"Creative Minds brings leaders, experts and pioneers in a wide range of fields -from parenting to cultural issues - to share their wisdom in open, community wide forums in Savannah. This fourth annual speaker series, which runs throughout the 2008-2009 school year, is designed to stimulate dialogue and spark debate about issues that affect us all."
Last night's speaker was Temple Grandin, Ph.D., the best-known adult with autism and the author of best-selling books like Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. She also has over 300 articles published in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals. Because she thinks in pictures, much the way animals do, she became interested in livestock and has invented livestock handling devices that are used nation-wide in the U.S.
I enjoyed it immensely. During her presentation Dr. Grandin offered a lot of personal insight about autism and said a lot of things that I already suspected to be true:
Autism is a spectrum disorder. Seeing the movie 'Rain Man' does not mean you have just been introduced to everyone who has autism. As I've said before, though I haven't been diagnosed, I believe I fall somewhere on the spectrum. In fact, had the awareness level been higher when I was a child, then I strongly believe I would have been diagnosed. There were years of my life when I was isolated from my peers and just couldn't seem to figure out what all the rules were for social interaction.
For instance, I can remember wondering how everybody seemed to know what to say to start a conversation. Was there a book that told them when it was okay to talk and what words to use? With my family it was easier, because I was acclimated to them, but put me with people that I hadn't known since the crib and I would clam right up with no idea how to unclam.
One of my favorite books on the subject was co-authored by Dr. Grandin:
It really opened my eyes about a lot of things I had experienced while growing up. Things that dogged me right on into adulthood. Thankfully, there is much more awareness now and my son is getting intervention that is practical and proven. We give him tools like 'conversation starters' and use methods that help him understand sequence of events. He is learning how to make eye contact and relate to his peers in appropriate ways. (Thank you Lord for knowledge!)
Another thing Dr. Grandin said to confirm my suspicions was this:
"Fear is the main emotion in autism."
This has certainly been true in my experience. And while I know most of this is neurologically based, I can't help but think that there is a spiritual component to autism. I know that a life-verse for me has always been 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (NKJV). That verse has comforted me when nothing else could. We really have no clue of what all was lost at the Fall. Our bodies began to die and our minds were severely affected.
But God is in the business of restoration. I knew that when I named my son it was a prophetic thing. I named him Caleb, because I wanted him to have courage like the biblical Caleb. To have a wholehearted belief that God could accomplished what He promised. In hindsight, it was even more prophetic than I realized. He will live up to that name and fear will have no hold on him.
Another thing Dr. Grandin said was that everyone exhibits some autistic traits. What leads to diagnosis is getting several of them and to degrees that hinder you. Everyone talks about autism being on the rise, but I believe it's always been here; it just hasn't been recognized and called by that name. (Nerd and Geek are sometimes just synonyms for Asperger's, a specific type of autism.)
But autism doesn't have to be insurmountable. Early intervention can make a huge difference. I came away from the talk feeling encouraged about myself and my son. Dr. Grandin has succeeded because of her autism, not just in spite of it. Because her mind works differently she was able to design chutes and devices that handle livestock more effectively and make treatment and slaughter of animals more humane. She emphasized that we should find out what a child is good at and encourage them to pursue it. If I could write a blurb for her lecture it would be this: "Good common sense meets profound truth."
Or to flower it up: "God will use what we regard as a weakness to show His power and glory."
Peace.
-------------------------------------
P.S. A special thanks to my mother-in-law for watching our boys for us. You rock! And to Anna and Noah, we really enjoyed hanging out with you guys. Let's do it again soon.
Last night's speaker was Temple Grandin, Ph.D., the best-known adult with autism and the author of best-selling books like Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. She also has over 300 articles published in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals. Because she thinks in pictures, much the way animals do, she became interested in livestock and has invented livestock handling devices that are used nation-wide in the U.S.
I enjoyed it immensely. During her presentation Dr. Grandin offered a lot of personal insight about autism and said a lot of things that I already suspected to be true:
Autism is a spectrum disorder. Seeing the movie 'Rain Man' does not mean you have just been introduced to everyone who has autism. As I've said before, though I haven't been diagnosed, I believe I fall somewhere on the spectrum. In fact, had the awareness level been higher when I was a child, then I strongly believe I would have been diagnosed. There were years of my life when I was isolated from my peers and just couldn't seem to figure out what all the rules were for social interaction.
For instance, I can remember wondering how everybody seemed to know what to say to start a conversation. Was there a book that told them when it was okay to talk and what words to use? With my family it was easier, because I was acclimated to them, but put me with people that I hadn't known since the crib and I would clam right up with no idea how to unclam.
One of my favorite books on the subject was co-authored by Dr. Grandin:
It really opened my eyes about a lot of things I had experienced while growing up. Things that dogged me right on into adulthood. Thankfully, there is much more awareness now and my son is getting intervention that is practical and proven. We give him tools like 'conversation starters' and use methods that help him understand sequence of events. He is learning how to make eye contact and relate to his peers in appropriate ways. (Thank you Lord for knowledge!)
Another thing Dr. Grandin said to confirm my suspicions was this:
"Fear is the main emotion in autism."
This has certainly been true in my experience. And while I know most of this is neurologically based, I can't help but think that there is a spiritual component to autism. I know that a life-verse for me has always been 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (NKJV). That verse has comforted me when nothing else could. We really have no clue of what all was lost at the Fall. Our bodies began to die and our minds were severely affected.
But God is in the business of restoration. I knew that when I named my son it was a prophetic thing. I named him Caleb, because I wanted him to have courage like the biblical Caleb. To have a wholehearted belief that God could accomplished what He promised. In hindsight, it was even more prophetic than I realized. He will live up to that name and fear will have no hold on him.
Another thing Dr. Grandin said was that everyone exhibits some autistic traits. What leads to diagnosis is getting several of them and to degrees that hinder you. Everyone talks about autism being on the rise, but I believe it's always been here; it just hasn't been recognized and called by that name. (Nerd and Geek are sometimes just synonyms for Asperger's, a specific type of autism.)
But autism doesn't have to be insurmountable. Early intervention can make a huge difference. I came away from the talk feeling encouraged about myself and my son. Dr. Grandin has succeeded because of her autism, not just in spite of it. Because her mind works differently she was able to design chutes and devices that handle livestock more effectively and make treatment and slaughter of animals more humane. She emphasized that we should find out what a child is good at and encourage them to pursue it. If I could write a blurb for her lecture it would be this: "Good common sense meets profound truth."
Or to flower it up: "God will use what we regard as a weakness to show His power and glory."
Peace.
-------------------------------------
P.S. A special thanks to my mother-in-law for watching our boys for us. You rock! And to Anna and Noah, we really enjoyed hanging out with you guys. Let's do it again soon.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your insights. I believe fear is a big part of life on the spectrum. It's so fantastic that we have so very much to be hopeful and expectant about for "our kids".
Amen, sister. Hey thanks for dropping by!
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