#esdm

So one of the like... three or four main reasons I moved out to Colorado was to learn and try out ESDM - or Early Start Denver Model. For those that don't know, its a relatively new but highly regarded (albeit some traditional ABA fans dislike it apparently, go figure) due to its active incorperation of developmental and attachment based studies + having some of the most robust research

The thing that has me humoring it at all is that they really dont do any discrete trial training (DTT) or any dedicated "work time" and everything is based in pro-stim play therapy

I heard of it first from my time in university cause the university I went to actually had one of the largest labs participating in research for the treatmenr and I heard it actually from one of their autistic researchers which they do actively look to hire on the labs page

I ALSO ran it by a vibe check from what my therapist (autism specialist, hates ABA) to see what hes heard and thought of it and he hasn't had extensive access to it, but all hes heard and seen is positive stuff and had no outstanding concerns

And so as a hardcore traditional ABA hater who would rather die than do traditional ABA again in ANY form under even the "best clinic" - I was genuinely just curious to see what the hype is

I'm honestly a skeptic despite what I've heard, but I'm on day three of training and (honestly have been doing petty tests to see how dedicated they are to supporting neurodiversity by not only NOT masking actively just stating any reserves I have and dissing traditional ABA whenever I get the chance) so far... I hesitantly want to say I think its living up to the hype???

Tomorrow is when we talk about how we handle "challenging behavior" so I'm KIND of waiting for the second shoe to drop cause if it does at any point in training, it would be there.

But genuinely, compared to what I saw in ABA clinics and even the non-ABA special education (for kids with extra support academically, developmentally or emotionally) classrooms, the kids genuinely seem to be having a much better of a time and actually wanting to be here.

It'll probably be a few months of actually working here before I have a firm stancd about what I think about it but I figured Id document some thoughts and observations I had on the treatment as I didn't see much of anyone talking about it in any "hey I actually hate ABA but do acknowledge that some neurodivergent kids need early support that create a high demand for care that is hard to meet with the current structure of mental health care and availibility of therapists and so I would really like to genuinely see something not traumatizing that can help" cause I personally am hesitant to trust "research" on anything based on ABA cause "research" exists for ABA as well

145. Samra - “Miracle” Azerbaijan 2016

We continue maneuvering ourselves through ironically lovable carcrashes. On today’s menu we have this mélange of plated goldleaf and frizzy hairdo, from the fine vintage year of 2016. 🍷

Naturally, Samra kickstarts Postmodern Azerbaijan; a safe-sounding “modern” electropop song that is a barely disguised shitfest and overstaged accordingly <3 Of course the true unravelling only begins once Samra picks up her ~gilded~ microphone and starts beating together a misophonic nightmare. <3 Azerbaijan’s solution to the vocal mediocity? Force Samra’s dancers to provide backing vocals, the only people in the world (besides Hannah Mancini) who are even worse at singing than she is.😍 We truly are not worthy. 😍

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144. Getter Jaani - “Rockefeller street” Estonia 2011

OMG Getter <3 I don’t think it’s hard for you to see why I stan her: She is probably... the most annoying entrant in this rankdown?😍  Constantly shrieking, constantly mugging the camera, constantly pulling silly magic tricks, surrounding herself with literal pre-teen dancers (or um Russians, who are known to not age between 12 and 37). Topped off with your usual nonsensical Lõhmus Lyrics: 1-2-7-3 DOWN THA ROCKAFELLA STREET. 

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143. Pastora Soler - “Quedaté conmigo” Spain 2012

Time for a little break from all the #2Hot2Trot garbage, so let me instead rate the weird anomaly that is “Quedaté conmigo” one of the rare cases where Spain got it right? 🤔

Now, most entries around Pastora rank here because they were entertaining trainwrecks, but this doesn’t apply to her. I rank Pastora this high because she wasn’t a living, screaming mess. 2012 was a year of utter disappointment so the few songs that actually impressed me were like PURE OXYGEN. It’s even more impressive that this entry came from Spain, of all countries: when Spain is never not loud and shrill, including when they send ballads (El <3 Dancing in the rain <3 Vuelve conmigo <3) and it’s nice to see them break character for once with a piece of cateyed realness. 😻

