Good evening, it's time for Byline right here at Amherst Media, and it's a program of public affairs sponsored by the Amherst League of Women Reuters and our local cable station. And we have our guest tonight to introduce, Jim Pistrang, is no stranger here in town. He was town moderator for I think six years and a town meeting member for 19, and he served on some very interesting but obscure committees, as I put it to him in our conversation before the show. One of them was on the Puffer's Pawn 2020 Committee, and another was as part of the team of people who worked on the selection process that led to our current town manager, Paul Buckleman. And there was one other committee in there, Electronic Voting. You were part of the committee to look at how to modernize our voting system here in Amherst. So it's quite eclectic group of projects that you worked on. The other one that I forgot to mention actually is the Dog Park Task Force, which is a currently very active committee. We're in the process of procuring a large grant from a private foundation to build a dog park in Amherst. Wonderful. So you really are a specialist in obscure but important subjects. The subject we're going to be discussing today is your role on the Resident Advisory Committee, which is not obscure at all because it has quite a serious responsibility. So why don't we begin by you explaining the origins of this committee and the charge of the committee. Okay. So the committee is named in our new charter. It says in the charter, I'm cheating here by reading, it says the town manager shall establish a residence advisory committee to assist with evaluation and selection of candidates for appointment. And our charge is very similar to assist the town manager with evaluation and selection of candidates for appointment to multi-membered bodies. And multi-membered bodies means people from the community. It might also mean some people from town council as well. And could it also include staff or other people in town government? Staff and town government aren't typically considered to be voting members of a committee, but they're often liaisons or work with a committee. So they could staff a committee but not be a voting member of the committee. Yes. Okay. So now we know the general charge and the direction of it. So let's rewind the tape and go pre-charter and how did the town manager get advice in the past? So I can't give a lot of detail, but in general, so first of all, stepping back even a little more, pre-charter, some volunteer committees were appointed by town manager, some by the select board, one or two by town moderator, and each of these different bodies went through processes fairly similar in terms of looking, seeking out people who were interested in being on committees. There was something called a citizen's activity form, which has been renamed the community activity form, which people fill out if they're interested in serving on one committee in specific or any committee actually. And that's been around for a very long time. That's been around for a while. But it's been recently reviewed and revised, maybe continually reviewed and revised. Yeah, I think it's a work in progress. So pre-charter, the town manager, would for the most part interview people when it was committees that he had the appointing authority for. I believe he would typically have a staff person there who would be the liaison to that committee and often another member of the committee, a seated member, typically the chair of the committee. I don't know that it was as structured or formalized as a process as it is now. Because what's happened now is the town manager has committed that every interview, every applicant will get an interview and every interview if possible will include the town manager, a staff person and a member of our committee, the resident advisory committee. So you folks are going to be sitting at the table or you are sitting at the table with the town manager as part of this process of reviewing applicants. Yes. And our committee is three people, only one will be at any given interview. We don't want to overwhelm the applicants with this giant group of people. And prior to that you are reviewing every applicant on paper. Typically actually no, just the member of our committee who is doing the interviews will receive the community activity form and take a look at it. So you are each designated either this is your week or your subject or whatever and then you get to see those and the other committee members are going to review the others. Yes. Participate in an interview, a meeting with the town manager, some staff. At the end of that what happens? At the end of that there is a discussion. So the way it works whenever possible they try and schedule a block of interviews. So maybe there will be five 15 minute interviews in a row with us taking, you know people taking notes. At the end of that there will just be a discussion of the interviewers, of the pros and cons of the different applicants. And it's the town manager who gets to make the final decision and decide who he wants to appoint. So it's really a fairly informal conversation just talking about the pros and cons of the different applicants. Okay. And so to get them to get to know them a little bit better, to ask questions about things that might be needing clarification from the form that they filled out, et cetera. Yes. How robust is this process at this point given that I read in the newspaper recently that something like 120 or 30 people have filled out this community activity form in just a matter of a few months? I'd say it's pretty robust. It's really happening. Every candidate is getting an interview for the committee that they are interested in being on. The town staff does a little triage first because some people just fill out a form and say I want to be on any committee or some people say I just want to be in this committee. Some people say here's three committees I want to be on. Typically somebody from the town manager's office will call and talk to a person ahead of time, talk to them about what they're interested in. They might have picked one committee. The town staff person might say we know there's this other committee that you also might be interested in and this has more vacancies, might you be interested in that. So that sort of triage is done but then the interviews are set up and there's currently a backlog in place because from the point in time when the town voted in the new charter the select board and the town manager stopped making appointments to committees. They really wanted to wait until the new government was in place. So a lot of committee members have had their terms extended for an extra year to get to this point in time. Typically they're three year terms and typically they end at the end of June of any given year. So there's a lot of vacancies now and a lot of people whose terms are expiring. So this is a big backlog now. So that's where it's nice to have those 120, 130 candidates fit into that. And that's terrific and the people who are going through these applications are considering them for the positions that they checked off as an applicant. But they're also thinking about other committees that a person may not have checked off and may approach the candidate and say, gee, did you think about this committee because we think based on what we know about you that you might be, we can't promise you this yet but if you want to be considered we think you should put your hat on the ring for this. And are people doing that? Yes. That's great. And I know from our meeting I had an interview with our community participation officers which as our viewers know from a previous show they are, it's a job split in three rather than hiring a whole new person to just be one person focused on that task. And they are working very collaboratively to identify ways to engage the community because that's one of the priorities of our charter was on the one hand it was transparency on the other hand with civic engagement, two of the major themes. And so transparency fits into this conversation as well as engagement. One of the focuses that they talked about was diversity and how much effort and commitment they have to trying to encourage the broad cross section of our community to think of themselves as potential applicants for these positions. How's that playing out? Are we seeing a diverse group of folks coming forward? What efforts are being made to try to encourage that? My personal feeling is we're not seeing as much diversity as we'd like to see. I think our officers are really working at it and working hard and it's a struggle. There's sort of traditionally non-engaged sections of the community and getting them to be engaged involves a lot of work. It's not as simple as just posting a job in the newspaper or something like that. So they're reaching out and they're working on it and just looking at the data that was published in the newspaper of what's in the pool. And it's interesting because in the community activity farm, excuse me, you don't have to put what your ethnic background is, racial background, economic education, anything. So some people volunteer, some information, others don't. So we don't really have data on the entire pool of applicants. But from what we see, it really isn't as diverse as I think a lot of people would want to be. Certainly not as diverse as I would want to be. So there's some tension here between the transparency that you would need in order to know more about the candidates so that you could create the kind of diversity you want. On the other hand, you basically are trying to allow people to define themselves. And by allowing that, you might have a lack of information. I suppose part of the solution to that is interview lots of people because you learn about their diversity as soon as they walk in the door and they sit down and have a conversation with you. Yeah, it's interesting because there's some things you shouldn't ask and don't want to ask. One item that used to be in the activity forum that's not there now is a question of whether you are a homeowner or a renter. And some people felt that was problematic. They didn't want people to feel, well, I'm a renter. They're not going to want me for this committee. So I shouldn't have to fill that out. But the flip side of that is people doing the interviews might want to have a committee that has some homeowners and some renters and feel that's important. And now we don't have that information. So it is exactly as you described it, it's that struggle between allowing people to feel comfortable and free, giving little information and yet wanting information for good reasons to build diverse committees. And what's your interaction as a committee? And by the way, who are the other members of your committee? The other members of my committee are Connie Krueger and Keisha Dennis. And so your interaction with the three of you, with the community participation officers, could you explain a little bit about how you work together with them? Yeah, so far we've been having bi-weekly meetings. And it'll probably be a little less once we get past June and past this big bubble of interviews that need to be done. But at least one of those officers has been to nearly every one of our meetings and there was one where all three came. Just so we could talk about the community activity form and talk about what they're doing and what we're doing. So we have a close relationship with them. And we're sort of, our primary role and our mission is to advise the town manager on appointments based on the interviews. We have sort of a secondary role which is working with the officers or at least advising them on our suggestions and our thoughts on good ways or better ways to reach out to the community. And they're very receptive to anything and everything that people have to offer. I think how successful