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February 26, 2010 11:17 AM Subscribe
Resources in NYC for a strongly Aspergers teenager to start learning about software development?
I'm asking on behalf of a relative of mine.
He's fourteen years old. It's obvious within a few minutes of meeting him that he is pretty far along the autism spectrum; this is well-diagnosed, he's enrolled in the special programs and getting the behavioral therapy and all of that. He's showing a lot of interest in computers, and his therapists have suggested to his mother that learning to write code might be a positive activity for him, both in terms of playing to his strengths now, and as a possible way for him to support himself later on. His therapists, and his mother, know nothing at all about software development -- the actual request was "can someone teach him to 'do computers'". So they've asked me, the resident nerd in the family, for suggestions.
I can easily come up with ideas about what languages or dev environments would probably work better for him than others. What I can't figure out is how to get him started. Self-taught isn't going to do it, at least to begin with; he needs external structure. Enrolling in a community college COMP101 or the like isn't going to do it either; he pretty much needs one-on-one instruction from someone who understands autism. (I'm very much under-qualified on that front, and live too far away to even try, so that's out as an option as well.)
It seems like something of the sort must be available, at least in a large city, but I've no idea where to even begin looking... any ideas?
I'm asking on behalf of a relative of mine.
He's fourteen years old. It's obvious within a few minutes of meeting him that he is pretty far along the autism spectrum; this is well-diagnosed, he's enrolled in the special programs and getting the behavioral therapy and all of that. He's showing a lot of interest in computers, and his therapists have suggested to his mother that learning to write code might be a positive activity for him, both in terms of playing to his strengths now, and as a possible way for him to support himself later on. His therapists, and his mother, know nothing at all about software development -- the actual request was "can someone teach him to 'do computers'". So they've asked me, the resident nerd in the family, for suggestions.
I can easily come up with ideas about what languages or dev environments would probably work better for him than others. What I can't figure out is how to get him started. Self-taught isn't going to do it, at least to begin with; he needs external structure. Enrolling in a community college COMP101 or the like isn't going to do it either; he pretty much needs one-on-one instruction from someone who understands autism. (I'm very much under-qualified on that front, and live too far away to even try, so that's out as an option as well.)
It seems like something of the sort must be available, at least in a large city, but I've no idea where to even begin looking... any ideas?
Books are quite helpful. If he knows nothing about computer programming, why not start with The Little Schemer, and work up from there? With a good understanding of the basics, it's easy to fill in the details as needed.
I think the key to being successful in the programming world is the ability to self-teach. There is always going to be a new language / library / API to learn that you need to know to solve your problems, and there isn't always going to be someone around to teach you. (Well, there might be, but it's expensive. Most trainers I know charge around $10,000 for a two or three day class.)
Maybe autism precludes self-teaching; I don't know. I just know that everyone successful in this field is eager to learn and to teach themselves.
posted by jrockway at 12:33 PM on February 26, 2010
I think the key to being successful in the programming world is the ability to self-teach. There is always going to be a new language / library / API to learn that you need to know to solve your problems, and there isn't always going to be someone around to teach you. (Well, there might be, but it's expensive. Most trainers I know charge around $10,000 for a two or three day class.)
Maybe autism precludes self-teaching; I don't know. I just know that everyone successful in this field is eager to learn and to teach themselves.
posted by jrockway at 12:33 PM on February 26, 2010
Response by poster: I'm in the industry, and self-taught, so I hear you, jrockway -- and I'm hopeful that once he's got some grounding in the basics he'll be able to carry on from there. But at least at the beginning I feel certain he's going to need a more structured environment than just a book and a command line will provide.
