Last night I watched an HBO film about the life of Temple Grandin, the most widely known autistic individual in America. She grew up in the 50's when not much was known about autism. Her mother was told to put her in an institution, but today she holds a PhD and writes and speaks on autism and animal husbandry (her chosen career) around the world. She was the first person with autism to share with a wider audience what it is really like to be autistic.
She says she thinks in pictures rather than words, sort of like the search engine at Google Images. This enables her to remember visual details with amazing accuracy. However, she was never able to get algebra in high school because there were no visual images. It was too abstract.
She likens the brain of an autistic person to a large office building where the communication networks between offices are not distributed evenly. The CEO/manager on the top floor has only a slower dial-up internet connection and an old rotary phone. He is a little out of touch with the outside world. The human resources department (symbolizing social interaction) has nothing, no phones, no internet. They are high and dry. But the graphic design department has all the latest, highest speed communication devices and work is humming over there at a very productive speed. They are getting their job done with excellence. They just don't know what the rest of the world is up to.
Some people only see the deficiencies in the other departments when they look at the autistic person, but forget to value the contribution of the graphic design department (or whatever strength the person has). She describes the autistic brain as a "specialist" brain and encourages us to value the unique contribution these people have to offer. Don't you want your air traffic controller or your bridge engineer to be a detail person to the max? She says autistic people are Different but not Less. She says if she could take a pill today that would take away her autism, she wouldn't do it.
Being the mother of an autistic spectrum individual (my son has Aspergers Syndrome), Temple's story impacted me greatly. I am amazed at all she has accomplished and the obstacles she has overcome. Not all autistic individuals are able to overcome the misunderstandings and negative relational experiences they encounter daily to the degree that she did. It is a good reminder to all of us to value each person for who they are, no matter how different from us.
The movie just won 7 Emmys August 29, 2010. If you're looking for a great inspirational story, check it out.
Thanks for sharing that Lesley. Temple Grandin has a neat story. During my final quarter at community college I wrote a paper for an Intro Psych class on Aspergers. I thought that topic was ideal because when I grew up with Will I didn't a lot of understanding of how he thought on the inside and writing that paper turned out to be a really good learning experience for me. I'd be happy to email it to you if you'd like.
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Benjamin
Yes, please do. LH
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