hitchhikers & virtuals

I think I mentioned this in another thread. I'm going to Minnesota in a couple of weeks and I can take travel bugs if anyone wants to hand one off. I did get one from Lisbon today that wants to go to other continents. Drofrockology will be in Minnesota at the same time so he can snag some and take them back to Nevada with him. I live in Auburn. If everyone's not askeert of me now!:p

On the subject of virtuals, I had my son home with me this past weekend. I signed him up as terribleToo. He lives in Gardiner in a group home/workshop with a housedad and 4 other men who have autism. They build birdhouses for a living. I took him to a traditional cache and he hated it, but couldn't get enough virtuals! He loves to ride anyway, and jumping out to run up to a landmark and point out the answers, then coming home to email the people, was right up his alley. He doesn't speak, but he likes to type. He blew through 5 grandfathered ones over the weekend and even walked with me to a cemetery near our house to gather information for a future one that we can post. For a change he forgot to act like I was taking him on a forced march or trying to creep him out with grave markers. So I signed us up on Waymarking.com and I told his housedad about this fantastic new obsession, so the other guys can do it too. They are planning a 6-week motorhome trip and this will be a good way to get lots of stops in.

Are you going to be at the Mt. Agawhatchamacallit event? That would be a good chance to pick up some TB's. I have a TB that wants to go to Arizona.
I was going to drop in in Canada tomorrow (:eek: ) but if I can help it along...

:D :D

I'm scheduled for the MPBN TV auction on the 29th. Maybe someone coming back through Lewiston that night could drop it off at the studio?

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Originally Posted by enfanTerrible

I'm scheduled for the MPBN TV auction on the 29th. Maybe someone coming back through Lewiston that night could drop it off at the studio?

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Do the exchange on the air... free geo-publicity. :D

I'm representing Eastern Star the 29th but there's always this Saturday the 22nd... or one of you guys could volunteer your pretty face!

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Originally Posted by enfanTerrible

On the subject of virtuals, I had my son home with me this past weekend. I signed him up as terribleToo. He lives in Gardiner in a group home/workshop with a housedad and 4 other men who have autism. They build birdhouses for a living. I took him to a traditional cache and he hated it, but couldn't get enough virtuals! He loves to ride anyway, and jumping out to run up to a landmark and point out the answers, then coming home to email the people, was right up his alley. He doesn't speak, but he likes to type. He blew through 5 grandfathered ones over the weekend and even walked with me to a cemetery near our house to gather information for a future one that we can post. For a change he forgot to act like I was taking him on a forced march or trying to creep him out with grave markers. So I signed us up on Waymarking.com and I told his housedad about this fantastic new obsession, so the other guys can do it too. They are planning a 6-week motorhome trip and this will be a good way to get lots of stops in.

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This is awesome!! I am so glad to hear that there is such enjoyment from them.

I have a secret confession . . . I like virtuals. I know, I know . . . some folks think they are too easy or aren't that great since there is no log or actual cache container, but I have to tell you that I've been to some truly great places where it really wouldn't have been possible to have traditional caches.

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Originally Posted by enfanTerrible

I think I mentioned this in another thread. I'm going to Minnesota in a couple of weeks and I can take travel bugs if anyone wants to hand one off. I did get one from Lisbon today that wants to go to other continents. Drofrockology will be in Minnesota at the same time so he can snag some and take them back to Nevada with him. I live in Auburn. If everyone's not askeert of me now!:p

On the subject of virtuals, I had my son home with me this past weekend. I signed him up as terribleToo. He lives in Gardiner in a group home/workshop with a housedad and 4 other men who have autism. They build birdhouses for a living. I took him to a traditional cache and he hated it, but couldn't get enough virtuals! He loves to ride anyway, and jumping out to run up to a landmark and point out the answers, then coming home to email the people, was right up his alley. He doesn't speak, but he likes to type. He blew through 5 grandfathered ones over the weekend and even walked with me to a cemetery near our house to gather information for a future one that we can post. For a change he forgot to act like I was taking him on a forced march or trying to creep him out with grave markers. So I signed us up on Waymarking.com and I told his housedad about this fantastic new obsession, so the other guys can do it too. They are planning a 6-week motorhome trip and this will be a good way to get lots of stops in.

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I know it's a bit out of the way, but you and your son might like to check my Out of the Ashes cache sometime . . . it uses the idea of a virtual cache as you need to get info from one place to figure the coords for the physical cache located at another place. I thought of this cache in particular because the three children that lost their lives to this fire also happened to be autistic.

Glad to hear someone else is having fun with virtuals! I can see why they got their own site though.