Putting out an ad is a possibility, I guess, but seems like a little bit of a crapshoot... It just seemed like an obvious and common career path for autism-spectrum people, so I was hopeful there'd be some program specializing in this sort of thing -- I'm really surprised his school doesn't seem to offer anything along these lines, and I'm not having much luck digging up anything elsewhere.
posted by ook at 1:30 PM on February 26, 2010
Putting out an ad is a possibility, I guess, but seems like a little bit of a crapshoot... It just seemed like an obvious and common career path for autism-spectrum people, so I was hopeful there'd be some program specializing in this sort of thing -- I'm really surprised his school doesn't seem to offer anything along these lines, and I'm not having much luck digging up anything elsewhere.
posted by ook at 1:30 PM on February 26, 2010
What school does he go to? The Summit school in Queens has some computer classes but I don't know if they teach programming.
posted by Obscure Reference at 2:04 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by Obscure Reference at 2:04 PM on February 26, 2010
Summit does teach programming. My cousin goes there.
posted by dfriedman at 3:46 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by dfriedman at 3:46 PM on February 26, 2010
Best answer: But only to enrolled students.
They could call the autism program at Mt. Sinai (they have social skills group for kids with Aspergers -- not programming -- but they could ask if they know of anything). Also the JCC in Manhattan has some activities for kids "on the spectrum." (Jewish Community Center, I think). Also NYU Child Study Center has some resources for Asperger's kids. Also there are websites with all sorts of resources for kids with aspergers/autism.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:31 PM on February 26, 2010
They could call the autism program at Mt. Sinai (they have social skills group for kids with Aspergers -- not programming -- but they could ask if they know of anything). Also the JCC in Manhattan has some activities for kids "on the spectrum." (Jewish Community Center, I think). Also NYU Child Study Center has some resources for Asperger's kids. Also there are websites with all sorts of resources for kids with aspergers/autism.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:31 PM on February 26, 2010
Are we talking Aspergers or full-blown Autism? As others here have said, the key to programming is self-directed learning, and us aspies are generally pretty damn good at that if we're interested in the material. If your relative is interested in programming and discovers an aptitude for it, all you need to do is give them beginning materials and let them go at it.
A first-year computer science textbook might be a place to start, or more likely the MIT Open Courseware. There are plenty of "teach yourself X in Y days" books that might work, though many are crap, they can be a good jumping-off point. Would working through an online course or book provide sufficient structure to get them going?
I'm assuming here that you can set up a development environment for them...
posted by polyglot at 8:39 PM on February 26, 2010
A first-year computer science textbook might be a place to start, or more likely the MIT Open Courseware. There are plenty of "teach yourself X in Y days" books that might work, though many are crap, they can be a good jumping-off point. Would working through an online course or book provide sufficient structure to get them going?
I'm assuming here that you can set up a development environment for them...
posted by polyglot at 8:39 PM on February 26, 2010
Does he like video games? There's a bunch of modding scenes that teach coding to varying degrees that are a pretty good gateway. I got my start on zzt in the early nineties. Now there's unreal, oblivion, gta, quake, etc.etc.etc.
posted by beardlace at 5:26 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by beardlace at 5:26 PM on February 27, 2010
You may (not) be surprised to learn that there are a high number of people with an autism spectrum disorder in the programming world.
IMO, the group with the most community spirit in regards to learning, and one I've observed a number of Aspergers people in as friends, has been the Free/Open Source communities... Those built around Linux and Unix and free love and sourcecode:P
So why not try NYCLUG, the New York City Linux User Group? If they don't know any program, perhaps one or more of them would be willing to help, or give pointers at the very least. Again, you might have to personally vet someone, but it's worth a shot.
posted by Quadlex at 8:00 PM on February 28, 2010
IMO, the group with the most community spirit in regards to learning, and one I've observed a number of Aspergers people in as friends, has been the Free/Open Source communities... Those built around Linux and Unix and free love and sourcecode:P
So why not try NYCLUG, the New York City Linux User Group? If they don't know any program, perhaps one or more of them would be willing to help, or give pointers at the very least. Again, you might have to personally vet someone, but it's worth a shot.
posted by Quadlex at 8:00 PM on February 28, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Other than that, maybe you can set up some sort of video chat with your relative to help him out?
posted by movicont at 12:03 PM on February 26, 2010