Temple Grandin, the Emmys, the Movie, and Us.

I was familiar with Temple Grandin well before little guy came home as I was going for my teaching certification. I was researching autism and came across her, specifically her relationship about how she relates her thinking to the thinking of animals, specifically herd bound animals like horses, cows, etc. Then I saw all the Emmy awards for the HBO movie "Temple Grandin", which I didnt even know existed until the other night, so I dug around through my HBO onDemand, and low and behold, there it was.


For those who are not familiar with Temple Grandin, you can get a full bio here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin

For those who want an abridged version, Temple Grandin was diagnosed at age 4 with Autism. She was mute, had very little social interaction, displayed "typical Autistic Behaviors" (ASD parents know exactly what that is), didnt play, etc. This was in 1950. It was recommended that she be institutionalized for the rest of her life, as she will never be able to speak, never be able to function in the world, etc. Well, with much hard work, dedication, the influence of the right people, and a Mom who wouldnt give up, Ms. Grandin went to school, college, received her Masters Degree, then went on to become a Doctorate in Animal Sciences. She is now a professor at Colorado State University working in the fields of animal behavior and autism.

I watched the movie last night and all I can say is "Simply Amazing". If you have an autistic child, or are a teacher who works with autistic kids, or just someone intrigued about the austism epidemic in our world right now, I HIGHLY recommend seeing it. The movie did a FABULOUS job of describing visually, how her mind works, as per her direct input. They covered self soothing behaviors (spinning, flapping, even the self created means of "holding time" that she used to calm herself), sensory overload, panic attacks that result from things being "out of line", etc. Her mother was such a HUGE influence and advocate for her as well, and it is shown beautifully in the film.

As I watched this last night, I saw my child. Or rather, I saw "inside' my child".

Albeit, his ASD issues are fairly mild compared to others, but they are there. I saw him, or rather, the inner workings of his mind as depicted in film, specifically the sensory overload, the panic, and even the thought process of how I believe he may think. HIS point of view about how he processes the world why he does what he does, and why things may set him off.
For those who are interested, here is a youtube link to one of her lectures....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn_9f5x0f1Q

Again, simply amazing...