Building just isn't a priority anymore

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

The parents on our team think otherwise.

I too have worked with kids with autism and similar disorders and I agree with Adam. It is sometimes insulting to let things slide and I definitely would disagree with a parent who thinks otherwise.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

If we try to do this sort of thing to them, they can essentially sue us for discrimination, or worse, have the team broken up!

They can always sue you for anything; suing and winning is the tricky part. Besides, although it's not quite clear-cut, the odds are very good you can't personally be held liable, even if you did personally discriminate on the basis of a medical condition. Employment law doesn't apply because you're not an employer, you're not an agent of the state so you have no constitutional duty not to discriminate, and you're presumably a minor. (Your teachers and school administrators, on the other hand, have more limited protections—but I do know that in California, some state agents are shielded from personal liability in the course of their work.)

So I think a reasonable policy, equitably applied, would be at virtually no risk of exposing you to liability, even if it was necessary to treat the autistic students somewhat differently. (There might be grounds for striking it down, if it was official school policy.)

Unfortunately, whether the team breaks up or not is an administrative decision at some level. That's certainly something to be concerned about, if you believe that those in positions of power would not side with you.

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

They can always sue you for anything; suing and winning is the tricky part. Besides, although it's not quite clear-cut, the odds are very good you can't personally be held liable, even if you did personally discriminate on the basis of a medical condition. Employment law doesn't apply because you're not an employer, you're not an agent of the state so you have no constitutional duty not to discriminate, and you're presumably a minor. (Your teachers and school administrators, on the other hand, have more limited protections—but I do know that in California, some state agents are shielded from personal liability in the course of their work.)

So I think a reasonable policy, equitably applied, would be at virtually no risk of exposing you to liability, even if it was necessary to treat the autistic students somewhat differently. (There might be grounds for striking it down, if it was official school policy.)

Unfortunately, whether the team breaks up or not is an administrative decision at some level. That's certainly something to be concerned about, if you believe that those in positions of power would not side with you.

It's not me I'm worried about, I'm safe. It's the team I'm worried for. Some of these people are nice, intelligent students, who benefit our team greatly. It's just that there are a few that don't do anything, and make us look like a bad team. Even worse, they invite their friends over, who don't want to do robotics, and end up using our computers to play minecraft the whole day. This has meant a major loss of productivity over this past year, and it made our already small building room seem more crowded.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

It's just that there are a few that don't do anything, and make us look like a bad team. Even worse, they invite their friends over, who don't want to do robotics, and end up using our computers to play minecraft the whole day. This has meant a major loss of productivity over this past year, and it made our already small building room seem more crowded.

That's somewhat of an easier problem to solve:

Make sure there's a team policy that team computers are ONLY for TEAM use, or for use on TEAM stuff (CAD, programming, marketing, that sort of thing). (Schoolwork use, too.) Games don't count as a team activity unless expressly given permission.

That will keep the computers clear, or allow non-essential uses to be stopped any time something essential needs doing; it may get the non-robotics students out of the area; it may also deal with any "slackers" on the team.

[DonRotolo]

We have a strict "no gaming" policy during work hours. We enforce it reasonably well - not perfect, but we call it out when we see it (and we do look for it).

[Chexposito]

get the entire room on one Ethernet connection, then if they are gaming or not being productive, pull the plug. this usually clears out the room within a few min.

[plnyyanks]

we only give out wifi to those who absolutely need it, all others have to use an ethernet connection or a team computer. we find this keeps unproductive things at bay without sacrificing productivity

[Tassemet]

Originally Posted by Imperium283

This is one of the most reasonable ones most of all. I wish our team had that tone, that building is the priority, but we don't know how to set that tone. And when we try, it backfires on us socially

To be totally honest, we were a hardcore team that spent any spare time we had holed up with a laptop or the robot. We made it as far as we could considering the resources we had, it's unfortunate we didn't have more time. And, for a small team that basically taught oursevles robotics with no sponsors and a mentor who was learning with us, we did a hella good job.

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

We have a strict "no gaming" policy during work hours. We enforce it reasonably well - not perfect, but we call it out when we see it (and we do look for it).

We allowed it seeing as how the programmers would sit bored for hourrrrrs while the engineers fixed something. Then when the programming came, 2 second fix and they went back to magic or minecraft.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Tassemet

We allowed it seeing as how the programmers would sit bored for hourrrrrs while the engineers fixed something. Then when the programming came, 2 second fix and they went back to magic or minecraft.

That means that you weren't giving the programmers enough to do. Have them develop the skeleton of yet another automode if you have to--but if you're allowing gaming, and non-team members are taking advantage of that (as well as team members), then you may need to impose it--and find something else for the programmers to do while they wait.

Originally Posted by Tassemet

We allowed it seeing as how the programmers would sit bored for hourrrrrs while the engineers fixed something. Then when the programming came, 2 second fix and they went back to magic or minecraft.

There are times when our programmers do have free time (which I don't see why there would be, unless they can do their work in less than 6 weeks). During this "Free time", they play some games until they're needed. Our programmers are for the most part responsible, and in the end get their work done. One of the major problems here is while they're responsible and do their work, the games distract everyone else, making the team unproductive.

