autism awareness Temple Grandin HBO

janie1234

janie1234

Cathlete
I know I am not the only one who either knows of someone or has a child with autism. I thought I'd let everyone know about the HBO television movie called "Temple Grandin."
http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html
I met Dr. Grandin during an autism conference years ago when my son was first diagnoised. This movie really opened my eyes and helped me see how people with autism see things. I see and understand the struggle. As a parent you want what is best for your child, . .it was so hard to hear from Dr.'s and therapists that my son will never be like everyone else, . .that he is just different. My son who is considered "high functioning" has been written off by the school district and does not recieve special services. It seems as though unless your kid shows obvious signs of disabilities you are pretty much on your own. If this movie teaches just one person that you can't ride off people with autism then it has done its job. It was beautifully touching and well done.
 
Janie...I missed it the first two times it aired but am recording it to watch tomorrow. I've heard it was AMAZING! Thanks for the info! I can only imagine how hard it is to have and love a child who is defined by society as "different" and am sorry to hear about your school district. Have you found another support system in your community that understands and embraces your son and your family?

:) Jonezie
 
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we don't get HBO but i am hoping one of our friend will tape it for us. i am very very interested in seeing this performance from claire danes. dh really hopes its accurate.

temple grandin has such an amazing story.

jonezie-my dd is autistic. when she was younger and before the intensive therapies were in place the looks,remarks, and accusations were the absolute worse. nobody had compassion even some medical professionals. they figured if you couldn't see it,then your child wasn't disable she was just not taught right. i did everything i could with her working with her at a young age reading to her since she was an infant. even now some kids and even parents are cruel but many ppl are willing to listen to me talk about it. i am sure a few at mcdonalds have left there with a new outlook after explaining to them my baby's situation.

its only hard b/c society makes it hard really. that is just my way of seeing it. things can be difficult but sometimes b/c of society it feels damn near impossible.

kassia
 
I am a teacher and I have had many students with autism. They are all so different. Our school district does an amazing job with our kids. Our principal gets calls all the time from area schools asking us to take kids in since we do such a great job. We have school of choice. We have an autism specialist from the intermediate school district that works with the kids and comes to all the IEPs. We also have a group every week for autistic students held by the school social worker where she teaches them about autism and social skills, etc. I am assuming your child has an IEP? He must have with a label like that. Is the school not following the IEP? High functioning or not, they have them here in Michigan. I have worked with extremely intelligent, minor behavior problem children with autism who have IEPs. You have a voice in those meetings....a very strong one. If he does not have an IEP, you need one. We have all been trained in working with autistic students. I don't know where you live, but they are not dismissed here. I teach fifth grade and the students will go to middle school next year, where things are more chaotic. We have transition IEPs where we brainstorm ways to make it easier for the kids. We take them over several times before the school year is over so they can get a feel for the environment, routine, etc.

I have to share that I really love my autistic students. Two years ago we went on a field trip to Mackinac Island. The only autistic student I had in class I put in a group that I thought he could handle. Well, the parent in charge said this is not working.....I took him and we had the greatest time. I miss him a lot actually.

Good luck. You have a strong voice at the school and need to use it appropriately following the chain of command.

I understand your feelings of your child being different. I don't have kids. I am afraid of that.

I listened to Temple Grandin at a conference and recently she was also on NPR. What a neat lady! :)
 
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gloria we have a wonderful school and they do go above in beyond and it ticks me off that sometimes they aren't given the credit and resources they deserve and need. its really parents that i deal with that teach it to their children. many love viola some just don't get it and others just don't bother with her. they are missing out though despite it all she is a very sweet child.

but with meltdowns and behaviors i have been accused of child abuse,been told i am horrible parent for allowing my child to act like that etc. its really horrible when ppl just won't believe you that there is something with your child that causes behaviors and some things she just can't help it. its a lot of work and some family doesn't understand. the routines and ridgedness, the constant over and over until its ingrained and part of world.

kassia
 
I totally understand your feelings. I work with a lot of autistic students every day.

We have to have a meeting with the principal, my co teacher and the special ed teacher because my co teacher is not providing accomodations for him. She is holding him responsible for all the work in science that he is not capable of doing. He is smart, has great vocabulary, etc., but he cannot handle what she is assigning him. It stresses him out beyond belief and he has a melt down. She is an old teacher and she just doesn't get it. Now the principal is involved. It has nothing to do with me. I know how to work with this kid.

