Dr. Temple Grandin, probably the most famous autist in the world, came to speak February 7 at Penn Valley's new Education Center.  She was here at the invitation of Penn Valley's ABLE Program, which assists disabled students, and the Autism Asperger Publishing Company.  The conference was entitled "Developing Talents: Career Planning, Including Higher Education, for Students with Autism and Asperger Syndrome."

  Grandin is herself an "Aspie," as she refers to those with Asperger Syndrome, a variety of autism which generally involves physical and social clumsiness, but also quite unique abilities of mental functioning which can enable remarkable performance.  Hans Asperger, the first physician to describe the disorder, spoke of his patients as "my little professors."

  In her books Grandin offers an extraordinarily perceptive interface for the world at large to see into the autistic mind, and in her visit to Penn Valley she tried to help parents and educators understand how best to help autistic children cultivate their special gifts and integrate themselves into a world that needs - if not always has understood - them almost as evolutionary catalysts.

 

Temple Grandin

"Einstein was an Aspie," Grandin asserted.  "Somewhere, back at the dawn of time in a cave somewhere, an Aspie knocked some rocks together and we had fire.  Later, it was the wheel," she laughed.

  People with Asperger often feel minimal empathy with humans, yet find themselves intensely drawn to animals.  Grandin has written several books on handling livestock, and has gone to great lengths personally and professionally to reform their handling by humans who eat them, concentrating on ways to end unnecessary abuse and anxiety suffered by animals on modern megalots. [See our editorial this issue.]

  Wearing a colorful cowgirl shirt and occasionally kidding the audience like a rancher lecturing city slickers, Grandin described how she had adapted herself to her adult roles as a college professor and food industry consultant. She emphasized the need for close observation of autistic children, to discover the range and utility of their exceptional powers.

"Find out where their higher functioning is," she advised, "and do everything you can to help them run with it, and use those skills to pull them into the world."

  Grandin was emphatic about making sure children turn their adversities around by whatever form of genius they are sure to have, if allowed to develop.  "One of the ways you can make up for being weird is to have a skill that people really want," she said.

  "It's hard," Grandin added, before opening for questions, then afternoon workshops.  "But when you get their skill circuits wired and running, it opens up all kinds of energy for wiring other circuits, like good social behavior, language abilities, art and creative abilities."

  Grandin said she thought the mind as computer metaphor was particularly apt. "Where do you think computers came from?" she asked, and the audience knew well the answer.

  "Aspies!"

Find out more about the amazing Dr. Temple Grandin at http://www.templegrandin.com/

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