Ryan, First, a warning, I'm not including any answers here. Just some praise and a few questions and maybe even something relevant to say... I applaud your question and topics of interest. These are great questions to be asking and they convince me of your commitment to the modeling process. So my first comment is Kudos! I am impressed. Secondly, I support your exploration of the world of autism. I also support your desire for safety. The world needs a better and deeper understanding of these experiences. Talk about modeling excellence at the edge of our maps! This kind of stuff is what NLP is all about. Third and finally regarding a portion of your inquiry on the writing model... >It seems to me that there are a number of activities that "need" to happen prior to a person's sitting down to write (reading, researching, perhaps writing an outline etc.) I am unclear how I would account for these tasks in the modeling process. Would being in the state and doing the task assume implicit knowledge of the behaviors needed to get to that state?< I mean these questions all with great respect so please bear with any provocative "tone"... How do you know what needs to happen in order to be ready to sit down and start writing? You don't get to find that out until you've jumped in to unconscious uptake. Why imagine what needs to happen when you can experience what does? Do you think that a writer knows what those things (that need to happen first) are? Or pays any conscious attention to them if they exist? And even if those things exist, who's to say that the writer you wish to become has any idea what they are... or needs to? Maybe he just know's it's time to sit down? And who says you need to account for these tasks? Do the writers you are modelling account for them or do they just know? (You don't get to find this out until you've finished unconscious uptake but won't it be great to experience this first, before you understand it consciously) and as for... >Would being in the state and doing the task assume implicit knowledge of the behaviors needed to get to that state?< Personally, I think so, although it could be that the knowledge is unconscious. Only for a while though... and hey... >If I have access to this person at a time when he is deeply involved in writing and I have the requisite skills to enter a no-nothing state and do a 2nd position deep trance identification with him, I should be well on my way to accessing the skill, correct? You're well on your way. Just stay on the slide and enjoy the ride. Although you certainly could have those explicit measures you refer to, it might be best to forget them at some point and wait until after you've been there a while to realize that you have already arrived. Make a little agreement with yourself. Here's something of beauty. I love to float in the ocean or any body of water for that matter. I have for most of my life. There's just nothing like it. I've enjoyed this for a long time, but the more I do it, the more I enjoy it. First of all there is a great silence as my ears slip under the surface and all I am aware of is my breath. I float up as I inhale and drift down as I exhale. Over time I have come to realize that as surely as I exhale and drift down, I will just as surely come up with the next inhale. I used to move my feet and hands a lot to stay afloat. Now I just let them drift and my breath is all I need. It's amazing how little we need to do with the whole world supporting us. Sometimes, for a moment, or a few moments, it is just the smallest part of me that touches and breaks through the surface, and there's a touch of air cool and sweet. The rest is a great quiet drifting on a great ocean... When it's time, I return. With warmest regards, Todd Sloane