I love this kid. He makes me laugh every day.

I do have to share that his mother is a problem parent and he was moved into my classroom in October due to a conflict with the teacher he was assigned to. When I wrote the letter for our Valentines party I copied and pasted a list from Excel that was for math and he is not in my math class. He was not on the list and his mom was ticked....I understand...I made a huge mistake.

My heart was broken when I found out. He got valentines from everyone though. :) He is someone you can't forget. :) They are so nice to him, even when he is crabby. They knew I screwed up. Kids are good peeps.

I am doing my best.
 
There is also A LOT on You Tube about Temple Grandin, if anyone is interested in doing a search. Here's one link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ycu3JFRrA

I also saw this quote on Wikipedia..."She knows all too well the anxiety of feeling threatened by everything in her surroundings, and of being dismissed and feared, which motivates her in her quest to promote humane livestock handling processes." I had no idea she was described in the media as "the woman who thinks like a cow" and that she was so instrumental in changing how the livestock industry defined "humane." She also created a "hug machine" for people with autism to use for stress relief.

She sounds like the most fascinating woman...I WILL be watching tomorrow!

:)Jonezie
 
gloria doing your best is the best thing you can do!! i hope i am not one of those problem parents ;) although i don't think so. i am not to pushy b/c she acts different at school then at home but she has a great aide that can be strict(very much with eye contact and things she knows viola is capable of doing) but she is not mean or anything but she really pushes her strengths and guides her when working through the weaknesses.

my baby is a visual learner has to be hands on a lot but also rushes a lot through and doesn't break down directions well in her mind.

i always try to do the fundraisers with them though b/c the city doesn't treat them as a school very well. they need so much but they seem to put them into other schools(can't tell you have many schools we have i know at least 3-4 elementary schools)but there are only 2 elm schools that work with severe cases. our school really pushes inclusion so viola spends part of her day in the regular mainstream class as well as other activities but things like math and science she gets more one on one and smaller groups in the contained class. she has little helpers in the regular class. its a really good school, the only reason i stay in this god forsaken city LOL otherwise i would be back in the country,but the former school was horrible to her, the speech teacher there even said she was to retarded and we should give up. well i went on an uproar and she lost her job.

ppl with compassion will always be the best. and i admire the patience of teachers like you :D. i have very little i am always taking my bedroom or bathroom breaks to take a breather b/c i just get so mad at myself b/c it seems like i can't help her. like its something i do wrong that i can't get her to understand or learn.

so many of them are so smart but tapping into how they learn.

kassia
 
If anyone is really interested, there is actually a five-part series on YouTube about Temple. Segment 3 shows how she got the idea about the "hug machine" (something she designed for people with autism for comfort and stress relief) from a squeeze shoot used for cattle vaccinations. And Segment 5 shows how she actually got down on her hands and knees and filmed the cattle yards from a "cow's perspective." It's amazing how she noticed details no one else ever did.

Here are all five segments (I hope I got them in order):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ycu3JFRrA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-iy7GNsmm0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDWH_Sfnoc0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epwa0zQ8jx8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aidkSBsyDlA&feature=related

What an amazing woman!

:)Jonezie
 
My dad heard about this and got obsessed. He ordered HBO for the month and recorded it. But it's on VHS so I need to get a way to play it. My daughter is also "unique." She's almost 10 and we had her re-tested in the fall. She has a lot of autism/asperger traits but wasn't actually labeled either (labeling - makes me feel like I'm slapping postage on her to slip in the mail). Apparently she is a "unique neurological puzzle" the neuropsych is unable to figure out! She's actually been doing research on her own. My DD is also high functioning and until you get to know her most don't realize her ... uniqueness :) We did start therapeutic horse riding a few years ago and she loves it. She's not going to be the kid out on the soccer field. I'll be more likely to find her in a horse stall. Wouldn't change her for the world.
 
I watched this movie and was very moved and touched! Temple Grandin is an amazing woman and I thought that Claire Danes (sp?) did a great job of portraying her with dignity and intelligence.

