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fellowstrangetownappreciator · 3 years

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Curious and autistic-coded

Hello there! April draws to an end and with that I think it’s high time to hurry up and write this. What does April have to do with anything, you ask? April is the Autism Acceptance Month. So what better month to do this?

Unfortunately I didn’t make it. I failed. It’s already 1. 5. when I’m posting this. But at least I tried to deliver on time.

In this mini essay I’ll present my case about why I think the Curious brothers from TS2 Strangetown display autistic-coded traits and my personal takes on it.

It’s basically your average headcanon post but with a funny top hat!

0: Preface: What do I mean by “autistic-coded”?

When a character is coded as something, it means that they have traits that are associated with the demographics in question to make the consumer knowingly or not link the character with the demographic, although the character's "label” is never explicitly disclosed.

In the nutshell, it means that there are canonical reasons to read the characters as autistic, although you won't find the word "autism" anywhere in the game nor in the developer's commentary.

In this particular case I do believe that the developer may not even be aware of the code, as there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. If there is, I’m not aware of it and I would be happy to learn.

So, let’s start!

1: “The white male who is very good at science”

Unfortunately autistic representation in pop-culture has a long history of being rather straightforward in which traits the characters often have. This stems from the belief that autism is “a boy’s disorder” (that’s why some autism charities to this day use blue in their symbols). Among popular examples of autistic-coded characters are Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper and Death Note’s L and Near. I’m sure you can think of more but you’ll find that most of them are men and either explicitly white or racially ambiguous white-passing. They also tend to be gifted in tech, logic or other science-y activities.

There’s nothing wrong with that! Nothing wrong with being an autistic with those “stereotypical” characteristics and there is nothing wrong with people being represented. What is wrong is the monotony and afab people/people of color being underrepresented which leads (among other factors) to harder access to diagnosis and resources for those people in real life. But! That’s a topic for a different day. (and not for a simbrl, mind you)

Back to the Curiouses! I just wanted to say that autism in media is traditionally associated with characters whose gender presentation, race and interests align with theirs. Those characteristic thus make a very convenient template for autistic-coding.

2: Inconsistent performance, huge gaps between strengths and weaknesses

Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo are very skilled Sims by default, extraordinarily even for their age. Pascal has a skill maxed while his younger brothers both near maxing theirs.

But as you can see in Pascal’s default skill panel, apart from Creativity, all his other skills are extremely low, 0 points for Mechanical, Body and Charisma, 1 point for Cooking and Logic and his second best skill, Cleaning, has only 3 points. The same situation can be observed in Vidcund’s and Lazlo’s, except their strong suits are Logic and Cooking respectively.

Huge discrepancies within performance in different cognitive areas is a common trait found in those on the autism spectrum. We’re often talking extremes here and the scale of the difference is the defining factor. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, it’s just in neurodivergent people those tend to be unusually noticeable.

I think that skills, simplified as they are, are the closest The Sims has to possibly simulate that because they track the character’s performance and expertise in different areas and allow comparison. In real life, of course, this comparison is not nearly as possible and exact, nor desired, but for all our analysis-loving enthusiasm, here we’re still talking fictional characters.

3: Struggle with social cues

It is widely known that one of autistic traits are difficulties with processing social situations, picking social cues and successfully replicating socially desired behavioral patterns.

But these three are Sims, are they not? They cannot possibly display this trait, since they’re programmed the same way as others.

Yes and no.

It is true that there is no specific in-game feature that would allow Sims to behave with explicit neurodivergency in mind* but with the right combination of traits they can simulate behavior that really hits close to home for neurodivergent players.

*at least not in TS2, TS3 has traits that simulate some possible neurodivergencies but their names tend to be rather... ableist unfortunate and they’re not relevant to this post since they’re not autism related, and even if they were, we’re focusing on TS2 exclusively

Let’s take look at Lazlo here. He is, indeed, a playful soul. He likes to goof around, tell jokes, make others laugh. And since he’s very close to his brother Vidcund, close enough even to Tell Dirty Joke (an interaction that needs quite a high relationship to unlock), he autonomously does just that.

And oh boy, does Vidcund disapprove.

From my personal experience playing them, their relationship usually takes quite a hit from every cheeky joke Lazlo throws Vid’s way. They usually autonomously repair it very quick but it happens often.

But that’s a standard behavior. Vidcund’s very serious, he doesn’t take well to jokes.

