I have a special place in my heart for autistic children and their parents. I’m sure it is related to the challenges Caleb faced as a baby as well as the fact my wife worked as an occupation therapist for several years helping autistic children make progress.
A few weeks ago we watched the HBO movie with Claire Danes where she portrayed Temple Grandin. She did a fantastic job playing a really fascinating and highly accomplished woman who has autistism. Below is a recent speech Temple Grandin gave at TED 2010:
Some of my highlights from her talk include the fact that we need different types of thinkers. Most of us think verbally, many think in patterns, and others think in pictures (as she does).
We need to help discover what piques a child’s interest, and build on that.
Temple had to develop her social skills much like an actor would learn a part for a play.
What are some of the key points you enjoyed from her talk?
What are ways you’ve seen people who were overlooked become valued?