I don't have a child with autism but my youngest son has struggled with learning disabilities all his life. He was diagnosed with a speech impairment and learning disabilities when he was three years old (he's now almost 19). I spent his entire school life trying to get the best care I could for him and we were lucky in that our school district was very well staffed and educated in helping him.

Her school struggles struck a cord in me as my son was often teased and ridiculed. My heart broke every time he came home from school upset. I often wished that there was some sort of school "awareness" seminars that they could do to educate the rest of the students so they wouldn't be so cruel to these children. :(

Kathy
 
jcm said:
My dad heard about this and got obsessed. He ordered HBO for the month and recorded it. But it's on VHS so I need to get a way to play it. My daughter is also "unique." She's almost 10 and we had her re-tested in the fall. She has a lot of autism/asperger traits but wasn't actually labeled either (labeling - makes me feel like I'm slapping postage on her to slip in the mail). Apparently she is a "unique neurological puzzle" the neuropsych is unable to figure out! She's actually been doing research on her own. My DD is also high functioning and until you get to know her most don't realize her ... uniqueness :) We did start therapeutic horse riding a few years ago and she loves it. She's not going to be the kid out on the soccer field. I'll be more likely to find her in a horse stall. Wouldn't change her for the world.
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Wow, absolutely! My son has THE biggest heart and is such a gentle soul. I couldn't have asked for a more caring young man. ;)

Kathy
 
Jonezie thanks for the links, . .everyone thanks for the comments. This movie touched me. Claire's perfomance touched me. The end of the movie brought tears to my eyes.
It made me feel a complete understanding of how my son sees and percieves things. I wouldn't change my son for anything. I know that this may sound terrible but I love him more than I love myself. I also felt truly horrible because I know that when my son was first diagnoised I used to get so frustrated when he would freak out at bright lights or would just sit by his play table rolling car wheels over and over instead of playing with me. Even though I knew that it was not my fault I felt like it was something I did. :(
 
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Having a child on the Autism spectrum can be brutal. My DS has high functioning Aspergers, ADHD and of course, the usual Anxiety disorder that frequently occurs w/ kids like him. Making sure he gets what the needs from the school district, week after week, teacher by teacher, year after year is my full time job. However, I understand that things could be much harder than they are.

I often want to be a protective bubble shielding my DS from all the hurtful things he experiences from his peers on a daily basis, but I know that he needs to learn how to cope better in daily life. He can't wear a sign that says, "Be extra nice to me because I have a disability that's hard to understand and makes me act rudely or socially inappropriate."

So, I read books, talk to specialists, push him gently out of his comfort zones, and try to help him understand WHY he needs to learn better social skills.

I tell my son that he's a Mac in a PC world so he needs to learn how to communicate in a PC way. He loves Apple computers so that analogy makes him happy. The downside is he tends to think that PCs ought to learn Mac capabilities! Of course, there's a lot of truth in that, both metaphorically and literally. :p

Do I wish he didn't have Aspergers? Yes, because his life would be a lot happier right now. He'd probably have more than one friend. He might get invited to birthday parties & sleepovers. Kids might listen when he talks rather than just ignore him & act like he's not there. He wouldn't have to worry just walking down the school hallways that some little turd might decide to "accidentally" walk into him or chant his name over and over, knowing it drives my son crazy. Kids wouldn't create a petition to have him removed from homeroom (true story--thank God he doesn't know about it!).

I truly believe that when he's older, he'll find his "tribe." Aspies are very common in tech centers and in tech jobs so he'll find others w/ similar interests & similar social levels. There's a great article in Wired magazine from some years ago about how Autism spectrum children are much more common in tech corridors (Silicon Valley, Rte 128 in Boston, Austin) because all these Aspies found each other and had babies. :eek:

In the meantime, each day brings new challenges and occasionally, a breakthrough. Like I said earlier though, things could be much worse. I'm profoundly grateful for all the things my son is and I don't waste time thinking about what he's not. What matters most of all is, he's mine forever. :)
 
joan what a great analogy. that makes so much sense. i never really think about dd being different i just wished others were but that is the life of a parent in any case disabilities or not.

kassia
 
ldy_solana said:
i never really think about dd being different i just wished others were but that is the life of a parent in any case disabilities or not.