No. I mean technically yes, Vid is definitely a grumpy old plant dad but, at least in my game, he tends to accept Lazlo’s jokes. All kinds of them, actually, except for the dirty ones. And Pascal, who technically has even lower Playful points (0 in comparison to Vidcund’s 4), doesn’t seem to mind Lazlo’s poor attempts at grown-up humor.

But! What is it that makes Lazlo try still? What drives him to attempt to make Vidcund laugh with a dirty joke over and over again? (and fail?)

I my interpretation, Lazlo doesn’t do that on purpose, he is just really poor at evaluating “dirtiness” of a given joke and frequently misinterprets Vidcund’s cues. The animation of a dirty joke being rejected even supports that as Vid doesn’t signal his discomfort with any exaggerated easy-to-read facial expression until Lazlo gets to his punchline.

No only that but as I mentioned, the invisible lines between spicy and too vulgar are often hard to thread. I can recall many times I thought I was saying a witty quip on an “adult” topic and was met with awkward silence or someone shushing me because “that’s not how you speak in public”. I can well imagine myself in Lazlo’s shoes.

A situation of social cues being misinterpreted or ignored can be observed also in Vidcund. Programming-wise, those are just his low Niceness and extreme Shyness showing but combined they again paint a picture of a very neurodivergent-looking behavioral pattern.

He often behaves like the concept of politeness or social rules doesn’t exist because the combination of the aforementioned traits makes him come off very blunt (lecturing and shoving telescope-peepers with no warning whatsoever) and distant (having a high chance of rejecting simple small-talk socials).

(That’s Jasmine Rai casting the “Summon Vidcund” spell.)

Yes, I am fully aware that it makes a stronger case for him being an a**hole than autistic but... there’s no reason he can’t be both. Not all autistic people are sweet cinnamon buns, all personalities you can think of can be neurodiverse and, for some their neurodiversity can even amplify their inconsiderate ways, as I believe it is the case with our dear grouch Vidcund.

4. Their bios

“No matter what happens, Pascal believes there is a logical explanation for everything. In his free time, he practices home psychoanalysis and collects conspiracy theories.”

(that’s how I imagine practicing psychoanalysis looks like, sorry Freud)

“Serious and exact, Vidcund strives to fit the universe into a nice tidy package. He has an unnatural fondness for African violets.”

(let’s collectively pretend those are African violets)

“Not as studious as his older brothers, Lazlo got his degree in Phrenology. He likes to call phone psychics and spends hours trying to bend forks with his mind.”

*error: screenshot of Lazlo bending forks not found*

(but here he is hanging out with Erin Beaker, the closest thing to “calling phone psychics” you can actually do in-game)

Both Pascal’s and Vidcund’s bios point to a pattern-focused worldview with a strong emphasis on rationality as the center-point that anchors the way they understand the world around them and build their principles on. This “pattern-ization” of thinking is a common autistic trait, with rationality being a popular theme because emotions tend to be difficult to access and asses for many of us.

Lazlo’s biography is an outlier. But it still has something significant in common with those of his brothers: All three of their bios allude to a potential special interest of sorts.

Special interests as an autism-related term are very specific, in-depth and long-term hobbies or areas of expertise that make an autistic person happy and they tend to go to seemingly exhausting lengths, often at the cost of other areas of knowledge and most likely the person’s ability to talk about anything else for a long enough time. (a loving hyperbole, no disrespect meant) Mine are my characters and cats. An even more intense but a short(er)-term passion is called a hyperfixation.

Them potentially having a special interest is yet another possible autistic-coded feature.

5. Wait. Why does it matter?

Right. What does it matter if a Sim (A SIM) (or two or three) is autistic? What do I hope to achieve, pushing my autistic Curiouses agenda down your throats?

I got to write a long rant-piece about some of my favorite TS characters and I feel like I can finally die satisfied.

Apart from that and me sharing my happiness of finding some good pixels I can relate to, it is a matter of representation.

Remember by the very beginning I wrote how most of the representation our community gets in media tends to be just a one specific type of character?

And how the Curious brothers seem to fit the stereotype to a point?

There is something I omitted, something I saved for the last on purpose.

The role. The role in their story, the role in the society the piece of media portrays.

