
For Autistic Boys, the NYC Subway Is Actually Soothing - rustcharm
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/nyregion/autistic-or-spectrum-boys-and-the-subway.html#
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fenwick67
I'm on the spectrum, and airports, subways, ferrys and train stations have
always been fun for me.

Part of it is that there are some clear, actionable goals and direction when
you use them (get to platform/ terminal X by 3pm, then get on, then transfer
at X). It's a nice break from the open-endedness of everyday stuff. There's no
way to make anything happen faster or slower, and there is very little
decision-making except what to do while sitting, or what food to grab.

The machines themselves and the logistics of the overall transit systems also
seem very impressive and elegant.

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creep
I'm on the spectrum and live in a large city in Canada. I very much dislike
taking the train. For me, it's due to the crowding of people, although I admit
it's very nice when there are only a few people on board and I can stare at
the city behind a window at night as it rolls by. Otherwise it's a very
stressful experience for me that I've never been able to attenuate. I simply
do not cope well with sitting and standing so close to other people, and the
noises and smells are intolerable. I take the train to university. After the
ride I usually need an hour or more to calm the fuck down before getting to
work/going to class.

Mind you, I'm female and there have been proposed some significant differences
between males and females on the spectrum, never mind the differences between
any two people.

~~~
Fnoord
I'm on the spectrum, and I love taking the bus/tram/metro/train as long as it
isn't crowded. I want to travel without getting distracting, nervous,
nauseous, hot/humid, seeing people eat things I find disgusting or smelling
certain things such as perfume. I want to sit alone, in white noise or
silence, so I can read a book instead of having to hear to music to negate the
noise and zone out. The common denominator in that one is the place being
crowded, and it turns out these places are crowded on workdays from 6-9 and
16-19. Driving instead is even worse on these times. Amsterdam traffic is
crowded everywhere around these times. If there are too little people around
(such as at night) that also doesn't feel safe though. However if I don't have
anything with me I'm good on that one.

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kijin
Subway trains might not always be on time, but they operate on a set of simple
and well-known rules governing boarding, payment, transfer, etc. You know
exactly where you're going (as long as you pay attention), how you're going to
get there, and how much you're going to pay for the trip. It's all
algorithmic, mechanical, and quintessentially modernist. Moreover, once you
get used to a route, you can memorize every turn, anticipate every loud
squeak, know exactly when you will cross a bridge, enter a tunnel, or go past
a certain building. No wonder autistic minds love trains.

I'm on the spectrum, and the city where I grew up in (Seoul) was in the middle
of a major expansion of its subway system while I was a teenager. I'm sure I
tried every new line, every possible combination of routes. I knew the entire
system by heart; I could tell you in a heartbeat the most efficient way to get
from any station to any other station.

20 years later, I'm still fascinated by maps and other geographical databases.
I built the only FOSS postal code search engine in the country, currently used
by over a thousand online stores to validate shipping information. IMHO my
program is way better than commercial alternatives because developers who work
for $large_corporation simply aren't as familiar as I am with how the various
administrative divisions of my country were conceived and have evolved over
time.

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jazzyjackson
I've always enjoyed watching trains, riding trains, building model railroads.
I can see the orderliness of it all being appealing. As far as traveling goes,
it's very comforting to be un-able to attend to anything else until I reach my
destination -- and when I get there is out of my hands, once I'm on the train
I don't have to worry about anything until I get to my stop.

This worked great for me until I lived in NYC, where the 4/5 express might
become the 2/3 express en route to manhattan. Really have to stay on your toes
as often as they cancel whole routes.

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paublyrne
Another thing that makes rail travel in NY less enjoying is the decibel level.
Standing on a subway platform as a train passes through can be so loud I cover
my ears. I'm sure New Yorkers are being done permanent hearing damage through
repeated exposure to subway noise.

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vinay427
Can't be worse than BART. The noise level in parts of east bay (SF area) is
still excruciating on many trains.

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electricslpnsld
The new trains are sooo much better. I've been getting them once a week or so
on the Richmond line and they are way quieter. They've also started running
them transbay, so stay tuned!

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vinay427
> They've also started running them transbay, so stay tuned!

I appreciate the pun! Unfortunately, I don't live in the area anymore, but I
have heard about the new trains and it's great that they seem to have found a
reasonably efficient solution.

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blackhaz
I've never considered myself on the spectrum - well, maybe just a little bit.
I find the subway to be soothing. The thing I hate most about buses, which run
perfectly on schedule as well here, is that sometimes their route changes. The
fact of realizing a route may change just blows my gaskets.

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codyb
Not only that but they're incredibly janky with the constant stop start, stop
start and the hard turns.

Getting on a crowded bus can be a miserable experience, trains are a lot more
consistent with their accelerations and don't have 90 degree turns.

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dghughes
Janky indeed! I was watching a show about the NY Subway and its antiquated
system that operates the entire thing, much of it manually operated. The
documentary was about a British program manager who travels the world fixing
public transportation. He's bring NYC subway from the early 20th century into
the 21st century.

It's the equivalent of a modern city's telephone system still using
switchboard operators instead touch tone phones, fiber optics and a digital
switching system.

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codyb
Ha, I watched that with my Mom. Seems like a nice fellow, I wish him the best
of luck.

I know the old system's antiquated but until we focus serious cash on the
security of our infrastructure as a nation, I'm not looking forward to
hackable trains.

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empath75
I don’t think there’s any kids who don’t love trains are there?

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philjohn
My son is on the spectrum (thankfully quite mildly, so is doing very well at a
mainstream school with minimal support) and this resonates very strongly with
me. At times in his life when he's been suffering from a crisis, trains have
always soothed him.

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pbhjpbhj
Two related observations.

One, that [obsessively] lining things up is supposed to be an early indicator
for autism @ c.2yo.

Two, Thomas The Tank Engine (children's books, cartoon featuring living trains
with their faces on their boilers) is supposedly beloved of those [boys] on
the autistic spectrum.

The latter is weird to me as it's pretty orthogonal to anything to do with
trains AFAICT. The trains might be coincidence and the structure of the
stories with the strict roles and narrow characters might be the appealling
part?

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lbriner
I would be interested in whether it has anything to do with faces on trains or
just the fact they were trains. Also, compared to other train programs like
Ivor the Engine (from the UK), the trains were real models, not cartoonised.

I think the bright solid colours helped too, there is perhaps something
soothing about simplicity and trains offer excitement with less of the unknown
than road transport.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Not sure why this got downvoted; I was going to say something similar.

A lot of autistic kids like trains. We tend to like trucks, construction
equipment, and machines in general, anything that's orderly and has a lot of
information available about it; trains are a quintessential nerd interest
(see: model train hobbyists, trainspotters), so there's a whole community out
there to tap into.

I would guess that Thomas the Tank Engine intersects trains and children's TV
in a particular way that resonates with a lot of kids who began with an
interest in either.

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stared
Isn't the same/similar phenomenon as coffee shop background noise, sometimes
deliberately used for making focus?

In any case, surprised that those boys are not affected by crowds of people (a
lot of random, unexpected touch). At least in my case, it is an easy way go
get a sensory overloading.

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cylinder
Highly relevant: [https://local.theonion.com/autistic-reporter-train-
thankfull...](https://local.theonion.com/autistic-reporter-train-thankfully-
unharmed-in-crash-t-1819595010)

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emmelaich
Not just for the autistic or boys, I'm sure.

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ryanj20021
This undersells how well known this is. Also it’s not just aspergers it’s also
ADD