So while your programmers somehow have hourrrrrs of free time, I can tell you from experience that sometimes it's best to cut the games for the team's sake, and for the sake of productivity. Anyways, they're programmers for robot's sake! Tell them to go outside for once!

Bro tip: Tell them outside has really good graphics!

[Laaba 80]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

There are times when our programmers do have free time (which I don't see why there would be, unless they can do their work in less than 6 weeks). During this "Free time", they play some games until they're needed. Our programmers are for the most part responsible, and in the end get their work done. One of the major problems here is while they're responsible and do their work, the games distract everyone else, making the team unproductive.

So while your programmers somehow have hourrrrrs of free time, I can tell you from experience that sometimes it's best to cut the games for the team's sake, and for the sake of productivity. Anyways, they're programmers for robot's sake! Tell them to go outside for once!

Bro tip: Tell them outside has really good graphics!

You seem to be underestimating the job of the programmers.

For the past few years our programmers have had all the code written, waiting to be tested before the robot is completed. This was the case my senior year. I needed to test my code, and one of our lead builders kept telling me it would be done in 1 hour. Well that hour turned into about 10, so I ended up sitting there waiting.

You can also say play with a spare CRIO, but there is only so much that can be done on something that isnt the actual robot.

Programming is unlike building, because sometimes something wont work, and all it takes is to add a ; as opposed to building a new part for the robot. At the same time, something that should be an easy fix can take hours because you miss that ; or added an extra one.

As a programmer it is very possible to have free time, yet I still probably would not have been playing games. Have them research what other teams are doing, or talk about game strategy. If they know that they have nothing to work on that day, just tell them not to show up.

[Techhexium]

Having read the last several posts about programmers, I find that programmers can have multiple roles for the team, or do things related to FIRST that isn't exclusive to programming, like strategy, scouting or programming software like scouting apps (or try to get Sundial working for your team)

Also, having mechanical knowledge of the robot can help because it can be of use when you are deciding how to place the electronics or sensors on the robot.

Despite the glut of leisure programmers may get, it's still very easy to get off-task.

[Tassemet]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

There are times when our programmers do have free time (which I don't see why there would be, unless they can do their work in less than 6 weeks). During this "Free time", they play some games until they're needed. Our programmers are for the most part responsible, and in the end get their work done. One of the major problems here is while they're responsible and do their work, the games distract everyone else, making the team unproductive.

So while your programmers somehow have hourrrrrs of free time, I can tell you from experience that sometimes it's best to cut the games for the team's sake, and for the sake of productivity. Anyways, they're programmers for robot's sake! Tell them to go outside for once!

Bro tip: Tell them outside has really good graphics!

To be totally honest they had the code already ready to run before we even got into the build session. I'm talking FTC so hang with me But we had the same issues with one hour becoming ten and them waiting is not a good thing. To be totally honest as well, these were the kids who couldn't advance any further programming wise in a high school setting, as the three we had already were making their own games and using programming to do whatever they wanted/needed. I mean these guys finished AP classes worth of programming in 3/4 the time required to do it( since ap programming is self paced at our school) so the games were there to keep them occupied. Nowm that didn't distract the rest of us, because the rest of us were worried about the next bloody finger (yeah guilty) and getting our building part done on time.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Tassemet

We allowed it seeing as how the programmers would sit bored for hourrrrrs while the engineers fixed something. Then when the programming came, 2 second fix and they went back to magic or minecraft.

Your next major purchases need to be a kitbot and a cRIO. (Even better if you've got spare cRIO-based robots lying around.) That will give the programmers something interesting to play with, which also happens to benefit the team. Induce them to go wild with the spare robot, and build their skills that way.

[JuliaGreen]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

I agree with this, but our team has an issue with this. You see, around 50% of our team is autistic, which for the most part is a very good thing, as they are bright and help a lot, but the problem is, with their autism comes some difficulties. One of them is that they don't/can't work on something very long or don't ever show up to practice, and the second one is a few of them don't like the idea of "Gracious Professionalism", and try to drive the robot like a battle bot while being extremely rude to our alliance members and the judges. If we try to do this sort of thing to them, they can essentially sue us for discrimination, or worse, have the team broken up!

Some of the points you bring up here about the difficulties of working with team members with autism is directly related to the autism itself. People with autism have an extremely difficult time understanding gracious professionalism - because gracious professionalism is all about the situation and how you respond to a certain situation. What is gracious professionalism in one situation is different in another situation because of other factors that are present but invisible.

Those who are socially aware can implement a flexible response. Those who are not socially aware due to autism don't even know a response is required, so where the socially aware person is expecting a reciprocal response, the person with autism is unaware a response is expected. Some of us neurotypical types think of this a rudeness.

Those with autism can also experience trouble with staying on task, due to a low tolerance for frustration or a higher than normal level of distractibility.

However, these members do bring a benefit to your team in their intelligence and willingness to help you. It sounds like you need help - so ask the school social worker or a special ed teacher to help you help the persons with autism. They can give you specific ways to "call out" the behaviors that can help the person with autism interact with you, judges, alliance partners in a different way and increase their social awareness.

Autism is a disability when viewed through the lens of the neurotypical - but is also one of the most interesting and fascinating forays into how the human brain works.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions about working with people on the autism spectrum -

Julia - Mom to one of the coolest kids with autism.