(West Heidelberg), Phoenix(VU), and the Melbourne School on King St.

Meeting Katherine from Orygen once again

2011-02-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we met again with Katherine from Orygen who has been incredibly helpful by raising some issues we should be aware of as well as offering solutions and some much needed guidance on the landscape of the mental health industry in Victoria.

The discussion included;

Carers Victoria and how they might be able to help us.
Mindwise
Setting up a parents support network
Organising a large initial session where we can meet potential students
CAMS and other forms of diagnosis
DHS and Community health services
RMIT Clinical Psychology Placements
Western Region Health Centre
Western Region for Education (a good potential partner to find the young people)
SSSOs - Student school support officers, and the role they play

Katherine then followed up with this email;

Hi Dale and Stefan,

Thanks again for our meeting yesterday.

FYI the number for Commonwealth Carer Respite Centres is 1800 059 059 – they’ll be able to direct yourselves or families to the nearest Commonwealth-funded Carer Respite Service. Families can most definitely self-refer. Details on website here: (sorry I can’t hyperlink) http://www9.health.gov.au/ccsd/

Please find attached also the factsheet about ASDs. A couple of things for your notice – that this factsheet is targeted at adolescents and their families, where there may be an emphasis on emergent mental illnesses. Although the factsheet is ASDs generally, I think it is really helpful for thinking about Aspergers specifically, too.

Regards,

Katherine

Internet....internet....internet

2011-02-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

This has taken about a month and a half to get up and running....countless phonecalls, people calling back not understanding all the previous phone calls, wrong instructions, and money, lots of money(around $1000 just to get connected, which includes fees from iinet, telstra, and $500 for phoneworks to run a lead from the MDF to the office.)

The result is we now have some pretty awesome internet, 1TB a month, so it's been worth the effort.

The name of the project - The Lab

2011-02-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

After some thought and discussion with several colleagues and some of the young people involved, and as mentioned in the post about meeting Katherine from Orygen, we have decided to call the location 'The Lab.'

This name is trying to avoid any stigma that might be associated with words such as 'club,' 'centre,' or 'school.' It's targetting the students, and trying to create something which they can refer to when speaking with other friends.

Kaan, our graphic designer, is working on a logo at the moment.

Any research projects attached to 'The Lab' may have different identities.

Photos of construction/decor progress

2011-02-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some images of our progress with decor so far.

We initially wanted to paint the walls, but were told that we would have to return them to white at the end of the year(or whenever we move on). As we wish to paint some of the walls purple, this wasn't much of an option.

Our solution has been to use fabric.

Below is a test using some purple material I found at a local fabric store. It's $4.50 p/m, meaning we need around $100 worth to cover two walls and the roof.

Below are some images of myself, Craig and Dion in on weekends doing the first couple of walls with Hessian. The technique we have used is to attach the hessian to strips of wood using a staple gun, and then attach the wood to the walls using nails. This way when we move on, we will be able to rip the wood off the wall and refill the little nail holes, which should be much easier than doing a dozen coats of white paint. The hessian was $4.50 a metre for around 40 metres.

Here is the result so far, it's much more homely than it was with the white walls already.

The next step is to do the other walls and roof in purple, which will include concealing the horrible fluorescent lights. Other plans include strips of wood along the middle of each wall (which will hold the LCD screens), a massive room sized rug(dark grey) and some Japanese Shojin style coverings for the windows, inspired by a recent trip - like the ones below.

Telstra is annoying

2011-01-09T18:55:00.001-08:00

After waiting 4 hours today for a technician to turn up(who didn't) then being on hold for 40 minutes on a call to Telstra, I have finally lost patience.

A technician was supposed to come to organise a new line between 9am and 1pm today. This has been a nightmare to organise in the first place, and after calling I eventually find that they just decided to do something else using an existing line, not what I ordered, and what I have explained was no good to us many times over the past few weeks.

I was then told it would be another 5 days before the technician could come out, which puts us back in the same place we were before Christmas.

The icing on the cake was being asked to wait again, after waiting 40 minutes on hold, to cancel an order I never made in the first place!

(NOTE - The next people I called, iinet, still use Telstra, so unfortunately it's probably not the last time).

Meeting Orygen

2011-01-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Stefan and I met with Katherine, a Mental Health Promotions Officer from Orygen, who was incredibly helpful.

Katherine was able to both answer and ask a lot of questions about how we planned to manage possible risks and issues in a positive way, including;

- Consent forms.