they'll be kind of remains to be seen but you can't fault them for not trying. They're really doing a great job and working hard. And are there some efforts that your committee as a committee or the members of the committee are making individually to try to help raise the visibility of this committee, its function and the goal of the charter to really have robust civic engagement? Or are you really focused principally on doing a good job on helping to screen, if you will, and help evaluate candidates? I think we're focused principally on our main mission. I'm here, so I suppose this is one kind of outreach. And certainly I think all three of us just talk to people that we know about our committee and about the committees in town. It's amazing how many people don't have an understanding of how committees work and how valuable they are to a town and how many there are and how many people are involved at a volunteer level. So we try and talk it up individually to people we come in contact with. But there's not really a formal effort on our part. So that's a good segue for the next area that we should explore a little bit. So some committees, some of the appointments are being made to panels that are advisory in nature. Others have significant authority because they're actually the decision makers. Yes. If you are participating in an advisory capacity, you are still influencing decisions, but the decisions aren't yours. Yes. In the case of the more regulatory or decision making bodies, when you get appointed, you're going to be voting and you're going to be making decisions that will affect individuals, communities, I'm sorry, individuals, businesses, families, the community as a whole. Yes. Talk a little bit about that division and how you guys look at that and how many of these committees are really advisory and how many are really decision-making and I'm not looking for an exact count, but and some examples of sort of what that looks like. It's good that you don't want an exact count because I don't know. Good. So one thing at the very beginning of each interview, Mr. Balkamon explains to each candidate what the charge of the committee is and what they do and he makes it very clear whether they're advisory or regulatory in some way or have some other authority besides just advising because candidates don't always know. You know, sometimes they just sounds like a committee, I'm interested in this, but they don't really understand what the impact of the committee is. So we always try and make it clear in the first minute or two of an interview so the candidates understand that. Yeah, the differences are, it's a pretty broad spectrum. We have something like the Council on Aging, which is just an advisory committee, but you know, critical advice and they really, they work closely with our senior center and the town staff advising on things to do and how to raise funds and how to increase programming and stuff like that. The other extreme, probably the best of the other extreme is the Conservation Commission because the Conservation Commission also has some advisory stuff to the planning board, but the Conservation Commission, let me just read this because I cheated and wrote it down. That's on the back side. So they're responsible for administering and enforcing State Wetland Protection Act and Town of Amherst Wetland Protection Bylaws. So when something comes before a new development is happening, it comes before the Conservation Commission and they get to decide if it involves any of these wetland protection bylaws and then whether it's meeting those bylaws and that's critical information that can make or break a project or certainly change the way a project looks. But is somebody else making the decision, but they're advising? No, in this case, they're making a ruling, they're making the ruling on whether or not it meets the bylaw's standards. So can you give an example of where they might advise another panel? So the Dog Park Task Force went before the Conservation Commission because we're building, and this is a little public advice, a public advisory thing, we're building our new Dog Park on the old landfill. I was going to ask you more about it anyway, so thank you. It's on the old old landfill, the one that's on the south side of Route 9, on just a little portion of it. And we had to go before the Conservation Commission just to make sure that we weren't impinging on any wetlands that were nearby and if there was any mitigation that might be needed because of any impingement on wetlands. The result was that no, we weren't. We were close, but we weren't affected by any of the bylaws. But there was one little section where there's kind of a dip down at the very southern end that eventually leads into one of the ponds down there. And they gave advice on what they thought was a good design where we could build a little swell in there with some vegetation to make it work better and not impact anything. So that was an example of no mitigation was needed and we weren't really affected by the bylaws, but they still had some advice on what we could do to make it a better design. And was that a step of going and consulting with them? Was that recommended by somebody at Town Hall? Was that by somebody's experience in the group saying, hey, why don't we go get some advice because they may be some issues? Because a lot of people would be afraid to go to a regulatory body for advice. Worried that they would be opening up a can of worms and now find themselves in the middle of a controversy of decisions that are going to be taken out of your hands. I don't think it was even a choice. I think we had to go before them, but we wanted to anyway. Our staff liaison is Dave Zomek, who's the director of I forget what his title is, director of conservation and something, but also the assistant town manager and all around good guy and all around good guy. And it was clear talking to him that this was one of the many committees that we had to bring our design in front of. But I don't think it was a choice. I think it's just one of the things you have to do when you're designing something like this. But they didn't have to, quote, approve it. They had to guide. They they ruled that there wasn't any conflict with any existing bylaws. So in that sense, they approved it without having to take their ruling. Was there was nothing we were doing that was in conflict with anything. Got it. Got it. So now let's think about this a little bit more. So the town manager is appointing some people who are decision makers and appointing some people who give advice. You screen both groups or just the advisory groups. We screen any group on screen. We were part of the interview process part of the process for any committee that the town manager is the appointing authority for the committee. OK, but not if the council president is making an appointment. Right. Or the council as a whole or the council subcommittee with the really long name that I can't. But also the town manager once the interview has taken place on appointments that he would like to make, he brings those to the town council. Yeah, the process is when the town manager is the appointing authority, and I think I've got this right, is that he declares to the town council that these are my recommended appointees. These are people I want to appoint. I don't know what the exact phrasing is. And the town council can take three actions. They can actually formally vote and say, yes, we approve of these. They can formally vote and say, no, we don't approve of these. Or they can do nothing. And if after 30 days they've done nothing, then the appointment takes place. Right. So ultimately the elected people are actually making the appointments to these boards. Um, I don't know, technically, I guess that's how you describe it. That the town council can't say, no, we don't want this person, but we do want this person that has to come from the town manager. Manager. OK. And so the town manager, if a recommendation comes for from the town manager and the council has a question or a problem, they can bounce it back. I believe that's the case and discussion. So they play a significant role. Yeah. So it's like a sandwich. You guys are at the at the beginning part of this process through the interviews with the candidates, the town council, as at the other end of the process, basically in effect, blessing the work of your committee and the town manager when the final appointments are actually made. Yes. So all three all three points of this three three points of power in this situation and you have something to say. Town council has something to say on the town manager's point. Yes, I think my committee is the smallest of those three points of power, but still important. I guess. Yeah. Any other points or thoughts that you want to share as we all try to understand the role of this committee? Because the whole point of this show has been to understand our new government as it's unfolding. And so are there are there any things that we've missed in our conversation that you would like to touch on or emphasize that we haven't delved into deeply enough for people to understand the role of this group, which is an important body.  You know, my concern is that that's going to drop down after the thrill of the new government passes. And but the needs of the community for these committees isn't going to drop down. And the struggle for the less glamorous. What's the word used again, the obscure you had some of the words. Yeah, I don't remember. But I think it was obscure. You know, the it's it's often tough getting people to serve on committees. You know, when I was moderator, I was the appointing authority for the finance committee. And occasionally somebody would fill out community activity form. But often you had to seek out people and ask them beg them whatever to serve in the finance committee. And that's the case with a fair number of committees. And and that's where these outreach officers hopefully will work on making that better. Part of the problem is convincing people in the community or at least getting information out, both on the importance of these committees and the fact that when you're on a committee, your voice really is heard. You know, it's not these aren't least the ones I've experienced with, they're not just sort of pro forma things that don't really do anything. They're really committees that matter and are listened to. So so it's it's a great way to be involved in your community. And I think there's people who first of all, either just don't understand it or else think, oh, no one would listen to me. I'm not an important person in this town. But, you know, that's that's the word that has to get out for people to trust that if they go to the effort to get on this committee that their voices really will be heard. And their work respected. Yeah. And people may still disagree with it, but hopefully respectfully disagree. And ultimately, it will still be incorporated into whatever the final decisions are and actions that are taken in our name as a community and as residents of our community. And so I want to thank you very much for the work that you folks are doing to help recruit, encourage, motivate people to participate in the community. And I want to thank you all for watching. And Jim's making a really critical point here that there are a tremendous number of opportunities to serve in this community. And if we don't step forward and volunteer and participate, there are a lot of things that a won't get done and be we won't have the diversity and range of voices that we need to get the best possible policies and programs and decisions made so that we can continue to have a robust and engaged community with a very high quality of life here in in the town of Amherst. And so thank you again to the legal women voters, to the staff here at Amherst Media. And thank you for joining us this evening.


Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. This is Melissa Armo with the stocks, which I'm here reviewing at IBM. What a great call I made in this today. And let me tell you why. So let's take a look at it. Was a bullish gap today? Liked it? Best gap that I saw? Didn't really like any shorts, saw a bunch of things, rated a few things. There was one thing that rated well that ended up working. But I did not do it because I really thought that IBM had more potential and was a better gap. So anyways, did it very aggressive this morning? OK, held, rallied up, didn't get out at the first target. But this was a really big move. $1.5 move, almost, right push out of the gate. Some people did get out here. I didn't. I felt 170 was realistic, possibly, today. Anyways, then I did not get out of this, came all the way back down, broke the low. Let me move over to a 15 minute. Interestingly enough, the original stop in this was 167.20, which held. Held within six cents. People tell me they don't use stops. I say, why? Why don't you use stops? You should use stops. I even gave a little more room then just to be safe, it didn't do a tail and kick me out and then go. I felt high level of conviction in this, but I will tell you the original stop, 167.20, held. So I use stops. It's like the insurance. It protects you so that the trade doesn't work. You're out with a loss, but it's a fixed loss. Not a known loss. Anyways, this was just such a great call. Anyways, then it came in and I ended up taking more 168, rallied up, pulled back, rallied up again. Now this looks good. When I closed the room this morning, I said, listen, you're gonna be doing this all day. I said, probably two o'clock. And I was right, it's almost 130. It's still going, I'm watching this close to the high. I'm really watching this, watching this, watching this now because up in this now, beautiful day, so happy, long day, but I had stuff to do. Anyways, let's take a look at the market. Market is green. I did say today I thought the market was gonna be bullish and possibly go over the high of yesterday this week, but I didn't think it would be today. But I mean, my gosh, it's 130, it's almost four o'clock. We have a long time left here to go in the day and we could go over the high of yesterday today and that would be another big, huge bullish move that will take us up continuing higher again. This market is not over from one red bar yesterday and someone, and I'll go back here. I did tape the room. I'm uploading it now, but someone had said to me wasn't I gonna short this? Wasn't it long? I said, no, it's long. It's a long. How do I know based on my 26 point rating system? I am gonna do a bullish class soon. The bearish class is this weekend, but I absolutely do know how to read institutional moves and that's why this worked. That's why it is working. I'm so proud of everyone that sent it. I got a couple emails from people, stay with the trade, watch it near the previous high, watch 169. We're not that far away. Really nice trade, called an option in two and it's all good. So we'll see what we get the rest of the week. Very excited for our new season officially started. And again, congratulations to everyone that stayed with this trade. And for the people that got out of this morning, you got two trades out of it. So have a good day everyone. I will talk to you soon. The Golden God class is this weekend. Email me at melissathestockswish.com, January 20th and 21st if you wanna sign up.


The final item of business today is the member's business debate on motion number 1-446, in the name of Mark McDonald, on making Scotland autism friendly. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would be grateful to those members who wish to speak in the debate. Could press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Mark McDonald to open the debate. Seven minutes or so, Mr McDonald. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I begin by thanking those members from across the chamber who signed the motion which we are debating this evening. I welcome our guests from the National Autistic Society Scotland and Autism initiatives who are in the gallery. I'm aware that there are a number of people who will be watching this debate via the live streaming function. Earlier today, Presiding Officer, I attended a short ceremony to hand over this plaque to the Scottish Parliament. It is the Autism Access Award, which is awarded to organisations who have taken steps to make themselves accessible to individuals on the autistic spectrum. The Scottish Parliament is the first public building in Scotland to achieve this award. It is a great testimony to the efforts of the staff of the Parliament who have done that. It was great to be there and to meet some of the Parliament's autism champions. I am aware that there will be work being undertaken throughout the Parliament to increase awareness and understanding of autism among members of staff in the Parliament. It is a great credit to them. Tomorrow, Presiding Officer, is World Autism Awareness Day. During World Autism Awareness Week, it is important that we take the opportunity to highlight good work that is being done and celebrate that, but also to outline our aspirations and our goals to go further and to do better in the areas that we want improvement in. The motion is framed in such a way that we want to set an ambitious target for Scotland. Let's look at some of the good work that is being done at present. We see the autism toolbox being rolled out as a resource to be used in our schools. I am aware that that is being welcomed by parents and teachers across Scotland. We have seen a number of relaxed performances in our theatres and cinemas, which have opened up cultural experiences to people who, for too many years, found themselves excluded from being able to enjoy things that those of us would take for granted as basic as, for example, the Christmas pantomime. We have seen the production of local autism strategies across Scotland in the wider framework of the Scottish strategy for autism. We would all accept that some local authorities took that forward a little bit quicker than others did, but there has nonetheless been progress made across Scotland and it is worth recognising that. On Friday, on the first day of World Autism Awareness Week, I was able to attend part of the national autistic society conference that took place in Aberdeen. At that event, the National Autistic Society Scotland launched their campaign for autism-friendly Aberdeen to try to get Aberdeen to become the first city in the UK to be recognised as autism-friendly. That will involve a range of work being done across both the public and the private sector in order to increase awareness and understanding, in order to make services more receptive and more open for people on the autistic spectrum, and it will also deliver wider benefits beyond that. I think that there are areas where we need to look at where the challenges are arising in order that we can achieve that outcome and where there is still work to be done. If we look, for example, in the area of diagnosis, I know from personal experience that getting early diagnosis is something that we are seeing some improvements in, both in terms of my own experiences with my son but also in terms of the experiences of other parents who I have come into contact with. However, I think that when we look at diagnosis for older children, particularly into the teenage years and also crucially for adults, I think that we still are seeing some difficulties in an ability to obtain a diagnosis and also the length of time that it takes to diagnose. There are still too many people, 27 per cent in 2013, who said that they felt they had been misdiagnosed initially. We have to look at how we can get better in terms of diagnosis. When asked in 2013 as part of the Countessin report that the National Autistic Society produced, 61 per cent of the respondents said that they felt relief once they had been given a diagnosis. A diagnosis can open up the opportunities to access support that is obviously not available without a diagnosis. I will come back to that later on in terms of other things that need to be done. In terms of employment and employability, I have heard testimony from individuals who have found themselves excluded from the jobs market as a consequence of their autism, when subtle changes to the workplace or, indeed, a recognition of the strengths and talents of individuals on the autistic spectrum would allow employers the opportunity to gain members of staff who would vastly contribute to their workforce and to their business. There are some employers who are very good in offering employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities in general. However, I feel that there is more that employers could look to do to support individuals on the autistic spectrum into employment. The final area that I have seen during the course of my campaign work and also through the testimonies that I have received is around the transitions that take place where an individual goes from being the responsibility of children's services to adult services to older people's services. Often it is felt and there is a perception that the view of many organisations is that autism is something that affects children. We need to break down some of those perceptions and make organisations understand that the support that an individual requires in childhood, while not necessarily needing to be absolutely mirrored, cannot simply be radically altered at the point at which they move to being the responsibility of adult services and making sure that there is a clear path for that individual as they move through the different age brackets in terms of how social care services address their needs. There are wider benefits that can be recognised, as a result of Scotland becoming more autism friendly. A recognition and understanding of sensory issues will benefit those who are not necessarily on the autistic spectrum but have associated conditions. One group that has come to me today on my Facebook page is individuals who have children or relatives who have been diagnosed with what is called pathological demand avoidance, which is associated with autistic spectrum disorder but does