For the past two years, I have been involved in CNN’s coverage of Autism Month.

My own 14-year-old adopted son appeared in last year’s coverage as he and I talked about his struggles with autism and the strain on our family and on his ability to get a good education.

This year, I stepped back a bit to watch the story of an extraordinary young man and his relationship with a ‘Befriender’ programme.

Eleven-year-old Joel D’Angelo has Asperger's Syndrome, which is a higher functioning part of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

His buddy in this story is Swedish-born flight attendant Andre Hellstrom. Andre joined the National Autistic Society’s befriender program in order to better the life of a child in London, England, for a few hours every month.

The goal is little more than getting Joel out of the house and that seems to have worked out great since they both share a passion for roller blading, airplanes and going to the movies.

Andre has now vowed to be part of Joel’s life until he moves into his own flat. That is a long-term commitment indeed.

The woman who introduced Joel and Andre, Rosie John-Baptiste, told me: “Autism affects people in a way that reduces their capacity to make friends, to experience socialization in a way that many people who don't have autism take for granted."

Rosie also has an autistic child and I could not agree with her more.

It’s an extremely difficult time when an autistic child goes through adolescence. They have to cope with becoming a teenager who sees the world differently from their peers. Interaction with large groups can therefore be very difficult.

And frankly, for many autistic teenagers, it’s easier and less stressful to sit in front of the computer all day than to confront the world outside the front door.

But I can see from my son's experience that he really thrives when he has one-to-once contact with an adult.

Sadly, however, when we met Joel in March, there were 300 children on the NAS waiting list in London.

John-Baptiste said, “We don't actively advertise the service because we are beyond capacity at the moment.”

That means at least 300 children who won’t have an Andre calling them on the phone to arrange fun plans.

PARIS, France – I met up with affable Airbus flight test engineer Fernando Alonso a few minutes before our scheduled 15-minute interview in the cockpit of the first A380 to fly.

Jim Boulden takes to the flight deck.

Alonso has worked on the development of nearly all the airplanes produced by the 40-year-old aerospace giant.

He proudly recalls that he was the engineer on the first A380 flight back in 2005. He also reminded me not to touch any buttons without asking first.

During our all too brief conversation he explained the benefits of fly-by-wire technology first introduced by Airbus in the 1980s and now used in all new planes.

When the pilot or auto pilot wants the plane to bank or descend or whatever, in the older planes he or she would actually manipulate the wings or tail through levers and pulleys.

Now the computer does all that by interpreting the actions of the pilot or auto pilot.

With the crash of Air France 447 on June 1 (an Airbus A330) still a mystery the possible actions of the pilot in response to any potential systems failures is a hot topic.

Alonso explained to me that fly-by-wire works by interpreting the data the computer receives on speed, weight, fuel consumption etc. So, the computer would then give back certain duties to the pilots if there were computer or systems failures.

I asked him what - as an engineer - his gut instincts are about what brought down the Air France plane.

He said not knowing was the worst part of this tragedy for an engineer as the industry can learn so much about safety and can make changes accordingly.

But he is confident lessons will be learnt from Flight 447.

LONDON, England - You might be reading about this oddly named convention center where Thursday's G-20 summit is taking place.

It's in London, but then again, it's not really. The massive building is not in central London (home to the British government) and it's not in the City of London (the financial district) and its not even in the new financial heart beat of London (Canary Wharf) where the tall towers of HSBC, Citigroup and Barclays grace the skyline.

The ExCel (stands for something like Exhibition Center of London) is further along the Docklands, eastwards on the Thames.

Sure, it's just a convention center but it has a symbolic meaning for where is London. The capital already had the massive Earl's Court (home to many a rock concert) and the even older halls at Olympia.

ExCel was built on wasteland as part of the revitalization of the Docklands. In the 1980s and 90s there was certainly criticism of Margaret Thatcher's grand plan to replace the Victorian-era docks with skyscrapers, homes, a convention center, and an airport (London City) without first building adequate public transport.