It is only fitting, imo, to rank her in the middle of deafeningly loud insanity, like an oasis of tranqulity, so that you can, hopefully, experience the full potential of the Pastora Soler experience, which I personally found to be a vey pleasant and calming one. 🤗

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142. El Sueño de Morfeo - “Contingo hasta el final” Spain 2013

And now BACK WE GO to the deafening loudness Spain is usually known for! ESDM throw me for a bit of a loop, actually. Do I ironically stan *this* vocal mess? 🤔 I kind of do <3 Screaming Spanish ladies <3 Somehow avoiding last place lmfao. <3

It’s a tough question because “Contigo hasta el final” is in fact an AMAZING song. Yes, Ethno-folk banger <3 Bagpipes <3 Lowkey figments of epicness <3 This song just inherently feels like a ~journey~ through a magical world. It’s very, very underrated.

So yes, I definitely WANT to stan what a barefoot-walking Kraljic-esque catastrophe Raquel was (”WID YOU ANTEEL DEE EEEEEND”) but I mostly am frustrated that a song which I could’ve unironically adored has to be relegated to Ironic Love due to vocal imcompetence. It will only get worse from here on out...

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141. Nina Zilli - “L’amore è femmina” Italy 2012

...because Nina has the exact same problem as EDSM except here I don’t even bother with unironic stanning. I’m all for self-fulfilling prophecies, but not when I’m the abused partner in a relationship. 

Let us start with the good bits first: “L’amore è femmina” is... one of my favourite Eurovision songs of ALL TIME. Like legit. It’s one of only two songs that is on my off-season playlist. It’s a glittering diamond compressed together from feisty jazz, female empowerment and endless hairspray, a song whose fierce intelligence burns brighter than Chinese firecrackers. Check out the studio if you haven’t already. You won’t fall OUT OF LOVE with this song sent from above. 😻

Which brings me to the giant elephant in the room: the live performance of “l’amore è femmina” is GARBAGE. Nina and her backing vocalists were atrocious. So bad I can’t even spin in my usual nihilistic spiel of worshiping badness for the heck of it. This beautiful song was ~wrecked beyond all recognition~ by awful acoustics and it’s TRAGIC.

Which brings me to the hardest question of all: Where do I rank this? Here, in the high light green, along the entries I rate as seven-out-of-tens, I think is the best spot. Any lower is an insult to the song. Any higher is sugarcoating how bad the live truly was. Mind, there is still SOME spunk and feistiness to be found in the live and I don’t think the acoustics are Nina’s fault. Everyone had bad soundmixing, with technical difficulties killing off monitors hither and yon. The technical failures just hit Nina harder than most. It’s not much, but it gives the live a small silver lining.

So here we are, discussing one of two Eurovision songs whose studio version I prefer over the live performance, whom I ipso facto treat like a non-ESC song because the canonical version is too painful to live through. I don’t really want to dwell on “L’amore è femmina” being disappointing though. I still cherish the song itself, although the Eurovision version is sadly not as good. 😭 PS: The other song I mentioned will go next, and by now you should be able to tell which one it is...

Dewasa ini, Energi menjadi komoditi primer yang mutlak dipenuhi oleh suatu Negara. Namun kini kebutuhan akan energi tidak sejalan dengan ketersediaanya. Energi fossil yang saat ini digunakan akan segera habis dalam kurun waktu tertentu jika tidak diantisipasi dengan bijak. Berdasarkan data tahun 2014 dari Kementerian Energi Sumber Daya Mineral (ESDM), konsumsi energi listrik nasional itu mencapai 199 TWh. Berdasarkan data dari Masyarakat Energi Terbarukan Indonesia (METI) menyebutkan bahwa sekitar 40% konsumsi energi nasional masih berasal dari energy fossil. Saat ini energy fossil tersebut merupakan sumberdaya alam yang berasal dari batubara, minyak bumi dan gas. Sebagaimana kita ketahui bersama bahwa energy fossil sulit untuk diperbaharui, butuh waktu jutaan tahun agar ketersediaan energy fossil kembali tersedia. Hal ini diperkuat pula melalui Wakil Menteri Energi Sumberdaya Mineral, Archandra Tahar, yang menyebutkan bahwasanya cadangan energi fossil Indonesia saat ini sebanyak 3,65 miliar barel akan segera habis dalam kurun waktu 12 tahun kedepan. Maka dari itu, Energi baru terbarukan menjadi alternatif untuk menggantikan energi fossil yang semakin menipis.  