- Avoiding the use of umbrella terms(such as Asperger's) which may not be in use in the coming few years. Instead we need to concentrate on defining specific traits of people we with to help(for example, particularly narrow interests, adept with technology).

- How we should separate the identity of any research or funding project from the identity of the venue the kids attend.

- Caring for the mentors and what kind of support we will need.

- Looking at similar organisations for 'protocols' which can be followed when 'stuff' happens.

- Resources we use for more support, including Smart Company, Oxfam Skillshare, and pro bono possibilities.

- Resources where we can find more information, including details for the Western Autistic School, and a couple of great PDFs from the National Mentoring Alliance and Victorian Youth Mentoring Alliance on Mentoring Program Development and A Guide to Effective Mentoring Practice.

The space in action

2011-01-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the space in action.

I have just emailed the landlord to get permission to paint.

Filling cracks, getting a fridge, using opensim as a design tool

2010-12-28T14:45:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday patching up the walls with gapfiller, and thinking about how to jazz up the place.

I also got a fridge, a 130l whirlpool bar fridge, again from gumtree, $100.

I then did a bit of research online into 'cool' office designs, looking at companies like Google, Lego, and below, Red Bull, which I quite liked.

I then decided to mock the room up in Opensim so I could play with the color scheme and arrangement of the office without breaking my back.

Here are some images so far.

The side of these walls is supposed to be hessian with some kind of lining underneath(like the left wall in the red bull pic), I checked hessian at Bunnings and it's around $5 per metre(1.8m wide) which seems affordable.

Some more images

2010-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

The room as it looks today....a bit of a mess! There are still some massive changes to happen, including paint, shelves, and new blinds(these ones are just up for security).

A workstation. This one features a Samsung Laptop from our previous project(Connected Lives), Logitech Alto keyboard stand and keyboard($98), Logitech mouse from previous project, Mouse pad($2), Screen platforms(black tubs, $2) and new 23 inch LG monitors ($175).

My projector collection which may or may not remain as part of the decor.

Project update

2010-12-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Current Thoughts

One of the issues that has required a lot of thought is what do we need in the room, and what don't we need.

For example, we have pretty much decided that the massive whiteboards we got hold of are useless. They are the past - we want the future, which is most likely something like lcd screens above each pair of pcs which allow the students to share their work with the group whenever they choose.

Likewise I had always planned to have a bunch of books(technology, fantasy, science fiction) for the kids to read and borrow. Whilst some of the young people will probably enjoy these, there is the possibility that for others they will be too old fashioned, and that a more suitable form of media might be a, ebook and games library, possibly entirely online.

Thinking about these issues has made it more clear that what we are looking to provide is very high speed internet, on high spec pcs, with top notch software(best windows, games, ebook accounts) and hardware (like mobile phones to keep in touch in between, lcd tvs and share drives to share work). This will give students access to an incredible range of online resources.

The key at the moment seems to be access.

I have called Telstra about getting a new phone line in for internet, it's $129 for installation which actually seems quite reasonable. I am hoping one line is enough, it might be better to have two, both with NakedADSL Connections.

The Name

I came up with the idea of A+(inspired by another Vichealth project) which Stefan likes, possibly in the form 'The A+ Club.' I am not so sure about the word club, and have sent the name to a couple of young people I work with to get their advice. One young man in particular I am hoping can advise us throughout this process, and another younger boy I work with shall be visiting the site soon to give us his (always) objective opinion. It would be great to have the young people involved somehow direct what was purchased for the space.

Good News
It seems like we lucked out a bit with our timing for this project, with our team at VU(headed by Stefan) being a small part of a successful CRC bid by the Inspire Foundation. This has opened up a wide range of new possibilities which we are keen to explore in the new year. In particular we are hoping to get help with the diagnosis and referral of the young people, which is an area we have no expertise in at all. Another area we require assistance with is probably research.
Stefan has also drafted a couple of well written emails explaining what we are aiming to do to all of his connections, and there seems to be a lot of interest.
Whilst it's easy to rent a space and fill it up with desks, chairs and computers, the other side of it at the moment seems to be keeping the level of interest and awareness of what we are doing up within the right circles, something which Stefan is great at.

