Omm Hello I'm Kevin Stinson and I just joined ABS, I am on the autism spectrum at level 1, an insomniac with ADHD and am turning 30 in May. I'm not the best at introducing myself so I'm just going to wing it. Im self tought (So far)and have made around 16 successful blades so far. I just bought the Atlus Miniforge a gas powered forge made for making knifes, however I started out using a home built charcoal forge. I enjoy Making blades that are loosely based on classic blades like some of the classic tanto's, however i prefer making blades i design myself. however i am still learning to make blades from a tenplate as the first 14 blades I have made I just did what I call free forging. free forging is kinda like free sculpting were you let the metal transform into what it wants to be. I enjoy forging spring steels and only use a hand hammer cause that is all i have assess to. however i do use a few power tools as well: dremel rotary tool, angle grinder, bench grinder, belt sander and a drill press. I also do not have a proper anvil yet so i use a combo vice anvil. I recently got on Social security disability so I have some money to invest into bladesmithing and hope to make it my profession. I also enjoy forging to music or books on tape.
I have been interested in blades since I was around 5 years old and saw some cheap knifes at a county fair in a crane crank thinggy game and won it. I have been interested in swords since i saw the first five minutes of highlander, then my grandma who was babysitting me changed the channel. i enjoy learning about metallurgy and the history along with whatever catches my interest when i cant sleep. I went back to school last year and learned to weld, but am having a bit of a hard time finding a job do to poor work history and underling issue stemming from my autism.
Other then bladesmithing I am interested in star wars, mobile suit gundam and several other anime's, building plastic models called gunpla which ties in to my love of Mobile suit gundam and other mecha anime. i have actually gotten so much into gunpla i have begun to learn to scratch build some small parts like blades =) for them out of plastic. i actually also forged a gunpla sized steel sword out of a old nipper I had. I also love several other science fiction series especially Kaiju movies like Godzilla or Pacific Rim. Im also a huge fan of forged in fire and similar shows. i also wright fan fiction but havent really updated any of my stories in a long time.
My love of science fiction has influenced my handle creation a bit however most of my work are paracord or strange handle materials like silk cord covered in a rubbery super glue. i have just started making actual handles from wood.
I hope to one day help create bladesmithing classes geared to children and adults with autism, as I find bladesmithing to be very therapeutic and hope it can help other people with my particular developmental disability. I also hope to one day compete on Forged in Fire.
so thanks for reading my rambling introduction. Stay sharp, Stay safe and keep on making. To see a my work I post on face book, reddit and imgur. Ill include a link to my Imagur account: http://gungyver.imgur.com/ my Reddit account is under the same name as my Imgur account.
Kevin
Welcome to the ABS and Forum.
Anthony
welcome kevin,
something you said hit home a bit. I teach a lot , and I have had a lot of students on the spectrum over the years. Some were aware of it some not. but either way over all they have been excellent students, if sometimes a challenge to teach.
so i have question to you, what can i do to help someone that is autistic learn. my basic method in a class is to demo, explain, then correct. I try my best to explain things in different ways and point out things in correction, sometimes drawing with chalk to illustrate a point or demoing a step again to reinforce a point. I try and work to every ones learning style, but i always feel like I should be doing something different with autistic students.
MP
Welcome Kevin. It is good to have you in the ABS and on the forum. Let us know how we can help.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Welcome to the ABS and the ABS forums Kevin. Glad to have you here. I have to say being honest and up front with your particular situation is a step toward success. We all have something/somethings to deal with. Knowing what learning styles you need and being able to communicate that to the people that are helping you toward your goals is where many of us make our learning curve much steeper.
I am a visual and hands-on learner. This makes it hard to learn by explanation alone. I can think of times that I would have benefitted from expressing this.
Thanks for the intro, it made me aware of things I can do to shorten my learning curve.
Chris
|quoted:
welcome kevin,
something you said hit home a bit. I teach a lot , and I have had a lot of students on the spectrum over the years. Some were aware of it some not. but either way over all they have been excellent students, if sometimes a challenge to teach.
so i have question to you, what can i do to help someone that is autistic learn. my basic method in a class is to demo, explain, then correct. I try my best to explain things in different ways and point out things in correction, sometimes drawing with chalk to illustrate a point or demoing a step again to reinforce a point. I try and work to every ones learning style, but i always feel like I should be doing something different with autistic students.
MP
Sorry for taking so long to respond to this i did not have this page set on watch. Really like with all people it depends on the learning style of the someone on the Autistic spectrum. I am not sure if there is actually any data on how most ADS learn so I cant relate to all of us. Me I am a kinetic learner so I learn best by just doing something, so with a bit of warring as I do not like to be touched without good cause. (I'm probably one of the very few Autistic who actually like hugs =) so my mom got lucky.) So guiding my actions to correct any errors does help me a bit more then telling but also explain why its meant to do this way insted of that way if that makes sense. other then allowing some music headphones for not on full blast of course as you need to hear a call out when some one is carrying a hot piece of steel to a power hammer. also a calm correction when a mistake happens goes a lot farther then yelling at some one with ASD. Other then this being treated as a normal person with no true special treatment is a great for me.
|quoted:
Welcome to the ABS and the ABS forums Kevin. Glad to have you here. I have to say being honest and up front with your particular situation is a step toward success. We all have something/somethings to deal with. Knowing what learning styles you need and being able to communicate that to the people that are helping you toward your goals is where many of us make our learning curve much steeper.
I am a visual and hands-on learner. This makes it hard to learn by explanation alone. I can think of times that I would have benefitted from expressing this.
Thanks for the intro, it made me aware of things I can do to shorten my learning curve.
Chris
I'm glade i could help.