not always get the support that perhaps they feel it deserves. Minor adjustments can lead to major differences and major benefits. That is something that needs to be emphasised to employers, to private sector organisations, to public sector bodies. We are not talking about them needing to make drastic changes to the way that they deliver services or the way that they operate in relation to customer services. Often it is very minor adjustments but they make a major difference to the individual who is affected. Thirdly, in terms of getting more people on the autistic spectrum into employment and sustaining that employment, we will have great benefits to the wider economy through the increase in productivity and employment. Is it going to be challenging for us to get there? Yes. Is it going to be unachievable? I see no reason why that should be the case. If we have the will, then we can get there. I hope that the Scottish Government will be on board with this ambitious campaign to make Scotland an autism friendly nation. I know that the Presiding Officer was delighted to receive on behalf of the Parliament this afternoon the Autism Access Award that Mr MacDonald refers to. I am also pleased to put on the record that this is a great tribute to all of the Scottish Parliament staff who have worked so hard to make this possible. We now turn to the open debate. Speeches of four minutes or so please. I call Malcolm Chisholm to be followed by Graeme Dey. I congratulate Mark McDonald on bringing Autism Awareness Week into the chamber again and his dedication in helping to raise awareness of this important issue. I apologise to him and the minister because we all on this side actually thought that this would debate was tomorrow, so I am supposed to be somewhere else. In fact, the second Labour Speaker is not here for that reason as well. When you visit the National Autistic Society Scotland's website, you see as a head of the slogan, accept difference, not indifference. I think that this is a principle that should also underpin an autism friendly nation. In fact, we should celebrate difference in this week of events. The theme of this year's event is stand-out for autism, which I think reflects the need to encourage personal pride and self-belief in a sense that we all stand out in our own way. In Awareness Week 2015, the National Autistic Society wants us to stand out together.  As the National Autistic Society pointed out, autism is a spectrum condition that means that, although some of the barriers faced by individuals may be the same, the condition will affect them in different ways and many are able to live relatively independent lives. A former intern in my office, David Nicholson, has gone on to become a supporter of the National Autistic Society and is a former youth patron for ambitious about autism. Last week, he gave me his thoughts about the need for Scotland to become a truly autism-friendly nation. He said, "...artistic people have the talent and potential to do very well in society. They want to contribute positively to Scottish life, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government and others must do all they can to help to support those on the spectrum who reach their fullest potential." There is still a long way to go before Scotland is an autism-friendly nation. We need to work together to ensure that people on the spectrum get the chance to show what they can do in the workplace. Too few have that opportunity and too much talent is going to waste, which is a tragedy. We also need to ensure that our education system can be as autism-friendly as possible, too. That means learning from what other countries are doing and making sure that each school is autism-friendly by holding autism awareness events for staff and pupils. It is essential that all school staff have autism training. David Wood, I am sure, like Mark McDonald, has welcomed the introduction of autism toolboxes to Scottish schools in 2009 and they are continued updating as new resources become available. He is correct in saying that training should be available to all teachers to recognise autism and help to provide the right support. There is much more that could be said about education, but I want to move on to employment because the theme of autism awareness this year is employment. I am glad to see a number of organisations in Scotland with specific focus in this area. Autism Scotland has a thriving network of outreach support services across central Scotland. Those individuals receiving the report have an agreed number of hours of provision per week, ranging from two hours to 26 hours. It is estimated that only 15 per cent of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time employment. I am sure that we all agree that that is far too little, especially when we acknowledge how much talent they can bring an offer to a professional environment. Research suggests that people on the autistic spectrum have many exceptional capabilities, some of which are a real necessity in a professional environment, for instance, because of their legal, logical reasoning and a greater attention to detail. What is striking here is the lack of support and opportunity to match their ambitions. Autistic people should be able to live the life that they choose. Central to successful and sustainable employment for autistic people is the ability of employers to harness their unique skills instead of employing them in spite of that disorder. The motion also mentions the autism access awards given by the National Autistic Society. Rightly so, the award recognises buildings and facilities that have made an effort to ensure that they can be categorised as autism-friendly. They set the standard for accessibility, and making something accessible does not always mean making physical changes, as the National Autistic Society points out. It is as much about changing the approach of staff as it is changing all and all. In conclusion, Autism Awareness Week draws our attention to the fact that a huge number of people, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK, are on the spectrum, and that the spectrum means that there are huge differences between each individual. Each autistic person, like anyone not on the spectrum, is unique and has unique aspirations, strength and needs. All those people have in common as they want and deserve a chance to be treated as equal with equal rights to the basic daily choices that you and I enjoy. There are young people with a hunger to learn and flourish in our schools. There are graduates looking for support into the workplace that will give them the chance that they so deserve. There are teenagers looking to drive for the first time, but in need of extra advice. Each deserves an equal footing from which to take first steps. Therefore, this week, let us not only accept difference but celebrate it, because the diverse employment market demands difference, diversity and a recognition that we all have a positive contribution to make. I support the motion. Thank you very much. I now call Graeme Dey to be followed by Nannette Milne. Can I begin by congratulating Mark McDonald on securing this opportunity to highlight world autism awareness week? I say that not simply because it is protocol to do so, but because over the past few weeks it has really come home to me just how far as a society and in terms of providing appropriate support services we have to go until we can really say that we are responding as we ought to the needs of autistic children and adults. Progress has been made but a string of recent constituent cases and attending a constituency event last week have very much brought home to me just how far we have to go before we can claim to have created that genuinely autism friendly environment. Angus Council is coming to the end of a process aimed at ensuring the provision for adults and children with autism within the education service, links into the national autism strategy and just as importantly meets the needs of those requiring support, be they carers or the cared for. The delay in delivering this was caused by the council feeling that a consultation and mapping exercise carried out on behalf of the Scottish Government in 2013 had not been as wide-reaching as would have been required to ensure what was to be delivered fitted with what was needed on the ground. The council wrote out to 211 families in the county who are identified as having children with autism, asking them in the first instance to complete a questionnaire to help to provide a foundation for creating that autism strategy which meets the aspirations of those at the sharp end. Subsequent to that, parental engagement events were held on the intros for Franca Nusti to present the findings of the survey and to flesh those out. I attended one of those engagement sessions just last week and what I heard left me concerned that this thing stands, and as officials acknowledged in relation to education, the needs of these children are not yet being fully met. However, if the council, as I believe it will, really takes on board the input from parents, then over the short to medium term, then we will make significant progress. The whole consultation process has identified eight key areas for improvement and whilst this process was peculiar to Angus, the themes will, I am sure, be common to other parts of the country. Those were the need to improve knowledge and understanding of autism, reaching out to the wider community to ensure they are more clued up on the subject, improving the process of diagnosis and appropriate support immediately post-diagnosis. Support for those with autism and their families to access recreational facilities delivered locally, improved information sharing between agencies, getting services talking to each other, planning for transitions right through into adult life with a particular need highlighted in terms of post-school support, improved learning opportunities and, as Mark McDonald touched upon, purposeful occupational opportunities for adults. Finally, supporting adults to live as independently as they can within mainstream tenancies. Within a few months, a strategy covering a complete educational journey from entering nursery through to adulthood will be presented to community