Energi baru terbarukan memiliki ketersediaan yang sangat melimpah. Terlebih Negara kita Indonesia merupakan Negara yang berada di khatulistiwa. Sehingga dapat menerima panas matahari secara optimal. Tumbuhan dan Hewan tumbuh dan berkembang dengan optimal. Indonesia pun diapit oleh dua samudera, yaitu samudera Hindia dan Samudera Pasifik yang diantaranya terdapat arus laut dunia. Indonesia pun berada diantara dua benua besar, yaitu benua Asia dan benua Australia yang setiap enam bulan sekali terjadi perpindahan angin secara global (Angin Monsoon atau Musim). Proses alam ini menghasilkan angina yang cukup kencang dan gelombang di pantai yang pecah menyeruak menghantam batuan karang. Selain itu Indonesia pun tepat berada diantara dua pegunungan dunia yaitu Sirkum Mediterania dan Sirkum Pasifik. Pegunungan muda ini merupakan kejadian alam dari pergerakan lempeng dunia yang menyebabkan tingginya aktifitas tektonisme dan vulkanisme di Indonesia. Maka konsekuensi dari aktifitas tersebut adalah banyaknya gunung-gunung api di Indonesia, kelimpahan sumberdaya panas bumi dan gas alam yang tinggi, bahan tambang seperti emas, perak, tembaga, timah dan lain-lain tersedia di bumi Indonesia. Semua kekayaan alam Indonesia dalam bentuk abiotic dan biotik dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai sumberdaya energy baru terbarukan. Sebagaimana yang sudah penulis paparkan diatas, contoh aspek abiotic yang dimanfaatkan sebagai energy meliputi panas matahari, gelombang laut, tenaga angin, panas bumi (geothermal), tenaga air (PLTA, microhydro, minihydro, pikohydro), energy nuklir dan lain-lain. Sedangkan contoh dari aspek biotik yang dapat dimanfaatkan menjadi energy adalah aktifitas mikro organisme (Microbial fuel cell). Bahkan residu dari aktifitas makhluk hidup pun dapat dimanfaatkan menjadi energy baru terbarukan seperti biogas dari limbah ternak, dan pembangkit listrik tenaga sampah dari sisa limbah industry dan rumah tangga. (Pada tulisan selanjutnya, saya akan mengupas tuntas satu persatu terkait diversifikasi dari energy baru terbarukan yang saya paparkan diatas.)

Selain itu energy baru terbarukan memiliki kelebihan lain yaitu ramah terhadap lingkungan (environmental friendly). Polusi yang dihasilkan jauh lebih sedikit dibandingkan sumberdaya energy yang berasal dari energy fossil. Sehingga pemanfaatan energy baru terbarukan sangat strategis untuk memenuhi kebutuhan energy nasional yang sesuai dengan program Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK RI) untuk mengurangi limbah industri (Zero Waste).

Saat ini pemerintah terus mendorong pengembangan energi baru terbarukan yang mengacu pada Blueprint Pengelolaan Energi Nasional 2010-2025 November 2007 dan Kebijakan Energi Nasional (KEN) dalam Peraturan Pemerintah No. 79 tahun 2014, yang menargetkan prosentase pemanfaatan energi baru terbarukan dalam bauran energi nasional minimal sebesar 23% pada tahun 2025. Kebijakan Energi Nasional ini pun dijabarkan melalui Peraturan Presiden No. 22 tahun 2017 terkait Rencana Umum Energi Nasional (RUEN) yang disepakati dalam sidang Dewan Energi Nasional (DEN) ketiga pada 22 Juni 2016. Kemudian peraturan terkait hal ini semakin diperjelas dengan hadir Keputusan Menteri ESDM No 1415 K/20/MEM/2017 yang berisi terkait pengesahan Rencana Usaha Penyediaan Tenaga Listrik (RUPTL) untuk periode 2017-2026. Peraturan ini menjelaskan terkait efisisen energy penyediaan listrik selama sepuluh tahun kedepan serta memfokuskan mengenai bauran energy baru terbarukan.

