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I was glad I went to hear Temple Grandin speak last week, even though the bookstore was packed and I had to sit in the aisle (squished between Cookbooks and Literary Criticism) and watch her on a TV screen. She was more animated than I’d imagined she would be — funny, direct, honest, and to-the-point in answering questions. Here are my notes. (The words in bold are what I actually jotted down at the time.) |
Socialize on shared experience: How do you help autistic kids? #1 by relating with them about their experiences and interests. And helping them find others who share those interests.
Mentors: Suggestion #2: Assist kids in finding mentors who can help them build on their obsessions. “Mentors turn obsessions into careers.”
A mother wanted to take her kid out of computer class to get him to be more social. Temple Grandin told her, “NO. If you let him stay in computer class that’s where he can find friends. Plus if he’s interested in computers that could lead to a career.”
“Torn apart by constant nerve attacks” How Temple Grandin herself at 16. That was before she climbed into a cattle chute and found that it calmed her nerves. She had teachers who helped her turn her obsession about the cattle chute into a career in animal science. She said you can see online the patent drawing for her squeeze (”hugging”) machine.
You can’t really know what an autistic kid is going to be interested in at age 3 or 4. You start to see whether it might be perhaps music, math, art, etc.–by 3rd or 4th grade, really start to see. Of course also need access to musical instruments (resources that allow them to pursue that interest).
1 out of 100 fall down: A way to assess how well cattle plants were treating their animals. Realized she needed to come up with quantitative measures. So, she came up with measurements such as: No more than one cow should fall down as they are being herded. McDonalds and other fast-food industries have adopted these standards and as a result have made significant changes in how cows are treated. (Described on Public Radio: an innovative system to measure brutality)
“money nerve”: She said she’s found this is a realistic way to make change, to motivate companies to change: show them how it affects their finances. Activists can help raise an issue, but they should know when to back off, and to acknowledge when a company actually does change.
Birds can see ultraviolet (My question: I wonder if birds are less likely to accidentally bang into glass windows that reflect ultraviolet light?)
believe in biochemistry: She says her main emotion (like many animals) is fear. She has been taking antidepressants for 15 years (Prozac) which helps control her anxiety.
She says there are people who don’t believe that autistic kids can be so extremely sensitive to noise or flourescent lights. But she says it’s just like animals have different thresholds of sensitivity and fear.
She’s straight down the line on nature vs. nurture, based on her experience and science reading she believes it’s 50% inborn temperament/biology, 50% environment/experience.
She said try whatever works to help a kid. Don’t get stuck on one approach. Different things work for different kids. There is wide variability in people with autism.
Mercury in fish may be increasing severity of autism. However, increased incidence of autism overall is likely due to increased diagnosis.
She said many MIT engineers have had Asperger’s (including her grandfather) it just didn’t used to be labelled. She thinks in pictures rather than words. She can picture a 3D animation of a turbine running in her head. Most people without Aspergers have limited ability to picture things–they can usually picture walking thru their own house, but some people can’t do that, only think in language (for example, a speech teacher for autistic kids who she knows) .