Purchasing Equipment

We have purchased the following equipment so far;

4 X 23" LG Monitors - msy.com.au - $175 each - $700

4 X Logitech Alto Keyboards/Risers/Hubs - dicksmith.com.au - $100 each - $400

4 X Mousepad - discount store - $8

Water filter/cooler - kmart.com.au - $49 (has already been worth it after one week)

Kettle - kmart.com.au - $12

Fan - kmart.com.au - $12

Security System (I won't list the details here) - $200

Venetian Blinds - Rubbish Collection - FREE(Not so flash but good for security at the moment)

Powerboards and cords - kmart.com.au - $80

Odds and ends -approx $250

From home

Microwave

Printer

Office equipment, stationery

Security camera

Midi Keyboard, video camera with tripod, other electrical goods

Assorted Projectors (for decor, not sure if they suit yet or not)

Books

Clean!

2010-12-11T16:22:00.001-08:00

Current thoughts and items to hunt down include;

- Whether we need whiteboards or not, they seem pretty useless, we need lcds where the kids can share their work.

- Mounting the shelves on the walls either side somehow.

- Painting the steel cupboard and cabinet, perhaps dark red and dark orange, they look pretty drab at the moment.

- Blinds.

- Decals or paint for the walls. I like these ones.

- Rugs/carpet.

- Lots and lots of tech gear, lcds, monitors, laptop stands, keyboards, mice, network gear, power gear, and more I can't think of at the moment.

- Lamps(ideally one per table, so 6 at least).

- More decor - it's all still a bit boring.

- Security system.

- Kettle, mugs, cups, tea, coffee, water.

- Bar fridge.

- Stud finder and brackets.

- Internet.

Furnishing

2010-12-10T18:03:00.006-08:00

We then set about trying to get our hands on some cheap furniture.

I found the chairs below on gumtree.com.au. It was initially 11 conference chairs for $110($10 each) but when we met them and told them what it was for they offered us a few meeting chairs as well. All up we got 15 chairs for $100. Stefan and Craig helped pick them up and lug them upstairs(not an insignificant task, they were heavy).

I was feeling pretty awesome about that, when Stefan called and told me that Leonie at WERC had spoken to people at VU and there was the possibility of getting some free furniture from the VU furniture store.

I visited the store the following week, which was a massive old house on Geelong Road. Each room was stacked with the remnants of past uni offices, chairs, desks, cabinets, cupboards, shelves, almost everything we needed furniture wise.

We put in a big order the following week, and that Friday it all got delivered. The delivery took 5 guys and a whole lot of stuffing around due to our location, which is on a very busy corner.

I bought them beer as it seemed like the most helpful thing I could do late on a Friday afternoon(I am pretty weak).

So at the end of the week(the fourth since we decided to go for it) we had the following;

11 X conference chairs

4 X meeting chairs

3 X shelves/bookcases

1 X small buffet

2 X large whiteboards

1 X large grey steel cupboard

3 X drafting tables

1 X newer drafting table(different type)

3 X timber meeting tables

1 X small(2 door) filing cabinet

Total cost - $100 for the chairs, plus delivery charges for the rest(approx $300?) - so maybe $400 all up.

We have also spent a bit of money on incidentals;

- Cleaning and deodorising products - $20

- Vacuum cleaner - $49

- Tools (allen keys, screws, screwdriver, hooks, brackets) - $20

- Fan - $12

- 4 Bins - $10

A vacuum today has improved the room marginally, but we might need to consider some rugs.

The location

2010-11-16T17:43:00.000-08:00

We took a very advanced approach to finding a suitable location, we walked around knocking on doors asking anybody who would talk to us if they knew of any cheap and suitable locations.

I then came across an ad in a window for studio space in the Trocadero Artspace. After getting in contact we learnt that the guy in charge, Michael Brennan, also works for Footscray Community Arts, who have just formed a partnership with Victoria University.

I met with Michael the following week and he showed us a space which he had planned to split into three seperate artist studios. The rent is $210 per week. My business(Oztron) will pay this until we are able to get some funding.

The space is around 6m X 8m, with nice natural light from windows looking out onto Leeds St, one of the main drags in Footscray. It's upstairs and located behind the art gallery.

We were initially looking for a shopfront, more in the style of 826 Valencia, however there are several benefits to this space.

- We don't have to make a shop or 'front' for the learning space.

- The gallery has a great atmosphere and is a nice way for the kids to be welcomed. The art in the gallery is quite different and I think it might help the kids feel more comfortable about whatever they are into.

- It's upstairs, and wont get any walk-ins, which we don't need, and would probably just be a bit of a pain for us when we are working during the day. All of our kids will come through agencies.