We often see neurodiverse, autistic or autistic-coded character as children, students, villains, lone savants, victims in distress, comedic relief sidekicks, either very vulnerable and needing protection, or detached and having their role defined only by their academic prowess or their special interest/profession.

What we rarely get to see them as, are... parents.

That’s what many of us autistics are or plan to be someday in the future. The dogma around autism has started to dwindle relatively recently and there are little to no examples of autistic adults being the care-givers for once in the media around us.

The Curious brothers are just that. They are chaotic, they are eccentric, they can be a little too much... but they are dutiful and loving fathers/uncles to their little aliens they raise.

They make it work. Even if they face difficulties, even if they don’t exactly fit the standard.

“Sometimes, a family truly can be three brothers raising alien babies, and it’s beautiful.”

It encourages us to define family by love rather than traditional structures and it shows us that portrait of a functional neurodiverse family we need to see.

And goodness, is it a powerful sight.

#the sims 2 #the sims #ts2 #simbrl #pascal curious #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #autism acceptence month #headcanon #actuallyautistic #autistic curiouses agenda #please someone take tumbrl from me

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lecosmiquesorciere · 6 years

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“There ain’t no wrong way of talking, you buster!”

One of the terms that I hate the most is “proper English”; it’s archaic and implies that people who prefer to use other forms of speaking rather than standard are ignorant. Yo, it’s 2018!!! People must understand that language is flexible, and as an abstract concept, it is always up to changes and variations. You’re not better than anyone for saying “they were doing” instead of “they been doing”!!! Language is a social construction, which means it was all made up, the grammar rules we’re studying weren’t magically conceded to the human race in some point of the Stone Age, they were created and changed by the speakers over the years and throughout history. The US is a country build on people of color’s slavery and genocide, who are still suffering marginalization till nowadays, one of those consequences is the prejudice with their dialects and accents. In this composition, I’m going to talk about linguistic prejudice in the US, especially when it comes to AAVE (African American Vernacular English) and Latino accent.

It is no coincidence that a population that has historically been ridiculed and despised would have its characteristic speech variety treated the same way. The prejudice with AAVE (colloquially called Ebonics) is an old ghost that frequently haunts its talkers. Most standard English speakers might think it is either improper, slang or a form of speech used by uneducated people and criminals, this kind of vision is built on white supremacists visions, in which black people are always seen as ignorant or violent. Also, AAVE is commonly used as if it was nothing but a piece of comedy, from the 1800’s scenic abominations of song-and-dance, where caricatures of black folks were made by a white piece of sh*ts minstrels to the early 2000’s “politically incorrect” comedies. Despise what imbecile people use to say, African American Vernacular English is no joke, it is a serious dialect with its own grammar rules, variations, and phonology, and linguists have been studying it since early 1970’s. AAVE is not “ghetto”, there are professors, doctors, advocates, and all kinds of people who make use of it, nor it is a black ‘language’, since there’s a lot of black people who have never employed it.

African American Vernacular English and Latino accents and dialects walk side by side, and since I’m a Latina who happens to speak in AAVE, I can tell ya pretty well about how most of English speakers can be quite the assholes when it comes to different forms of speech ; a couple of years ago, after a long pause on my English courses, I finally had guts to return to a classroom and find a way to get my TOEFL degree (even though I was fluent already, this stuff is important as heck) and finish the goddamn courses for once. In our first class, there were very few students, and the professor decided to make a quick conversation with us, asking some questions about our objectives as language students and what kind of trouble we’ve been having so far while learning, and one thing that caught my attention was how most people answered that their biggest objective so far was to lose their accent, even though this was nothing new to me (actually, speech courses that promise to make you speak like a “””real American””” aren’t rare in Latin America countries) I started to think about it. You see, when a ‘gringo’ come here, the first thing Brazilians say it’s how beautiful their accent is (as long as they’re white) but in another hand, if we speak in our Latino accent while traveling to the US, we may be seen as uneducated, and stuff may get even worse if we speak or mother language while traveling abroad! Even if we speak Latino accent around other Brazilians, we may be judged (I’m not sure how the stuff is in other Latin America countries, but here, English speakers are elitist as heck) and seen as if we aren’t fluent.