planning partnership for approval and moves are already afoot to secure parental involvement in overseeing delivery and future policy development. The challenge, of course, is how to meet all reasonable needs when those needs and the expectations and views of parents and guardians can be quite varied. Even if we succeed in creating genuinely autism-friendly education establishments, then how do we ensure other agencies with whom people with autism come into contact, such as the police, health and social services, are properly equipped to respond to their needs? The answer surely lies in the purpose of this week, raising awareness. How many of us, if we are honest, understand what is needed to create more autism-friendly environments? Two stories told by parents at that engagement session last week really left their mark on me. One mum revealed that her son could not join in the swimming sessions at his school simply because the PE teacher kept order by blowing a whistle, which they couldn't cope with. Imagine being excluded from joining classmates and an enjoyable pursuit for the sake of a whistle. Another said that her child would be better able to cope in certain circumstances if the lights in the room weren't turned up quite so brightly. Imagine being denied the opportunity to just be one of the class for the sake of fitting or turning down a dimmer switch. How many other minor changes could we, as a society, reasonably make that we move forward the cause of inclusion? Presiding Officer, it is to be hoped that whatever World Autism Awareness Week highlights to us, we each of us strive to respond to that. Many thanks. I now call Nannette Millan to be followed by Dennis Robertson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I begin by adding my thanks to Mark McDonald for lodging this motion? I'm obviously aware of his personal family interest in autism, but I'm equally aware of his commitment to the condition in general and raising awareness of it with the wider public. Almost a year ago to the day, we celebrated and commemorated the seventh annual World Autism Awareness Day. Now that it's coming to be an established date in the calendar, I think that it is right that we continue to highlight this importance. I don't think that it's necessary to go through the various statistics and facts relating to autism as we've done previously, although it is always worthwhile stating that one in a hundred of the population in the UK are on the autistic spectrum. It's a common condition that should not be hidden. In my brief contribution, I'd like to look at some of the very positive initiatives that are helping to make Scotland move towards being an autism-friendly nation as stated in the motion. In a debate last year, we focused on relaxed cinema and theatre performances, which have made such a difference to people, especially children, in enjoying pursuits that most of us take for granted. I commend His Majesty's Theatre in my home city of Aberdeen for staging a relaxed showing of horrible histories last May. I'm sure that all of us would like to see more productions of this nature, which provides sensory-friendly approaches to reach out to people with autism. Another initiative that I heard of recently, which took place, I think last weekend, was by Toysr Us, which provided a dedicated day in which children could attend outlets across the UK in a relaxed environment. Fluorescent lighting was reduced, music wasn't overly loud, and no tannoy announcements were made, factors which can be very unsettling for children with autism. I hope to see other shops being similarly progressive in responding to the needs of these children. I pay tribute to the Scottish Government for funding it has provided to the One Stop Shop programme, not least for the 300,000 dedicated to the Advice and Information Centre at Queen's Gardens in Aberdeen. This valuable resource provides support for families and individuals in the north-east affected by autism. It seeks to alleviate and dispel the myths, often associated with it, and almost embarrassment, sometimes caused by the condition. As Wendy Minty, the National Autistic Society manager in Aberdeen, put it, many people with the condition and their families struggle to access the right support at the right time. Indeed, every region in Scotland is now covered by the One Stop Shop Network, but as the National Autistic Society Scotland has pointed out, funding is limited and therefore local authorities need to start thinking about how they can contribute to these essential services. I was very glad to hear from Mark McDonald just now of the work being embarked on in Aberdeen to make it an autism-friendly city. The motion also refers to the autism toolbox for schools. Like many others, I think that this type of resource contributes enormously to understanding why children on the spectrum need to be included in mainstream education. The toolbox website provides greater understanding to parents, staff and young people of the everyday challenges faced by young people with autism. It is in our schools that basic knowledge of autism needs to be fostered so that children with it do not feel ostracised. Equally so, parents with sons or daughters with autism require support so that they too do not feel that their children are different. The American writer Laura Ginsburg in her seminal work regarding her son's right to education wrote, through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way as I did, that everything involving our children was painful in some way. Presiding Officer, beyond school days, as the motion suggests, with appropriate understanding of the condition, many more employers will come to realise the benefits of employing people with autism, as I have in my region, particularly those at the higher end of the spectrum, for instance with Aspergers, who have proved in many locations to be extremely effective and very conscientious employees. As an example, many office jobs that some of us might find tedious and too repetitive are ideally suited to people with autism who like the detail and the accuracy that is required and take great pride in their work as well as deriving immense satisfaction from it. There are potential opportunities for people with autism in many professional and other spheres of employment where their commitment, logical thinking, enthusiasm and attention to detail would be invaluable assets. We have come a long way in raising awareness of autism, but as Mark McDonald rightly says, that work is on-going and his own unfailing efforts are contributing to this in no small measure. Many thanks. I now call Dennis Robertson to be followed by Liam McArthur. Thank you very much indeed, Presiding Officer, and, like my fellow colleagues here in the chamber, I congratulate Mark McDonald. Not just for bringing this to the chamber this afternoon, but for being a champion, for being an ambassador and for being someone who is raising the awareness, not just here in Parliament, but within his home city of Aberdeen. I too would like to welcome the guests that are here this afternoon and those who are live-streaming in this particular debate. Presiding Officer, you are absolutely right to congratulate those who took part in achieving the accreditation in the Parliament. In particular, I would probably like to commend Anilla McKenna, who is the qualities manager within the Parliament. Anilla, in her dedication, looking across all aspects of disability is a wonderful asset to this Parliament. I think that we should congratulate all the people that took part in ensuring we had this wonderful award. As my colleague Mark McDonald said, we are the first, Presiding Officer, the first public building in Scotland to achieve this remarkable award. We should not be the last, and this Parliament, I believe, is the foundation for others in Scotland to reach that achievement of being an autistic friendly nation. This Parliament is showing the way. This Parliament, as I have said, is the foundation and it should be an exemplar for others to follow. It means that people visiting here, Presiding Officer, can come with a degree of assurity. Assurity that they will not meet the barriers that often they are met with. As Nanette Milne has said, even visiting a supermarket or to visit somewhere to buy toys will be extremely upsetting and raise people's anxiety to a level that many of us cannot understand. Congratulate toys at us, but one day, one day out of 365, is not enough for our young people with autism to enjoy the experience of going and choosing or playing within that environment. There are organisations that are supporting people with autism. In my constituency of Aberdeenshire West, there is a sensational charity and it brings in people with all different disabilities, but there are many who are on the spectrum of autism. They are there and they have a sensory area that people can play, but enjoy play, Presiding Officer. Enjoy play in the knowledge that they are not inhibited by perhaps loud noise or perhaps bright light because of their sensory or heightened sensory awareness. I was listening earlier on, Presiding Officer, to a wonderful animation film that has been designed by understanding autism. I hadn't actually realised it was an animation film and it was actually describing in, I think, very calm detail of the surroundings and the environment that we all live in from a young boy playing in the park with his mum but who decided it was time to go home and showed his card with the drawing of a house to indicate he'd had enough. He wanted to go home. That was his way, his best way of actually showing that he'd had enough and wanted to go home. Or the young girl at school who was getting excited about the school dance that was coming up and her friend said, what are you wearing in that excitement of going to dance? And the young girl, Lisa, in this occasion described my school uniform because she took the meaning of what are you wearing too literal but that is her world. So we need to understand the world of people with autism and how we communicate and what our environment does in the way of creating barriers. So we should not disable our people with autism. We should embrace their needs and try to find out ways that we have actually found in this