Below is a rough floor plan for the office.

A few key ideas in the design;

- Everybody has the same space and equipment to work with. There is no teachers chair or single focal point.

- LCD screens on the walls enable students to share their work with others.

- The parents have a small area to the side where they can sit and wait for their children. This will double as a meeting area for us.

Stefan sends an email out to some of our colleagues

2010-11-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Here is an email Stefan sent to several colleagues regarding our ideas.

I’m emailing to let you know about an idea that Dale and I are pursuing that has arisen from our Connected Lives project, and wanted to get your feedback and thoughts. I’m copying a blurb that I’ve been sending to a few people about the project, as follows.

Our proposed project is to set up a drop-in centre in Footscray for young people with AspergersSyndrome, especially those from other cultures. This centre would be modelled on the Dave Eggers ‘826 Valencia’ project (http://www.826valencia.org/, or here for the TED video:http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html ). We would like to establish a centre close to transport and readily identifiable where:

· Dale’s technology company Oztron can be based – this company does web and virtual world development

· Young people with Aspergers can drop in at specified times to do projects, meet each other and learn technology and media skills from Dale and other Oztron volunteers

· We create something relevant and interesting at the front of the premises, possibly a computer museum

· Teaching students from VU can undertake work experience

· We provide paths to advocacy for young people with Aspergers

There is a huge demand for this , particularly in the West of Melbourne (see:http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/autistic-students-in-west-miss-out-20101026-172dx.html). As you know, we have found through our work (and something that has been well documented in the literature) that:

· many young people with Aspergers gravitate to technology;

· structured online environments allow these young people to develop their social skills in a mediated way

We have also found in our work that:

· one-on-one mentoring seems to work particularly well with these young people, especially with mentors who are highly technically adept

· the chance to meet others with Aspergers has made a huge difference to their lives – isolation is a big factor

· young people with Aspergers from ethnic backgrounds are particularly disadvantaged because their parents often do not know how to negotiate the complex government, education and health conditions that accompany this disability

· the problem is severe. These young people are truly ‘fish out of water’, and half of the young people with Aspergers we’ve worked with have attempted suicide in the past. Despite the funding they are given, schools often have trouble knowing what to do with these young people, and they end up being shunted inappropriately into classes with kids with other kinds of disabilities, including those who are low-functioning

We already possess most of the elements needed to make such a drop in centre happen, including:

· a bank of laptops, Telstra-supported wireless broadband accounts, digital video cameras and other gear

· support from the VU School of Education, who are willing to provide pre-service teachers on work experience

· the computers to create a computer museum.

All we really need to sort out is the space and a small amount of coordination, which we’re currently working on. Oztron is also willing to contribute to any rental expenses. Based on the 826 Valencia project, the space will need to be out of the usual institutional environments for kids to feel comfortable in going, and will need to be close to public transport, as we expect many disadvantaged young people from other areas to also attend.

Be interested to hear thoughts you may have.

Regards,

Stefan

The initial plan

2010-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Background

In 2009 and 2010 the Connected Lives Project investigated how technologies such as virtual worlds, the Internet and free software (video and image processing, comic making etc) impacts on the social connectedness and well-being of young Victorians living with multiple layers of disadvantage, particularly disability and geographical, cultural and socio-economic factors.

Throughout this period we discovered what people with Asperger's and their famillies already know - there are very few resources available for this community group.

During our program we had success in two ways;

- Firstly by bringing the young people together, and simple allowing them to meet others with similar minds and interests.

- Secondly by giving the young people access to technologies such as computers, internet access and video cameras, we allowed them to explore their own (often intense) interests and communicate their ideas with clarity and confidence.

The Rough Plan

The idea behind the Asperger's project is to provide a real world location particularly designed for young people with Asperger's Syndrome.

Current plans include the following;

- two or three free after school sessions, from 3.30pm-6.00pm on weekdays

- computers, internet access, and other associated technologies such as video cameras

- an embedded technology company sharing the space who will assist with students and act as mentors

- a shared 'virtual space' which would enable other youth with Asperger's from around the country or world to virtually attend sessions and collaborate on projects. This space would be developed by the kids themself.

- volunteer students from schools like MGS

- volunteer teachers from schools like VU

- a parent support officer on hand to counsel and support the parents

The Location

We are currently scouting locations which would suit the project.

The following is our wish list;

- In Footscray, within walking distance of the station

- A shop front in the style of 826 Valencia - http://www.826valencia.org/