Programs

 

I write this at 30,000 ft headed to the final INDYCAR race of the year. I’ve been thinking heavily on the divide post from yesterday and I’ve been hung up on what the difference is. I know my Alias concept I put forth in my book Finding Kansas, but what is it and how can I explain it? After much thought, I have my answer.

            Kansas is critical. My book was titled after the concept, and it’s the core of my being. Within the borders, all is known. Okay, but what outside of that becomes difficult? Why is there the divide? Living life on the autism spectrum is a black and white world. It’s all or nothing, which means there’s either extreme proficiency, or there’s none. True, there may be none, but why is the realm outside Kansas so hard to navigate? The answer is within my cement theory.

            Cement Theory is based on the data that the earlier individuals on the autism spectrum get support, the faster the rate of growth is. I use the imagery of a patio poured outside a home. If some teenager comes and scribbles “So and so loves so and so” in the middle of the night pouring, the next morning it may still be wet enough to smooth it over. If you see it a week from Thursday, it’ll take a whole lot more work to get it the way you want it.

            How does two seemingly unrelated concepts coincide with each other? It goes back to the all or nothing system. When I’m within Kansas, things make sense, and the world becomes smaller. When the world is smaller the mathematical possibilities of what could occur decrease greatly. This limits the amount of processing that must occur which then finally allows my brain to learn and grow within the environment and eventually a program is formed.

            Program? Yes, I noticed over the weekend that the things I’m good at and excel at are all based in repetition. Through repetition a program is formed much like a program on a computer that knows exactly what must occur and when. And, because I’m not thinking about the external things that must occur because they are ingrained, my ability to communicate while working at the job increases more than you can imagine and only few have seen.

            My takeaway from this is that the concept of Kansas is even more important than I first thought all those years ago because, when one is within Kansas, the skills outside of the borders of Kansas can grow. This doesn’t mean things are going to be come easy, but growth will happen. There will still be times where The Divide feels impossible, and the chasm between Kansas and not stretches beyond what the eye can see, but the understanding of this could make it to where it doesn’t seem as impossible as before.

            Secondly, all the repetition I’ve done in my life going all the way back to when I was young, was a way I was writing programs in my brain. Yes, there does need to be branching out to create new programs, but without a core program it could be difficult to find that sweet spot of growth.