Parliament to do so to make it inclusive. Presiding Officer, I think in conclusion we have ambitions for all people with disabilities and we, as Malcolm Chisholm has said is we need to acknowledge that we are all different but that's not a failing. That is something that we should be proud of. Being different isn't something that we should hide behind. Being different makes us who we are and being different is something I applaud. Thank you Presiding Officer. Many thanks. I now call Liam McArthur to be followed by Nigel Dawn. Thank you very much to be Presiding Officer on the eve of World Autism Awareness Day. I too congratulate Mark MacDonald on bringing this debate. I know that as a result of a football injury Mr McDonald is rapidly gaining hopefully a temporary insight into issues of physical access but I think on this issue as others have commented Mark MacDonald has shown a commitment and a dedication to the cause not just within this Parliament but outwith and I would certainly applaud him for those efforts. It's something that the National Autistic Society of Scotland and Scottish Autism are joining on behalf of those affected by autism. The net mill mentioned some of the figures but it's not just the 58,000 or so people in Scotland with autism. As the National Autistic Society pointed out the families affected by autism as well number up to around 230,000. It's a spectrum condition which means that while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty their conditions will affect them in very different ways. Some people are able to live relatively independent lives while others may need a lifetime of specialist support but whatever the level of need all deserve nothing less than to have those needs acknowledged and met. As Markham Chisholm reminded us the theme of autism awareness day this year is employment. That's very fitting indeed. We can all find examples in the communities that we represent across Scotland of employers who are missing out on the abilities and the skills that people with autism can bring to the workplace. There is quite demonstrably a need to address the barriers to employment including a shortage of vocational training inadequate support with job placement and sadly all too pervasive discrimination. Exceptions to this obviously exist but as Graham Day reminded us there is a great deal still left to do. Mark McDonald in his remarks commented on the diagnostic problems and maybe spent a bit of time on that as well according to the research under the Scottish strategy for autism a child waiting from referral to receiving a diagnosis averages around 331 days with some waiting almost 2,000 days for adults the wait is less at 162 days with some still waiting 500 or so days and these are figures that don't actually account for parts of Scotland where there is no diagnostic service available and even where the diagnosis is made the figures from the counters in campaign report suggest that there are still problems involved almost half suggesting the process is highly stressful a quarter find that they are misdiagnosed but many and this was a figure that Mr McDonald referred to but many talk of the relief they feel once a diagnosis is received and this enables access to support of course but I've certainly met those who have had a diagnosis who were simply looking for that as an answer it's not necessarily that they're seeking additional support it's just knowing that this has been confirmed by relevant professionals in Orkney I'm aware of difficulties in getting that referral it's caused huge stress and distress to those affected I welcome the commitment from the chief executive of national NHS Orkney to improve these pathways thanks largely as to be said to the heroic campaigning efforts of Chris McGill and I hope this will deliver real benefits going forward so as a hope for world autism awareness day I think we need to address the fact that there is still a lack of public understanding and awareness and this does feed into a fear or experience of bullying and harassment in all too many occasions in communities world autism awareness day does provide us with an opportunity not only to reflect on the needs of people with autism but to celebrate their contribution as well and commit ourselves to ensuring that others have the chance to do likewise cinemas and theatres are marking the occasion with special screens and performances businesses such as toys are us have been mentioned in holding autism friendly promotions simple steps such as reducing lighting improving signage making staff autism aware enable places to become more accessible for those with autism with my corporate body hat on deputy I too am delighted with the award to the Scottish Parliament the first public building to be awarded in Scotland the autism access award and again put on record my gratitude to the staff for their efforts and commitment and on that message of hope on autism awareness day again can I congratulate Mark McDonald for securing this debate and for his stalwart efforts on behalf of those in Scotland whose lives are touched by autism many thanks and I now call Nigel Dawn thank you very much and again I'd like to thank Mark McDonald for bringing this debate it's a hugely important issue and I'd also like to say the opportunity to congratulate the parliamentary staff on the good work that they have done I find it absolutely no surprise I've always been extremely impressed by the staff in this place it comes as no surprise to me that they've taken this and grasped it I'd like to present at this stage the debate just to pass a few personal reflections and then make a few comments about constituency cases which I hope will inform the debate I have no family experience of autism but as a piano teacher in what feels like very much a former existence now I had one pupil who was an extremely bright lad but clearly had some of those very recognisable difficulties in communication and comprehension but he was a wonderful musician he could play by ear there was no way I could teach him he could do them better than I could do but curiously he struggled I suspect I'm not surprised now to realise with some of the inaccuracies of musical notation you might think it's a wonderfully precise science these dots and dashes but actually a lot of it is very imprecise and he struggled to realise quite when I was telling him don't worry about precisely what's there just play it musically constituency cases and I've had a few I can say first of all that the cases that I'm referring to there's been no shortage of parental engagement so it's very clear that this is the system rather than the particular family environment and I'd like to raise three general issues I'm not going to name anybody of course there was one instance of a young man who was looking beyond school age for fairly secure and protective environment and the difficulty was that there was nothing local and he was being told and his parents were being told that he would have to go the other side of Glasgow so that he could start fairly close to Aberdeen that really is quite some distance away socially not perhaps a huge number of miles but a very long way in terms of the family when I contacted the government about this I was told that it was a local authorities responsibility which I'm sure is absolutely right but it's not difficult to see that maybe some joined up local authority activity would be sensible across the country because of course these kind of protected secure environments we won't need very many of them across Scotland so it might be that some government guidance there would be helpful please speaking in another case I'm coming to the view that there are quite a number of young men again just coming out of school years who struggle to get on either to a voluntary situation or into work and may well become shut in is the term that's been used whereby they essentially retreat to home and often to the bedroom and are very difficult to get out the difficulty as it's explained to me here is that whilst the government provides funding very welcome funding which is good at getting these young folk from a voluntary activity situation into employment that funding appears not to be available to get them from the shut in-ness into that outgoing voluntary activity now I'm assuming that my information is right to the extent that that is the case minister then I think I'm merely putting to you that maybe that is something the government might like to look at and I'd also like to pick up on the point which others have mentioned which is that in many places there doesn't really seem to be much prospective an adult actually being diagnosed I think that's to put it more bluntly than some might we often have bright folk, high achieving graduates but who have social difficulties which are not going to be diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and because they really don't take any of the other social work or welfare boxes then they don't get some of the help which they could certainly use which would be very useful to them and which might well help them not to develop some of the mental illnesses which will subsequently bring back into the system plainly that won't help them but it will also cost us more in the long term so I wonder whether the government has got entirely on some of this long term planning a long term pathways for those who struggle with autism that's my brief input I'm sure the minister will know a lot more about it I think it would be good to know that we're collectively trying to do the best for those who are on the autism spectrum so that we get the best long term solutions for them because at the end of the day as with all people with a disability those with autism are above all people and need to be supported as such thank you many thanks and can I now call on Fiona McLeod to respond to the debate please minister around seven minutes thank you and can I begin to thank my other colleagues in the chamber in congratulating Mark McDonald on securing today's debate and to thank the cross-party members for supporting the motion and also for the cross-party speakers today on their reflective contributions I think I should also point out that Mr McDonald has failed to blow his own trumpet because just