What an incredible opportunity to look through the eyes of an autistic person. A high functioning autistic, this woman is a doctor of animal science, bestselling author, and a professor at Colorado State University. I encourage you all to know more about her as it isn't often you get such an educated perspective of autistic life. As I study her, it has truly helped me to better understand the situation my son is in, and therefore helps me serve him better.
Check our video's section for a great presentation by her.
By Julian Guthrie | SFGate
Check our video's section for a great presentation by her.
By Julian Guthrie | SFGate
Temple Grandin has written best-selling books and revolutionized livestock slaughterhouses. She is a professor of animal science and an activist, and a recent movie about her life starred Claire Danes. And, Grandin is autistic.
Grandin began talking in the 1980s about what it meant to live with autism, opening the door to a closed world. For the first time, it was possible to glimpse what it was like to be extremely sound or light sensitive, to feed on repetitive behavior but thrive under new experiences devoid of surprises.
Grandin, 62, was in the Bay Area last week, dividing her time as her life work is segmented – between animal welfare and autism. Grandin, who estimates that more than half of the cattle in the United States and Canada are now handled in equipment she designed, visited a Marin County dairy. The next day, she spoke at a luncheon in Novato for Matrix, a nonprofit providing support to families with children on the autism spectrum.
In an interview before the luncheon, Grandin offered advice to parents, talked about her work with animals, and spoke of how her own developmental challenges became assets.
Q: What is your advice for parents of children on the autism spectrum?
A: You have to get kids out and expose them to things, but do this without any surprises, so they know what to expect. You have to find skilled mentors to teach them things. For me, it was an aunt, and it was my science teacher. You need to find the things they’re interested in and good at and expand on this. If your child likes to draw trains, broaden it to the station. Where does the train go? Keep broadening it.
Q: What do you say to educators?
A: Sometimes it’s something as simple as changing the lightbulb in a classroom. With kids on the spectrum, there are a lot of sensory issues. Some of these kids can’t tolerate 60-cycle florescent lights. It can make the whole room look like a discotheque. Sound is another big one. I was frightened of a lot of things, of balloons because they might pop. People on the spectrum don’t think the same way you do. In my life, people who made a difference were those who didn’t see labels, who believed in building on what was there. These were people who didn’t try to drag me into their world, but came into mine instead.
Q: How far has the treatment of autism come from when you were diagnosed in the 1950s?
A: I went to the TED conference recently and there were (people with) Asperger’s (syndrome) all over that conference! I go to Silicon Valley and they are all over Silicon Valley. A little bit of the autism trait can give you an advantage. But back in the 1950s, they thought autism was psychological. They were trying to find my psychological problems. And when I was diagnosed, mothers were blamed for causing autism. There was no autism support. They’d put autistic kids in institutions. I had severe autism. But my mom wouldn’t accept that. I was put in speech therapy. My mother was always pushing me to do stuff.
Q: What needs to be done now in terms of autism research?
A: One area of study that still needs to be done is the kind of autism where kids have speech and they lose it. Some parents say it’s happened right after vaccines. That group needs to be studied separately from others.
Q: Are there medications that have helped you?
A: I’m a believer in biochemistry. But I tell people to try only one thing at a time to see if it works. And if you do give a powerful drug to a kid, it better have a big wow factor. I’ve been on antidepressants for years, and it worked to stop my anxiety and didn’t limit creativity. Some of the best work I’ve done, in fact, is after I started taking the antidepressants.
Q: What advice do you have for parents of toddlers who worry that something is developmentally wrong?
A: If you have a 2-year-old who is non-verbal, don’t wait until you get a diagnosis at 4. The child needs one-on-one teaching with an effective teacher now. This can be a grandmother or a teacher or someone from the community. Grandmothers are especially great. There are a lot of grannies around. Go to your church for help.
Q: How did your interest in livestock welfare start?
A: On my aunt’s ranch when I was 15. I got to thinking about how the animals are feeling. When I got into it in the early ’70s, there wasn’t even the term “animal welfare.” I feel very strongly that we need to give beef cattle a really good life. When they go to slaughter, it needs to be painless.
Q: How was it when you went to your first slaughterhouse?
A: It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I had to answer the question, “Do cattle know they’re going to get slaughtered?” I went to plants and watched. I went to feed yards and watched as they were lined up for vaccination. They behaved the same way in slaughter plants as when they headed into vaccinations. Then I started watching and saying, “What kind of things are they afraid of?” I found they were afraid of shadows, reflections, certain colors, of a piece of chain hanging down. If you took out these things they were afraid of, they would just walk right in.
Q: Do you like the HBO film about your life?
A: It did a fantastic job showing how my mind thinks visually. Everything I think is in pictures. The movie will be out on DVD Aug. 17.
Q: You once said, “If I could ever snap my fingers and be non-autistic I would not do so.”
A: That’s true. I don’t like the way most people think. It’s imprecise. I find that when parents ask me questions, they ask very imprecise questions. They say, “My kid has behavioral problems at school.” Well, I have to say, “What kind of problems? Is he hitting? Is he rude? Does he rock in class?” I need to narrow questions to specifics. I am very pragmatic and intellectual, not emotional. I do get great satisfaction when a parent says, “I read your book, and it really helped me.”
Q: Does your autism define you?
A: I don’t define myself as autistic first. I don’t want to be a professional autistic. I think it’s important to have a real job.
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