I don’t even get mad or sad anymore when I’m on the internet talking Portuguese with my homies in a Buzzfeed post or something and some random American baby boomer comes telling us to speak English. Gurl, I’m trilingual and you barely know how to talk in the language you’re telling me to speak, the time y’all spent being assholes could be the time you could spend learning about a new culture (even though most of these people don’t give a single f*ck about anything that comes from out of the white countries) It’s funny to see how most of the people who are annoyed by Latinos speaking in their mother language can only speak English. Since I’ve never gone to the US, I have no idea how the feeling from suffering this kind of stuff live and in color is, but unless you’re living in a cave, everyone knows about what has been happening to Latinos there. Yo, all this stuff is happening right now, in 2018!!! Man, we should’ve been already discussing stuff like androids rights, marriage between humans and aliens, etc, not 1930’s-like stuff!!!

To conclude this, I’d like to send a shout out to all my black and Latino brothers and sisters who are still facing this so primitive hate; never forget that your accent is valid, your dialect is valid. If you speak it, then honor it, if you don’t, give the respect it deserves, this is your culture, even if you speak standard, your ancestors didn’t. No matter what kind of stuff assholes say, no one is worse for not speaking standard, as I said before; the biggest objective of speech is communication, and language is not like mathematics, where two plus two always gives us four, language is abstract and fluid, it is a social construction, a concept created to make its understanding and learning easier, but it’s not resumed on the stuff we learn from school books, it is so much more, it changes every minute and will never stop changing. Period! Just imagine if William Shakespeare heard a Harvard professor giving a lecture, he would for sure be shocked and think that everyone there who is speaking standard American English is an illiterate pirate talking in a poor and primitive dialect.

#yo this is my composition for ccbeu's project yaay #linguistics #aave #black positivity #latino pride #black pride #accent #dialect #language #polyglot #languages #latinx culture #latinx community #studying #composition #writers on tumblr #english #african american vernacular english #african american pride

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dfroza · 4 years

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it matters what kind of foundation your life and heart is built upon

whether upon truth or a lie.

Today’s reading from the book of Luke:

On a certain Sabbath Jesus was walking through a field of ripe grain. His disciples were pulling off heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands to get rid of the chaff, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing that, breaking a Sabbath rule?”

But Jesus stood up for them. “Have you never read what David and those with him did when they were hungry? How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? He also handed it out to his companions.”

Then he said, “The Son of Man is no slave to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”

On another Sabbath he went to the meeting place and taught. There was a man there with a crippled right hand. The religion scholars and Pharisees had their eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the man, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. He knew what they were up to and spoke to the man with the crippled hand: “Get up and stand here before us.” He did.

Then Jesus addressed them, “Let me ask you something: What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?”

He looked around, looked each one in the eye. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out—it was as good as new! They were beside themselves with anger, and started plotting how they might get even with him.

At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles:

Simon, whom he named Peter,

Andrew, his brother,

James,

John,

Philip,

Bartholomew,

Matthew,

Thomas,

James, son of Alphaeus,

Simon, called the Zealot,

Judas, son of James,

Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:

You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.

God’s kingdom is there for the finding.

You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.

Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.

You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.

Joy comes with the morning.

“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.

But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made.

What you have is all you’ll ever get.

And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself.

Your self will not satisfy you for long.

And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.

There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.

“There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

He quoted a proverb: “‘Can a blind man guide a blind man?’ Wouldn’t they both end up in the ditch? An apprentice doesn’t lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

“It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

“You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

“Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.

“If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”

The Book of Luke, Chapter 6 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 3rd chapter in Joshua where God held up the waters of the Jordan to allow the people to cross on dry ground:

Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.”

Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.”

Joshua instructed the priests, “Take up the Chest of the Covenant and step out before the people.” So they took it up and processed before the people.

God said to Joshua, “This very day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. They’ll see for themselves that I’m with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You will command the priests who are carrying the Chest of the Covenant: ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, stand there on the river bank.’”

Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “Attention! Listen to what God, your God, has to say. This is how you’ll know that God is alive among you—he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what’s before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it—the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Chest of God, Master of all the earth, touch the Jordan’s water, the flow of water will be stopped—the water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap.”

And that’s what happened. The people left their tents to cross the Jordan, led by the priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant. When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest), the flow of water stopped. It piled up in a heap—a long way off—at Adam, which is near Zarethan. The river went dry all the way down to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea). And the people crossed, facing Jericho.

And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.