this week in recognition of the work that Mark does on this subject he has been invited to become a member of the National Autistic Society Scotland's advisory board can I congratulate him on that and can I wish him well and all the hard work that I know that that will entail we've talked very much about the autism strategy today and I just wanted to take the opportunity the Scottish strategy for autism is now in its third year it was launched in 2011 with a £13.4 million fund 26 recommendations and a 10-year outlook in us trying to achieve that and I'd just like to take the opportunity today to reinforce the Scottish Government's commitment to, through the strategy improving the lives of people with autism and also to highlight some of the key activities that have been taken forward under the strategy raising awareness of autism is a key strategy priority because this will help to ensure that people with autism are treated with fairness and respect as all of us should be the strategy also includes building capacity and awareness within autism services so that people receive an integrated service which is responsive to their needs and I think that integrated service is actually an answer to a lot of the constituency problems that some of the members have raised this evening a major piece of work is under way to roll out a new guidance of training framework to NHS staff this has been developed by NHS Education for Scotland with the active participation of people with autism and autism professionals I think that's incredibly important if we're to understand in our training how to help folk with autism then we have to listen to people with autism when they tell us what training our professionals need this training offers responsive training based on the skills and knowledge of the operational levels of the health professionals I thought that it was really interesting when I read about it it's training for health professionals from those who occasionally are counter in person with autism perhaps the receptionist and a GP surgery all the way up to those who are providing highly specialised support for people with autism this is a highly significant piece of work and I would encourage NHS boards to consider how it could be utilised as a free-funded training opportunity that we've had is over the last three years there's been free training to the open university and through Strathclyde University not just for those working with people with autism but for families and just folk that are interested in knowing how to help folk with autism and over the three years that this OU in Strathclyde University free training has been running it's been oversubscribed every time so I think that perhaps tells us out there that actually understand that they need to be doing something and working with folk with autism certainly very brief Thank you very much Minister, as you were speaking there I wonder if there's the same awareness and training at our dental schools because I was just thinking at dental practice whether there are bright lights and noise and obviously a tactile invasion sometimes I'm just wondering if people at dental school and our dentists have been made aware of people with autism and their particular needs Minister The training that I referred to earlier that's been developed by NHS education for Scotland is for all NHS staff so I would encourage dental practices to take part in that I think it's important that we look at working within the autism community to capacity build and I just wanted to give a mention to a local organisation in my constituency called Aspire which works with young people with autism brings them together I've been along a couple of times and it's amazing to see these young people getting the confidence to go out and do more as a group or as individuals such a hard thing for folk with autism opportunity Nanette Mill mentioned that there were six one-stop shops that the strategy had funded with £1.1 million and one of the lovely things that you're able to do as a minister is I'm able to take this opportunity to announce this evening a further £653,305 to support the six one-stop shops to continue for another year I realise I'm rapidly running out of time I wanted to talk about the autism toolbox a lot of people have mentioned it and I think it is so important education is so important to everybody and through the autism toolbox and the accompanying website we should be able to make sure that we help support pupils with autism and I am absolutely convinced that the approach of the toolbox could lead to significant improvements in autism educational provisions like Graham Day, Nigel Dawn my constituency surgeries have taken up with parents coming worrying about their young children with autism and I do hope that the use of the autism toolbox will ensure that less people will have to come to me and other MSPs can I quickly mention Mark McDonald's campaigning work on relaxed performances absolutely fantastic and lovely to hear from Nanette Mill about Toys Ruzz if anybody should be autism friendly a shop that sells toys for kids but to let Graham Day know that I've also heard about autism friendly swimming sessions which is another step forward autism friendly Aberdeen Mr MacDonald I think that's wonderful Scotland's already a fair trade nation I hope we can move towards being an autism friendly nation and it's not just Aberdeen can I add my congratulations and thanks to the staff of the Parliament on being the first public body to receive the autism access award Employment Malcolm Tism mentioned it only 15 per cent of people with autism are in full time employment and it's fitting that the theme of this year's world autism awareness day is employment the autism advantage increasing employment opportunities for people with autism is a key priority of the strategy there's a number of strategy funded projects which have focused on employment projects search with the city of Edinburgh council into work and also I work for me supporting self-employed people with autism in conclusion there's so much more I could have said but I'm delighted to see so much positive work on going to improve the lives of people with autism I particularly welcome the on going investment in new resources such as the autism toolkit and I applaud the efforts of all concerned with removing barriers to public facilities to allow fair and equal access for all including accessible entertainment and I appreciate that those who are working hard to ensure that all members of society have equal employment opportunities and feel valued because it's the aim of this Government to lead the way in creating a fairer society which not only encourages active participation in that society but also creates opportunities for everyone to create to Scotland's economic success so that we can enjoy the fruits of our hard work and make Scotland a better place for us all and a place we can all feel proud of thank you many thanks minister and that concludes Mark McDonald's debate making Scotland autism friendly and I now close this meeting of parliament


Kanyakumari is the only district in Tamil Nadu to have rubber plantations. The plantations are owned by the state government and several private state owners. However, a large portion of the 1 lakh hectare plantations are owned by small farmers. Around 30,000 workers in these small plantations continue to struggle for minimum wages, job security, and social security measures. The reason for the loss of that asset is that today, in the Malayore area, only 1 lakh hectare area in this rubber plantations has been affected by the life of the plantations. Even in Kerala, during the period of government plantations in Kerala, In the 20th century, there was a man who was still alive, Thoduvelu Kutty, who was now a member of our organization. At one time, in this area, in the Kanyakumari Kuwait, this area was talked about as Kuwait before the war in Kuwait. Because there was a large area of Selvachalipam. At that time, the vehicles were running on this road only. That area was Selvachalipam. When there was a shortage of vehicles, it was used to open all the vehicles that were expected. Thoduvelu people were affected by that. In the unorganized section, about 25,000 to 30,000 Thoduvelu people were working on this. In addition, we will fight against the trade unions in the company business. Now, a big issue is that we are not able to buy a lot of goods in India. This is the only part. Even in Kerala, this is the place. Now, when the government says to give us a minimum of Rs 600, it will not apply there. So, in the agreement that we had made yesterday, we have brought Rs. 50 to a Thoduvelu person. This is not possible to buy directly. The indirect price will be 52% of that. So, the benefit of a Thoduvelu person will be above Rs. 800. We have bought that amount in the fight. This is not organized area. Now, if we reduce the price of a Thoduvelu person, he will have to pay the interest. But when we fight against that, they will tell us not to do that. There is a Thoduvelu that does not have any protection. The workers trek through uneven hilly terrains for tapping and collecting latex from rubber trees from us earlier for a year. The proximity of plantations with the forest areas exposes the workers to wild animal attacks. We have been working there for 10-14 years. We do not have any other plantations there. In Amrinesheet, we do not have any other plantations. We do not have any bonus. We do not have any other plantations. If we come here, we will not have any other plantations. We do not have any other kind of plantations. Even if we want to go tomorrow, we will have to go. In Amrinesheet, we do not have any other plantations. We do not have any other plantations. We do not have any other plantations. If we do not like them, we will not go tomorrow. This is what we are working here. I have been working in Amrinesheet for 50 years. I was 62 years old. I was working in the forest area. We didn't have anything. We had a farm, a pond, a pond. We had a lot of things like this. In 2020, when the rain started in Kanyakumari, there was no rain. 3-4 months, 5 months, the rain started to stop. After the rain stopped, we didn't have anything. The Tamil Nadu government and the other government