The triplets' Uncle Jim in Minot is a good friend of mine so John knows about the little boys. We'll have a good talk before we go, because he's very affected by sad things. Not being able to speak makes it very hard to deal with feelings, especially if it hits when he's at work with someone who can't facilitate his typing.

We recently met a mother and son who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The son, Bill, is verbal - not autistic but has some developmental issues - and Bill lost 2 good friends, autistic brothers who drowned at home with their parents. John had a good cry with Bill and then painted some slates to auction on eBay, and gave the money to a Louisiana charity that was helping autistic people recover from the storms. He understands that this is a condition that can sometimes make it hard for you to react safely in a bad situation. (Though the drowning was the result of a fateful decision on the parents' part, and they lost their lives as well)

http://www.kathyannscottage.com/johnslate3.JPG

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Originally Posted by enfanTerrible

Glad to hear someone else is having fun with virtuals! I can see why they got their own site though.

The triplets' Uncle Jim in Minot is a good friend of mine so John knows about the little boys. We'll have a good talk before we go, because he's very affected by sad things. Not being able to speak makes it very hard to deal with feelings, especially if it hits when he's at work with someone who can't facilitate his typing.

We recently met a mother and son who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The son, Bill, is verbal - not autistic but has some developmental issues - and Bill lost 2 good friends, autistic brothers who drowned at home with their parents. John had a good cry with Bill and then painted some slates to auction on eBay, and gave the money to a Louisiana charity that was helping autistic people recover from the storms. He understands that this is a condition that can sometimes make it hard for you to react safely in a bad situation. (Though the drowning was the result of a fateful decision on the parents' part, and they lost their lives as well)

http://www.kathyannscottage.com/johnslate3.JPG

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Thanks for sharing . . . it's posts like this that remind me why I enjoy coming here and checking out things and "talking" to other geocachers so much.

And for what it's worth . . . I still tear up some when I think of that January night.

So do I, when I think of those 3 babies hiding.

our outreach worker at special children's friends did a presentation to the gouldsboro fire dept (along with other town first responders) about how to deal with special needs kids (especially autistic) in an emergency. the presentation was so successful that she and her "team" was invited to the hancock county firemen's annual meeting. it was standing room only when they did their presentation. autistic kids will run, hide and not respond to their names. many of these first responders did not know this fact. i think it was an eye opener for them.

I also recently learned that folks with autism and alzheimers don't emit the scent other folks do when they are afraid. So search and rescue dogs don't have anything to track because they are usually trained to trace the scent of fear. I guess there is special training that can be done, but becasue of budget and time issues it isn't done in lots of parts of the state.

Wow, that's one I hadn't heard. Kind of interesting.

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Originally Posted by we3beans

I also recently learned that folks with autism and alzheimers don't emit the scent other folks do when they are afraid. So search and rescue dogs don't have anything to track because they are usually trained to trace the scent of fear. I guess there is special training that can be done, but becasue of budget and time issues it isn't done in lots of parts of the state.

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I kind of question this at a first read, but admittedly my knowledge of S & R dogs is limited.

I would question this since I wonder if "fear" truly has a unique smell . . . I mean I suppose people who are fearful are releasing more hormones and endorphins such as adrenaline which may accentuate their unique smell, but I'm guessing that most people who get lost don't start out fearful (i.e. the curious kid who wanders into the woods, the boy scout who wanders off trail, the senior with dementia that wanders into the woods near his home, etc.)

If I had to hazard a guess I would think that the dogs are trained to track a person's particular scent (often from a recently worn item of clothing) and that the dogs would be able to narrow down their search in an ideal situation when those bodily smells are accentuated by the hormones (both the "good" (think when you are wicked happy and having a great time) and the "bad" (think fear, hatred, anger, etc.) hormones that would be produced in any emotional event.) If this were the case I would also suppose that someone who did not exhibit a high level of these hormones (such as fear due to someone who has autism or Alzheimers or some other type of mental impairment . . . or even someone who simply is not showing high levels of fear, enjoyment, etc.) would be harder to track.

it was my understanding that it was the loose flesh that the dogs smell, your body is loosing skin cells 24/7 (with you smell attatched) (ever look at the air filters in the cieling of store or resturaunt... and they're filthy... over 45% human skin...) and it is the trail of scent (left by your skin) that they follow. I know my skin information is accurate, but I too am not very knowledgeable of S&R dogs.

`course, there's no mental impairment with autism - very smart person but can't act on it sometimes.

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Originally Posted by enfanTerrible

`course, there's no mental impairment with autism - very smart person but can't act on it sometimes.

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the kids in our program (ages 2 to 5) are really smart. they are really funny, too. none of them lack a sense of humor. they are most lacking in the socialization and communication aspects.