The Book of Joshua, Chapter 3 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, August 4 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

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eddiejpoplar · 6 years

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Cradle of the Restoration Craft

Where will we find the next generation of automotive restorers? It’s easy to picture an eager young apprentice learning at the knee of a grizzled old panel-beater, and indeed that does still happen. But an increasing number of these future artisans come from a small liberal arts college on the windswept Kansas plain—and many of them are eagerly snapped up by some of the country’s finest restoration shops.

Industry pundits may bemoan the apparent lack of interest in cars among young people, but a quick drive through the McPherson College parking lot proves car culture is alive and well. And we’re not just talking about tuner cars and modern metal—you’ll find students driving classic Mopars, Model Ts, International Harvester pickups, and everything in between.

McPherson students show an unexpected enthusiasm for brass-era cars like this 1917 Willys-Knight. The holistic education they receive is essential in restoring such classics.

Among the jobs we saw in progress at this school an hour north of Wichita: a 1906 Cadillac engine on the rebuild bench, a 1917 Willys-Knight with a sleeve-valve engine being readied for the road, and a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300S Cabriolet in the early stages of a restoration that will eventually take it to Pebble Beach. Our spring visit coincided with the presentation of senior projects, which included a 1969 Corvette chassis meticulously restored to National Corvette Restorers Society standards, right down to the factory-correct paint overspray on the bell housing. One student lectured on the legacy of the Duesenberg brothers while others recounted their experience hand-building new panels for a collision-damaged Camaro.

“I like to expose them to the work in the chronological way it was done from the beginning.”

The auto restoration program at McPherson began in 1976 when local businessman Gaines “Smokey” Billue donated his 125-car collection to the school in the hopes it could raise the next generation of automotive restorers. Initially established as a two-year program, McPherson has used grants and donations from Mercedes to expand the program to four years (in 2003) and from the likes of Jay Leno to fund scholarships. Today, McPherson says it offers the only bachelor’s degree in automotive restoration, with concentrations in restoration technology, management, communications, history, and design.

“After this program, you have the knowledge to take a car from basket case to fully restored,” senior William Strickler says. “You can do every step of that process.”

What separates McPherson’s auto restoration curriculum from a tech school? The inclusion of a full raft of liberal arts courses is a major component, but what really stands out is the enthusiasm and respect shown for automotive history. The program concentrates on cars built before 1970, and a surprising number of students have developed a passion for cars as far back as the brass era.

“If they’re interested in tuners, which is not that un-common here, they end up gaining an appreciation for the Model T and the Model A,” says Garrick Green, who teaches woodwork. “Not that they’re technically wonderful cars, but they’re technically significant. They mark significant points in automotive history where something has changed.”

History is a fundamental element regardless of the task at hand. “Whether you’re taking drivetrain or engine rebuilding, they’re going to teach you history,” Davis Bint, a third-year student, says. “If you’re coming to school for classic cars, you should understand the emphasis of what history does for them.”

Technical schools tend to concentrate on modern repair methods; McPherson, however, teaches the techniques needed to work on older vehicles. Students in the basic engine rebuilding course overhaul a small-block Chevrolet V-8. “You can learn all the fundamentals on that engine,” Curt Goodwin, an engine professor, says. In the advanced class, they move on to the Model A engine, which Goodwin calls “the small-block Chevy of the past.” McPherson also offers a class on Babbitt bearings, which are used on antique engines and are poured as molten metal directly into the block.

“I didn’t expect the depth we go into,” Bint says. “We cover important steps and important names—guys in the 1800s patenting things that are still used on cars.” Bint, like many of the students we spoke with, sees the positive influence this can have on his career. “You can speak fluently to someone at Pebble Beach who has a one-off Duesenberg,” he says. “You understand the car and know the history. It does a lot more for you in the car world than, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty Duesenberg.’”

McPherson delves not only into the history of the automobile but also the history of the processes used to build it. Woodworking students start off by hand-building a mallet from blocks of wood. Basic machining classes use World War II-surplus South Bend lathes from Boeing’s Wichita factory; sheetmetal students form 3-D teardrops from flat metal.

“I like to expose them to the work in the chronological way it was done from the beginning,” sheetmetal professor Ed Barr says. “Before power hammers, [metal workers] were creating crown panels on flat, clean pieces of steel, banging the metal into shot bags or stumps. So our first shaping exercise is in that mode.