Then came the building of the Millennium Dome with public money and lottery funds. Most people would agree the Dome was a massive and expensive white elephant.

But now, all is forgiven. The Dome is now called the O2. It's where Michael Jackson promises to follow up on Prince's multiple concerts.

It's where a reformed Led Zeppelin played for one night.

It's also where American sporting events, from hockey to Basketball, have been played in Europe.

London's previous mayor Ken Livingstone, certainly not a supporter of Thatcher, focused much of his effort on east London.

Now, London City Airport is expanding, the overland Docklands Light Railway now has a station at the airport, and it is just minutes away from the ExCel.

To be sure, hosting a massive and high-profile summit like the G-20 in the Docklands and not in one of London's stately houses or big hotels might seem rather sterile.

But have a look at summit locations if massive protests are expected. Where once G-8 and trade meetings where held in major cities (London, Naples, Munich, Seattle) they now take place in remote locations.

The U.S. hosted the 2004 G-8 on Sea Island, off the coast of Georgia. In 2005, Britain chose an isolated part of Scotland. This year, Italy will also host it on an island.

So, protesters have to choose other locations for the focus of their displeasure. The City of London was the focus of protests Wednesday, but that was still miles from the ExCel. Being partly surrounded by water, the protesters will get no where near it on Thursday.

It can take ages to get to the ExCel during massive events - whether it's the car show, the wine show, the travel show, the video games show (I have had to cover them all) - and if traffic is bad, the car journey for the camera person can be up to two hours from central London.

That is why so many people questioned placing London's biggest convention center so far away from anything.

Now, there are plans to expand it by 50 percent and it will be one of the main venues for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The ExCel will host everything from the boxing, wrestling, weightlifting to table tennis.

So, from being a possible white elephant itself, ExCel London will mean London 2012 doesn't have to build a host of venues for the Olympics which themselves could have become their own white elephants.

LONDON, England – I have to admit I had no idea there was such as thing as "riot training" for journalists. To be sure, CNN and many other news organizations pay to put their frontline folks through "Hostile Environments" training and I had a week in the woods back in 2003.At that time, we spent one session on riots and what struck me at the time was the instructor saying we were all more likely to get caught up in crowd trouble while working in the field then we were to experience a terror attack.

So now, fast forward to this week and preparations for the G-20 summit in London. CNN paid for myself and several of my colleagues to attend riot training at a police facility east of London. Those at the facility prefer it to be known as "Public Order Training."

As soon as we arrived it was obvious this was a serious place; one sign in the cafeteria read "No firearms allowed in the canteen."

Others there were doing their weapons training (few police are armed here; those that are belong to the Metropolitan Police's CO19 branch). There were also ambulance teams and mounted police doing their own training.

It should be no surprise that our little team stuck out. One of the trainers hinted that we, as journalists, might not be given the friendliest reception.

The afternoon started with a classroom session. But what sticks in my mind were the shouts and gunfire coming from the street below as CO19 officers went through a drill trying to entice bad guys out of a car.

Soon enough, we were introduced to the mean streets of London - Hollywood style. This I was not expecting. The facility has four square blocks or so of a typical London neighborhood, complete with false-fronted shops, plus a tube stop (with an original underground train inside), and a 1950s-style housing estate with its own grim walkways, yards and courtyard.

As we walked around the streets, the police were busy practicing car chases - we had to look out for the cars and the police had to look out for journalists getting in their way.

Then we suited up for our first riot. We had been warned to expect "demonstrators" (actual police taking turns as troublemakers) throwing petrol bombs (Molotov cocktails) around - and we would be caught in the middle.

So, we put on what can only be described as "Robocop" outfits; with shin guards, helmets and groin protectors. Then we were marched down a street as others threw petrol bombs at our feet. The point of this was to show us how to put the fire out if our clothing catches fire.

Next it was riot time. The point of this was that the police have to train for public disorder, as do we, and we have to deal with each other. The trainers said the best thing for us to do in a riot situation was not to be there in the first place - but our jobs demand we not only get video of the riot but also interviews with those involved on both sides.

