BREAKING DOWN THE INVISIBLE BARRIER
(Overcoming Speech Impediment at Events)
I am disclosing myself that I am on the autistic spectrum, and I identify as an Asperger Syndrome Judge.

I’ve been judging for roughly about a year and a half now. After judging SCG Regionals Baltimore, I wanted to share to the judge community how can judges, whom may have a speech impediment, overcome the fear of judging at events such as GPs, Regionals, Opens, etc.

Before I devolve into my plan, this plan may not necessary work for you, but at least it may be a stepping stone for you whenever you are staffed for your next event.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE BARRIER (ACCEPT YOUR DISABILITY):
For me, accepting that I have trouble talking to people was the first step on how to overcome the mental fear. You don’t necessary have to tell the entire world that you have it, however, I feel that the process becomes less stressful if you are honest within yourself.

STEP 2: ENLIST THE WARRIORS (SEEK FOR HELP):
I told a small group of judges that I have trouble formulating thoughts into words, and that I do get tripped up when explaining my ruling. They understood and shadow me whenever I explain a ruling to players, just to act as a safety net in case I get tripped on my words. It isn’t a sign of weakness to ask for help. Some L2s and L3s that I talked to on a daily basis told me multiple times where they were stuck and that they needed the assistance. I’m sure that they can tell their stories on how being helpful goes a long way.


STEP 3: SHARPEN YOUR WEAPON (USING DIFFERENT TACTICS TO COMMUNICATE TO PLAYERS):
After these two steps, it’s time to analyze what works best for you as far as delivering rulings. Here are some of my methods that I’ve used and found to be effective. For all events, it’s better to give an accurate ruling rather than a hasty one (i.e. Lengthy Time Extensions). There is no downside asking for help on a call, because most likely, they, the players who called the judge over, are receiving a time extension anyways.

• MIRORR MIRORR: if you are being shadowed by another judge on a call, practice on what you are going to say to that judge. This is super effective if the size of the tournament isn’t large, such as GPTs, IQs, PPTQs. The better you practice, the more prepared you are with handling floor calls.

• GO FULL BLAST: For a while I would give a lengthy explanation because that was the surest way to give an accurate ruling. This can be good or bad depending on the answer/ ruling and the question that is asked. Sometimes giving too much information causes more questions, or accidental coaching, which is why it can be a negative to give lengthy explanations. I do not recommend this method; unless I am taking a call that is a policy based question Policy based questions are, in some form, a textbook example. Understand the infraction will help your delivery. They are times where a lengthy answer is a positive, because when giving a ruling, it can be an education moment for players, thus avoids further problems down the road.

• SLOW DOWN SPEEDY!: If you’re the type of person that talks fast and loud (raising my hand), a force slow down will help. After I listened to the players about the question, I would take all affected cards and start reading them. Even though I may know the answer immediately, it doesn’t help if I’m stumbling over my words. By reading cards I’m formulating which words to use for this explanation.

CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE! (BELIEVING IN YOURSELF):

I’ve never judged a GP thus far in my judging career, but I have participated in one and it can be intimating coming from a player perspective. For each event that I’ve judged or played, I followed my regimen to ensure that I’m OK and to take care of myself. Please take care of yourself at any events that you are judging, especially large events. The mentality is different from a 30 player tournament to a 3500 player tournament, as well as what type of event it is and the format. Confidence is going to be a vital factor when explaining rulings.

STEP 5: GETTING UP FROM FALLING OFF THE HORSE (RECOVERY FROM WRONG CALLS):

It’s going to happened: You messed up on a call. Here is what you can do:

If you are feeling frustrated, talk to your team lead, and take yourself off the floor and chill until you feel good enough to get back on the floor. During Regionals, I messed up on both a deck check and a rules interaction because I stumbled hard and brick on my words. It can be very upsetting, but I remembered that I am human and judges make mistakes. I took a small break, and I came back strong.

STEP 6: EAT, SLEEP, JUDGE, and REPEAT (SLOWING BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIER):

I’ve been practicing these steps with different judges at different events and trying to find a balance. This past Regionals, with the exception of that one messed up call, I felt that I grown both in my explanation of my rulings regarding rule-based and policy-based questions and none of my rulings were appealed. That is an enormous achievement for someone with a motor skill disability. I know that there are other skills that I need to work on if I want to continue judging at large events, but for now, I’m happy that I was able to break down the barrier.

SUMMARY:

I’ve worked with talented, inspiring, remarkable judges and mentors in the community that along my judge journey. As someone who accepted my disability, judging is a good way for me to exercise my speech with other people. I know one day when I become L2 I’ll be mentoring other judges, and I’ll be going back to this report as a reminder on how far I have come.

Thank you for reading.

Oh wow, thank you for sharing Christopher. Even though I can't identify with what you go through on a daily basis, I can definitely find strength in what you have shared and mysteriously, it really inspired me to be more confident as a judge, and even more as a person. Thank you very much, I am proud to be in a community with someone as strong as you! :D

Hey Christopher,

Though I don't identify as an Aspie, I was diagnosed with Asperger's as a child. Bravo on being open about your psychology :D

I have no small amount of affinity for Maryland judges. Glad you're on board.

A simple technique I use and teach is scripting. Instead of formulating every answer from nothing, many answers can be recycled. By identifying answers that come up frequently and honing the answer into a short, effective response, we become more efficient at handling questions. This technique can make rulings go faster as well as help avoid stumbling over words because the scripts are familiar.

For example, when if a player asks about regenerating from zero toughness or an exile effect, I will say, “No, he's super-dead,” or “No, he's super-duper-dead” as appropriate. Note, “super dead” and “super-duper-dead” are not in the rule books. It's ok. If your rules brain had a minor seizure reading that, you might need some help. Sometimes the most effective scripts avoid technobabble and phrase things is ways that normal people (we judges are not normal people) understand. It also is nice that super-duper-dead remind players that most judges are not soulless robots. (If you ever wonder what the “R” in “R. Jared” stands for…)

If a player asks for more details or seems at all confused, I'll break out the long or technical answer. Most interactions can be handled with a clear, simple response.

For someone who struggles with words, having a Rolodex of pre-programmed phrases can relieve a lot of pressure. While giving rulings, ask yourself (or a nearby mentor) how you could have made your ruling faster or simpler. As you become more aware of your answers and get more experience, your Rolodex of things you automatically know the words to use will grow.