“The work we’re doing here is very, very specialized,” he continues. “We’re using techniques that are completely archaic, like lead solder. It takes a lot more understanding of what is happening in the metal and how to control that metal. It’s good to know these techniques because sometimes people will insist that cars are restored using the original methods.”

Those antiquated techniques aren’t just used for antiquated restorations, though. “We practice a particular skill, like cutting dovetails,” Green says. “Is it all about the dovetails? No, it’s about accurate marking, layout, doing precise work with a good, sharp chisel. Those are the kind of things that are transferable to any project.”

Michael Dudley, who teaches the interior trim class, also stresses the importance of history. “The evolution of materials and trim is a big topic,” he says, “because students need to be able to look at a car and say, ‘This [material] wasn’t used then. That’s too early.’”

Although many of the students who come to McPherson’s Auto Restoration program are lifelong gearheads, most are inexperienced in some aspects of auto restoration, and a few have no car experience.

“One student had a master’s degree in music,” Goodwin says. “He knew zero about cars when he started, but he was like a sponge. He was one of my better students—he just soaked it up. That’s the kind of kids we get here. They’re really hungry. They ask good questions. They’re curious. If they’re willing to learn, we’ll spend the time.”

Barr also appreciates students who come in with a clean slate. “They don’t have any bad habits coming in,” he says, “and they are bright-eyed and eager to learn.”

Nearly all of the instructors have master’s degrees, and all but one are alumni of the program. “All of the professors are wonderful,” third-year student Paige Milem says. “They go above and beyond their duties. Curt, the engine professor, has come up here a couple of weekends and stayed past 10 p.m. helping me get my engine together. They are incredible people. And the students here are just the same.”

“You’re not going to find a community of young people that are as universally interested in cars as you’ll find here.”

Although the program aims to give them a broad base of skills, students often find themselves specializing in areas they initially had no interest in.

“I had no experience with upholstery,” Strickler says. “I came into the Intro to Trim class and learned everything. I’m in advanced trim this semester, and I did an entire interior for my 1970 F-350 Crew Cab. I did what a 1970 King Ranch would have looked like, with a dark tobacco vinyl for the bolsters and a tight-woven tan and dark brown cloth for the centers.”

Using hand tools, students at McPherson College learn period-correct methods of restoration and repair.

For some students, forays into a new topic are the pathways to a career. Senior Tim Kortevin served an internship at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, California, and has since been offered a job after graduation.

“I never had any experience [with interior trim] in the past,” he says. “I came in here with mechanical experience and figured I might want to build engines. I had no idea that I would want to do upholstery.” As part of his internship, Kortevin restored a large portion of the interior of a Gullwing, including both front seats. This year, his interior—along with the rest of the car—will go to Pebble Beach.

The Mercedes-Benz Center has hired several McPherson graduates, as have the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and Paul Russell and Company, a Massachusetts restoration house with a long list of The Quail, Pebble Beach, and Amelia Island winners to its name. Chris Hammond, a restoration technician who specializes in electrical systems for Paul Russell, graduated from McPherson in 2003.

“I’m humbled by these students every day. They’re smart, and they’re going to do great things.”

“There’s an aspect of dedication to what they are doing,” Hammond says of young McPherson grads. “They tend to be dedicated, they work the hours they need to, they take direction well, and they are good team players. That’s important on a big project, which needs a lot of collaboration.”

McPherson students also graduate with a well-rounded education. “A lot of the restoration shops we’re talking to, they like that our students are broadly educated,” Green says. “We can’t provide a 20-year veteran, but we can provide someone who understands the implications of automobiles in our society and has a good worth ethic.”

Alex Heikamp, a graduating senior who aspires to own a Jaguar restoration shop, worked on the NCRS restoration of the 1969 Corvette chassis as his senior project. “When I came here, I didn’t really know anything about cars,” he says. “I rebuilt a few engines with my friends, but I’d never really dug deep into the theory. The school has really helped open my eyes.”

“I came here to expand my horizons,” adds Chris Hughes, Heikamp’s partner on the Corvette. “What coming here has taught me is a wide array, from interior to paint and metalwork and engines, everything about every aspect of a restoration. You’re not going to find a community of young people that are as universally interested in cars as you’ll find here.”

Goodwin, the engine professor, agrees. “I’m humbled by these students every day,” he says. “They’re smart, and they’re going to do great things.”

In many cases, they already have.

The post Cradle of the Restoration Craft appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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jesusvasser · 6 years