Pada faktanya, Indonesia saat ini masih sangat ketergantungan terhadap energy fossil. Porsi pemanfaatan energy baru terbarukan masih sangat rendah yaitu baru sekitar 5%. Maka dari itu, pemerintah menggenjot kementerian ESDM, pemerintah daerah, dan pihak swasta untuk bisa merealisasikan program ini agar dalam kurun waktu 8 tahun kedepan terjadi peningkatan konsumsi energy baru terbarukan sebesar 23%.

Bertepatan dengan momentum ulang tahun Indonesia yang ke-72. Kedaulatan energy kita kembali berduka, pasalnya kita mendapatkan kabar yang cukup sedih dari industri gas alam kita. Bukan karena gas alam kita dicuri, hilang atau meledak. Tapi karena gas alam kita yang sangat melimpah ruah. Hanya teronggok begitu saja didalam perut bumi, tidak dimanfaatkan secara optimal. Sebab kabarnya pemerintah dalam hal ini Menteri Koordinator Kemaritiman, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, akan mengimpor gas alam cair atau Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) dari Negara tetangga kita, Singapura, untuk pembangkit listrik di sejumlah lokasi di Indonesia. Padahal Singapura tidak memiliki cadangan gas alam sama sekali. Negara singapura hanya berperan sebagai ‘tengkulak’ yang mendapatkan gas alam dari Negara lain kemudian menjualnya kembali. Ironis, Negara Indonesia yang begitu kaya akan tambang gas alamnya, memiliki cadangan gas alam sebesar 101,2 Triliun Cubic Feet (TCF), tetapi kini justru mengimpor gas alam dari Negara lain yang bukan penghasil gas alam.

www.esdm.go.id

 Sumber:

https://finance.detik.com/energi/3600581/singapura-tawarkan-lng-untuk-pembangkit-di-ri

http://setkab.go.id/ruen-rencana-umum-energi-nasional/

http://ekonomi.metrotvnews.com/energi/Gbm6Rqyk-ruptl-2017-2026-fokus-efisiensi-penyediaan-listrik

If there is anything I have to take about my first two weeks working in a clinic that does ESDM and has a strong and loud focus on trauma-informed care and strong and firm rules against basically any form of punishment, it's that I am honestly really impressed and honestly amazed at how genuinely comfortable, enthusiastic, and okay all the kids I've seen across two different clinic locations are to interacting with new people.

Like, coming from the perspective as someone who knows a lot about trauma, developmental psychology, developmental trauma, attachment theory, and just general autism, I think more than ANYTHING else, that that singular sign gives me a lot of security that this is something that is actually being helpful and having a good impact on the kids.

I don't really have the energy to go into it, but its such a clear sign of understanding that adults are supposed to be there to support, care, respond to needs, and create a positive and fun environment for children and with how LITTLE stress almost every kid I've seen goes through when they meet a new technician or an observer is just...

I don't even see this in neurotypical school settings and I'm honestly really just... surprised to see this not only in a setting where every kid has autism and where most kids with autism are adverse to some level change and transitions and new stimuli.

Like I've been a completely new face to the clinic, but introduced by familiar faces as a new friend. And I just?? Really think its really nice to see a bunch of kids readily trusting the world to be their friend if someone they know and trust says that they are a friend.

My traumatized ass has a small part in my brain that goes "no but if they trust people so easily, they are being set up to be abused and [redacted trauma]" but honestly... 1) the practicality of that thinking is not good as it would imply that we SHOULD make them distrust the world and think of the world as hostile for their safety which I disagree with and 2) distrusting the world really didn't save me any abuse and very directly put me at higher risk for it; so as much as a little part of my brain whispers that its dangerous for a kid to feel safe in the world, overall I'm just... so in awe.

It's also really kind of amazing how readily we see staff just teaching co-regulation and comforting the kiddos and meeting them where they're at and honoring even the most unclear attempts at communication???

Like... honestly? I'm feeling very good about working here albeit my general burn out that lowkey got MURDERED by one really cute client that reminds me way too much of me as a kid that I get to close my work day with like three times a week.

I still don't know how much of this is the model and how much of this is the clinic so I can't generalize and say that ESDM is never a problem, but I'd honestly enthusiastically send my younger self here, if I had them - I'd send my kids here, and I'd recommend this clinic at the very least to any of my peers.