30 Days of Autism Acceptance Challenge - Day 5: Special Interests
Apr 8, 2019
My special interests change over time, but here's a few that have stuck with me for years:
- Yo-Yos
While I don't throw much anymore, I
am still fascinated and enjoy yo-yos. I even still have a Hyper
Yo-Yo case with nearly all of my yo-yos in it; my favorites include
the Spintastics TigerShark, Henry's Viper, Yomega's Raider, and
Bandai's Hyper Russell (a copy of the original Russell yo-yos,
great at looping with a wooden axle). I still keep up on
maintenance for them, and when I have the time and the inclination
I will explore the current state of yo-yos and might even pick up
some new ones.
- Linux and FOSS
(Free/Open-Source Software)
This was borne from a frustration
with Windows and the unacceptable amount of maintenance one had to
do to prevent problems and avoid major disasters, and it
specifically came about while running Vista. I first learned about
Linux when I was in college, and was first introduced to Red Hat.
With some research and a few live distributions on DVD (Linux isn't
a monolithic operating system - there's literally thousands of
adaptations, called distributions, created for a variety of tasks
and purposes, even just for fun), I eventually migrated over to
using Linux full time on all my devices.
What I love about Linux is the
control it gives me; I can literally change everything about the
operating system if I so choose. I am not locked out of anything,
and it stays out of my way. Currently I'm running Linux Mint on my
main computer, Peppermint OS on my portable laptop, and I've got a
simple NAS box running OpenMediaVault on a Raspberry Pi. At some
point I might move to an Arch-based distribution, but for now I
will stick with what I know.
- Assistive
Technology
Even though I'm not nearly as
involved as I used to be, I'm still very passionate about
affordable AT devices, at one point advocating for such in the FOSS
community. AT devices are incredibly and unnecessarily expensive,
with costs ballooning to four figures and more, for what the
specifications amount to a smartphone from 3-5 years ago. It's part
of what I described as the Confinement Cycle, where a disabled
person wants to live independently - but needs a job. So they need
assistive technology in order to do the job; but the job refuses to
pay for it, and unless the disabled person sues, that's highly
unlikely to happen. The disabled person has to pay for it
themselves - but depending on insurance, they may not be able to
afford it. So how to get the money to pay for a device needed to
obtain a job for the cash to get the device?
No one seems to have an easy answer, and it's become even more difficult as government programs have been cut.
Mobile devices can be an answer at times, but due to the way apps are handled by the two main smartphone/tablet OS providers, the cost is still significant - and in a number of cases, if the app stores deem the app to be in violation of their terms and conditions (or the just feel the need to pull the app), they can remove the app from the person's device. It's happened before, and I have no doubt it will happen again.
FOSS and Linux are great foundations for future assistive technology, in terms of customization and in cost. Making that case - and changing the AT industry - will take monumental efforts.
- Leo Jones