kassia
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So well said Kassia. Honestly I would never wish that my son did not have autism. That may sound weird but the truth of the fact is that I wish other people were more kind hearted. We do not live in a cookie cutter world. Thank God! Sure he probably will never excel at sports but he's top of his class and has an excellent memory. He follows directions and shows compassion. Quite frankly I'd take that any day of the week over some of the bratty snotty kids that I see around the playground. At the end of the day who do you really stand back to watch and appreciate? The kid calling the other kids "stupid idiots" and throwing rocks at cats or the kid who could care less and is more focused on reading a book and talking to a friend? Because sometimes I wish I could be more like my son, . . . .a person who could care less about what other people think. I have wasted to much of my life worrying about what other people think of me. How awesome would it be if you could seriously say to yourself, . ."I don't care." and mean it.
 
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I'm trying to raise my daughter to appreciate her differences, and yes, to recognize that she is different. Different isn't bad. She thankfully has one close neighborhood friend (none really at school). She told her friend a couple of weeks ago that she is weird. And she likes being weird :)

Jen
 
jcm said:
I'm trying to raise my daughter to appreciate her differences, and yes, to recognize that she is different. Different isn't bad. She thankfully has one close neighborhood friend (none really at school). She told her friend a couple of weeks ago that she is weird. And she likes being weird :)

Jen
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Jen give her a high five and a hug for me, . . I gladly accept the fact that even though I don't have a diagnosis I am totally WEIRD amoung other things. I also hate being in crowds and socializing because I'm always worried I'll say the wrong thing, . . hmmm I guess you can call me autistic. :) Kudos to you it is not easy raising a special needs child let alone raising a typical one. My typical daughter sometimes gives me more struggle than my autistic son, . . hmmm go figure.
 
My heart is breaking thinking of what you all have to work with at home. :(

School can be a bad place with bullies acting out. I don't put up with anything like that, but unfortunately, kids work behind the scenes and you don't know everything that goes on.

I run a strict classroom and talk about what bullying is, we are mandated to teach a social skills program, etc. It does not work. In my classroom I tell them how I was bullied and that people who do it are not comfortable with themselves. I tell them that they are no better than anyone else in the classroom. My classes over the years have been commended on their behavior. All the special teachers, librarian, principal, etc. have said it. It still happens though. I just had a kid suspended for it and I only teach fifth graders. That is not acceptable to me. I was actually in a meeting with my principal and compared one of my students to a snake. She is too much and lies, steals, bullies, etc.

Know that I love kids, but they can be so mean. All of the interventions I have in place do not work sometimes. Every spring when the weather warms and school is about to be out, there are huge problems. There is drama like you would not believe.

I have been teaching for nine years and I see it every year. I was bullied when I was a kid. I don't know why they are so mean. It doesn't make sense to me. There are tons of nice kids out there that accept everyone.

My question is.....Why are kids so mean at times? It drives me crazy.
 
The funny thing is that my daughter is soooo much her dad and her aunt (dad's sister). When you mentioned social situations and saying the wrong thing, that is something Aunt Pam has shared really stresses her out. I've told my daughter everyone has sensory stuff and issues/problems/difficulties. Hers just affect her more and she may have to work harder than some. And my "normal" 6 yr old son - he has had tantrums - over CANDY - so bad that my neighbors almost called the police because they thought there was something really wrong. This Temple Grandin thing really hits when she talks about focusing in on something that could be a career. And as parents of these kids, we can't (and I"ve seen some) be the parent who doesn't want to recognize the issue. It's real, it's difficult, it's a lot of work and it's a blessing. Putting these kids on a soccer field and trying to make them have dozens of friends will cause so much anxiety. With the horse riding - we need to set them up to succeed. And they can. I will never understand why my daughter is soothed by wearing Cathe's 10 lb. weight vest around! She sometimes sleeps with it on her stomach. I tried it. Does nothing for me. I love Temple for her ability to recognize how she thinks differently, put words to it to help the rest of us understand, and do what she needs to do to succeed by recognizing that stuff. Ok - I'm rambling.

And as far as why kids are so mean - no idea. Always makes me think of "Lord of the Flies" And another reason why I don't want to be a kid again! Blessings to all of you parents and teachers working with these kids. I wish each kid like this had at least one adult in their corner celebrating who they are and setting them up for success.

Jen
 
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