Both sides could - and at some point did - refuse to talk to us or, in the case of the demonstrators, target us. Petrol bombs where thrown consistently at my camera during the 20-minute exercise.

The next morning we practiced how to back out of an angry crowd (stick together is the main theme here) and then it was time for three day-time "public order" scenarios involving football fans getting out of hand as they are being moved from a tube station to a stadium and police calling in mounted units to break up the group. Few people will stand in front of a horse as it charges down the street.

Then, it was a full-on riot again. We broke into three groups and attempted to interview the top policeman on the scene and also one of the troublemakers. We each had a different strategy. My team stayed behind the police. But because of the (dummy) camera, one of the protesters again targeted the cameraman and he was pelted with fake bricks, wooden blocks and real petrol bombs with glass flying everywhere.

Another team chose to be behind the crowd and one member was grabbed by a protesters and thrust to the front line between the police and rioters.

My team also followed a group of police into the grim courtyard with the smell of burning petrol all around. It became clear to us that this police unit was in a vulnerable place (balconies above and only two open escapes) so we got out of there. The key is to be the extra eyes for the camera person who is clearly the most exposed of the team.

While it was just training, and the whole thing would soon enough stop at the sound of a whistle, it was real enough for me.

When it comes to any disruption in London during the G-20 or elsewhere, we as journalists cannot be dressed like the police in protective suits. We will be dressed somewhere in the middle and cannot count on either side to watch out for our safety. And there will be no whistle to stop the action.

NEW YORK - I would normally be writing from London or some European city on a quick road trip for CNN.

This month I am in New York temporally covering the markets and business news

Though I was born on the East Coast of the USA, London has been my home for 18 years, so it always amazes me how different it is to cover news in America

The evidence could not be starker than in general news. This week, 24 hours after a multiple shooting, CNN had the brother of the killer on air live talking about his dead sibling. In Europe you would be lucky to have a still photo of the shooter, let alone any video of a family member after the first 24 hours.

The same principle applies in business news, though thankfully its not usually about life and death.

My first week here, we were at the new Gucci store on 5^th Avenue, less than 24 hours before the opening of the luxury brand’s largest store in the world. It was not an exclusive, so the CEO Mark Lee has to take an hour out of his schedule for us and then for each of our competitors. It may be a European brand, but he is San Francisco-born and has an American feel for news. Sure, it was all PR and we were lead around to show how “marvelous” everything was, but he did not shy away from questions about a possible U.S. recession, about the weak dollar and about opening a behemoth when many Americans are spending less.

In Europe we may have been allowed in a store for the ‘pre-launch’ party or something. However, we may have been behind ropes or only allowed access to certain parts of the floor. In addition, we certainly would be forbidden from interrupting the last minute panic all stores suffer. In the case of Gucci, builders were shushed, ladders moved and Gucci-hired photographers from Hong Kong told to get lost so their lights did not bother us.

The difference was even starker the night before Gucci. We covered a “cougar” speed dating evening. “Cougars” are older women (over 35) interested in meeting younger men. In this case, some women I think were over 45 and some of the men were certainly under 25. The twist this night; the women had to be rich, with more than $4 million in the bank. Sure, it is a bit of fluff for a Valentine’s piece, but only a handful of the ladies refused to be interviewed. One, Gail, was happy to spill all for the camera; an honest assessment of why a wealthy older woman who is in fashion would subject herself to a very public evening.

Even if this kind of event would take place in London or Paris, I know we would have few people to interview.

Americans do all seem to be waiting around for their 15 minutes, whether for good news or bad. You can certainly question that. Nevertheless, when it comes to business news, the willingness of companies to co-operate, the willingness of analysts to travel through mid-town traffic for a 15-second sound bite, the willingness of the average person to comment about anything is refreshing. I don’t look forward to March when I get back to trying to get companies to return my phone calls.