Your Pilot might be an Aspie

While reflecting on successful people in certain specialized careers, it occurred to me that Aspie traits can be very helpful there--for example trained pilots follow checklists religiously. I think of Monica's uncle who is a pilot, following every line item on that checklist every time, lest he skip it one time when it was important! The pre-flight, flight and post-flight manuals are literally stacks of these algorithms and checklists.

Since aviation is inherently risky, these checklists have to be written with no ambiguity and with tangible, measurable results. So it dawned on me that Ian might like using checklists.

So, I decided to try an experiment one after school. As Ian settled, I scribbled out a list of tasks with suggestions and examples of each and a specific time due for each task:

3:15pm  Arrive Home
3:20pm  Unpack Backpack
3:25pm  Change out of uniform
3:30pm  Have snack e.g. apple
3:40pm  Wash lunch tubs and waterbottle
3:45pm  Music--play bassoon
4:15pm  Exercise e.g. Hip Hop routine or Wii Dance
4:45pm  Play, invite Aria to participate
6:00pm  Dinner

The list removed the snarky, forgetfulness, arguments, and instead, fostered a responsible and proud Ian.

I still tend to task-bomb Ian by adding or changing his routine on a whim, so I illicit the groans, but I now have a small notepad on the coffee table to facilitate amendments to the checklist...

~ Shien