Thanks to a Marcelo who, in a comment, turned me on to the Temple Grandin film. Holy Cow! It was great! I also listened to the commentary, which featured autism victim and cattle pen designer Temple Grandin herself...and I took some notes, which I'll reproduce here. Most of them are a simple statement of what Grandin believes, which may not be news to her fans, but should interest those who don't know much about her. I'll end with my own thoughts.
I love Grandin's way of thinking, which is so practical. She notices that cattle are comforted by snug confinement on the sides, and figures that humans would probably react the same way. She made a "squeeze machine" for herself and used it to calm herself when she got anxiety attacks. If you're autistic, that's a big deal. Thanks to Grandin you can buy these things on the internet. It's important, though, that the user controls the experience.
- She's not alarmed when autistics do repetitive motions. She says it's their way of shaking off sensory overload. They can be taught to limit it to, say, an hour a day.
She continues to take anti-anxiety pills, preferring old types that are cheap and in the public domain now.
- Visible autistic behavior lessens as you get older, maybe because you have more experiences to draw from by then. She says autistic kids desperately need frequent social and educational stimulation, but not to the point of overload. Teach kids even if they don't appear to be learning. Prompt them to memorize.
- Autistic kids respond well to animals. Odd that they don't seem to mind animals touching them, just humans.
That's it for the notes. I wish I could ask Grandin about some things that weren't in the film. She makes a good case for tactile and picture learning, but how would she teach abstract subjects like algebra and French to autistics? In the commentary she says she would have autistics bypass algebra and go directly to geometry and trig, which are visual. Hmmm, maybe, but what about French?
The subject interests me because I was always an unexciting "C" student in these subjects (algebra and French), even though they interested me. I could never figure out my resistance to them. There must be a better way to teach this stuff, but I have no idea what it would be.
Decades later I developed a taste for French rhetoric and musical lyrics. I like the sound of them even though I don't know what they mean. I'll do a blog about my favorites soon, and see if you don't feel the same way. As long as you know a little about pronunciation, you'll find yourself compulsively reading these stirring and romantic texts out loud.
Autism interests me because people who are victims of it, and who succeed in spite of it, are forced to learn everything in an unconventional way. It's an insight into another way of learning and thinking. Maybe there's something there that could help normal people too.
BTW, I like the way Claire Danes looks in the film (left). Maybe it's the hair.
Here's (left) the way she wears it when she's being herself. She looks like a different person. I prefer the film look. Straight hair isn't for everybody.