didn't have anything. We didn't have anything else. We had a lot of things. We had a lot of things. We didn't have anything. The Tamil Nadu government didn't have anything. We didn't have anything. We didn't have anything. We didn't have anything. In the current crisis, when the private forest act was applied in 2010, the affected areas were in this area. That's why the government has been affected by the rains. In this area, if you do anything, if you don't do anything, if you don't do anything, if you don't do anything, it'll take 10 years to overcome. The transport facilities and medical facilities are a far cry for many workers who are employed in the small plantations. Despite continuous protest and demands, the state and union governments are in to show mercy on the daily wages welcoming young mere income. Now, in the field of agriculture, we have a great responsibility to go and work. If we want to go and work, it is not possible to leave the house. The rubber production in the area where the estate works is completely collected, and it is a great responsibility to bring this load to the place where the estate works. When we talk about management, it is said that because there is a lot of rain, it is true that there is a lot of rain. There is not a lot of rain. Now, because it is a rainy season, when the rain falls on the side of the tree, it is possible to come down with a slip while the load falls on the side of the tree. The production will be out, all this will go down. So, the rubber should immediately be taken to the estate market.  They are drinking the water that was washed with the load at the time. There are great blessings in that. But, they are not ready to give full treatment and give it to their own child. That is a big problem and is coming to me today. They are going to think that they did something wrong, but this is happening in their work place. This is a continuous agitation of drinking. If the family is given treatment for this, what they are doing now, it cannot be done. We think that if there is any treatment, if there is no treatment, then the estate is the one to talk about it. That is why they do not have any benefit. They do not have any benefit. First, they do not meet the owner directly. Supervisor says, you have to pay 1,000 rupees for the first time. That is the situation. If there is no one, if there is no one to do this, then you do not have to pay from tomorrow. Now, even now, in that case, let us start. Yesterday, there was a case in the lab. Like this, there was a failure report. It cannot be given. There is no notice. It cannot be given. We have not been able to talk about it. The lab officer said, I am the only consolation officer. I cannot say anything else. They say, you come and say this. I cannot say anything else. I cannot sit next to them and talk. I am the only consolation officer. I can only do Samarasan. Since the situation is like this, there is no need to take the law and make it clear. That is a very big problem. When the failure report goes on, it will be sent to the court for another 5 years. It cannot be said now whether tomorrow will be available or not. In such cases, they will come and say that there is no one to do this. That is why they will go. This is a small number. It has increased significantly. There is a small salary that is not available today. There is also tea. It will be drinking tea for 3 months. It will be drinking that salary. You will get a lot of beef salary. It is called Malayalulsh. If you are working for another day, if you are going to Malayalulsh, you will get that salary. If you come here, if you have come here and just come here, it is not like that. If you come late in the day, it will be Malayalulsh. It will be 10 paise. No difference is this. You will get only that. They all are available now. In that salary, you will get the salary given by the company. In that salary, We are living in our own land, our own home, our own home. We have to find a home in the other parts of the world. We are looking for a place to live in the government's land. We need a place to live in that area.


So, O'Dell Beckham Jr. wasn't even Raven's primary option. I didn't know that. But like my guy Drew, he put it on Twitter, he said, this is one of the first times when he's actually not irritated or upset from hearing about how the Ravens almost landed somebody because we used to hear and knows a lot. And that's what I anticipated with Colin Sutton, with O'Dell Beckham Jr., or with DeAndre Hopkins. I anticipated us hearing about it with whichever one of those three they would have went for. I thought that it was going to be one of those almost things, but oh, the Ravens offered a competitive deal, but anyway, they actually landed O'Dell Beckham Jr., which was a beautiful thing. He had a wonderful press conference earlier today, and he is officially a Baltimore Raven. But as far as the almost, what almost was, let's read it from the athletic from good old Jeff Zribick. He said, still, the side stayed in touch earlier. This offseason, the Ravens weren't prepared to make the financial commitment. It was going to take to land Beckham. And the player was in no hurry to make a decision.  We ain't. We are not trying to spend that bread on you, my friend. You cool. You could be good for us, but I don't know about all that. But then continuing, it says desperate for a quality veteran receiver. The Ravens explored trade and free agent possibilities. And we know that as far as free agency, slim pickings is very slim pickings. There's some, some, some people's out there, but not very much anyway, says at one point, there appeared to be a deal to be made for Cortland Sutton. But the Denver Broncos decided they didn't want to trade him. So Ravens had a deal in place to bring on Cortland Sutton. They were ready. Then the Broncos like, ah, you know what? Like this time it's on the flip side, it's from another team. Oh, you know what? Nah, we changed our minds. We don't want to trade him anymore. No thanks, Baltimore. We'll keep our guy. But again, not mad, not mad because the rate, I'm so glad that the Ravens did not let this stop them because it seems like so many times before, if a deal didn't go through with a deal wasn't made, then the Ravens would be like, all right, well, we tried no other options. We're done. That's it. But not this year, not this offseason, try to trade for Cortland Sutton, attempted to make it happen. Didn't work out. Ravens said, okay, you know what, instead of being done, let's pivot to somebody else. Let's go to Odell Beckham, Jr. And the Ravens, like we keep talking about, the Ravens stepped all the way out there for Odell Beckham, Jr. Because they were like, all right, again, I got a liking into when you're interested in somebody. The Ravens were like, all right, we were interested in Cortland Sutton. We went out there and we put our heart out there for Cortland Sutton. We wore a heart on our sleeves. We really tried, but he shot us down. A lot of people, when they get turned down, that can kill that whole vibe on looking for love. But the Ravens said, no, we're not done. We're going to keep on looking for love. And you know what? That next opportunity that presents itself, we're going to give them an offer that they just simply cannot refuse. They landed Odell Beckham, Jr. And now they found their match. But hopefully, hopefully, and we're going to talk about this more in tomorrow's video, which is already done by the way, but hopefully they are not done looking for more matches, especially at the YRC position. Love y'all. We out.


I don't think necessarily taking a career break means you're on holiday, right? And if you choose to be on holiday, that's fantastic, more power to you. But I think it's about what you do in that time. And how do you, like you said, Carol, right? What have you used that time? I mean, bringing up children is not easy. It's not easy, right? It takes a lot out and thinking about the impact that, you know, imagine the impact you have on a different person on earth. You're bringing in a person on earth who's growing up to be inclusive.   There is so much going on in there. So I would hate to anybody just call that as time off because it's not really time off.


It was a milestone for HMLA 267 and it was our last flight of a whiskey Cobra. So 25 years of flying whiskeys, we got our first one in 1987. So 25 years later we're finally out of the whiskey business. Whiskey was a big part of HMLA history. It saw action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now we're moving on to a bigger and better aircraft. I am really sad to see the whiskey go. It's got the coolest sounding rotor blades on earth. And I'll miss that, but time goes on. For me this is the end of an era and probably the last time I'm going to fly a whiskey. For the rest of the pilots and the squadron, the younger guys, the majority of them are right now in the process of converting over to the Zulu. That whiskey platform has been going strong here obviously for 25 years and still in service overseas, still actively engaged in the fight in OEF, still doing great things. It's bittersweet. We watched the whiskey fly away. It's not the last flight for the whiskey, it's just the last flight for the whiskey here. But somebody has to be first and we're embracing that. The whiskey flies away today. It was our last one. So the beginning of a new era, pretty easy mark on the tape of time. I mean a great helicopter that's had a great history in the Marine Corps. I think when the guys on the ground see a whiskey coming overhead, they know they're going to get some very good support. And I think the whiskey has just been a success story for 25 plus years.


AMD got very lucky to the 20 day demand was sitting there guys keep an eye on this thing again We always have to be prepared for both sides of the market Let's watch AMD for the next couple days because if there is a pull in the next couple of days It starts losing the bottom range here and man this thing could get hit keep an eye on this thing On the short side right look at look at Roku right Roku first closed today below the 10-day moving average If there is weakness in the market, let's keep an eye on this thing for potential for a potential move back down