Last night I watched Claire Danes do a remarkable job playing the lead role in the HBO movie, Temple Grandin, who as a toddler was diagnosed with autism.
Temple’s mother was told to institutionalize her daughter, which was not atypical back in the 1950’s. This was way before there were effective treatments for children on the autism spectrum, like Floortime™ and ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) therapy. In fact, when my husband and I attended an Asperger’s conference several years ago, Tony Attwood, an expert in Asperger’s Syndrome, mentioned something very interesting. He said that since Asperger’s didn’t become a recognized diagnosis until the 1990’s, several of us probably have family members (you know that “odd uncle” that was very quirky) who were misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, and might have even been institutionalized. (Note: I think that if Temple Grandin was diagnosed today, it would be that of Asperger’s, rather than autism, because she is so high-functioning.)
What I admire about Temple’s mother, according to the movie, was that she had the tenacity and fortitude to find the best programs and schools for her daughter that kept Temple out of the isolationist shell of autism. The movie didn’t portray her as ever trying to change her daughter into someone who is more socially acceptable or “normal”.
Because the diagnosis of autism or Asperger’s can be so devastating to parents, you often find yourself wishing that your child can “fit in” or have a “normal life”. It was easy to lose sight of being able to appreciate “the small stuff”. In the beginning, I learned to alter my expectations. For instance, I remember when my son was in 4th or 5th grade and other parents were relishing in their kids’ accomplishments on the soccer field or the school play. Our joy came from listening to our son making small talk with a carpool buddy for the first time, or joining a group of kids playing softball at a friend’s house for the first time.
Temple’s family was able to afford a caregiver whose job it was to play with her. We, too, were fortunate to be able to do early intervention with our son through Occupational Therapy and later Floortime™ Therapy and a listening therapy called Tomatis.
In fact, it was the Floortime™ approach that started us on our journey to help our son emotionally and socially. This approach, developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan teaches the child to “develop a sense of pleasure in interacting and relating to others, and is done through play, based on the child’s interests.”
Floortime™ led us to a small private school where my son started in 5th grade that truly made the difference in our whole family’s life. This school uses the Floortime Approach, Occupational Therapy, and sensory integration principles to help children be successful socially and emotionally. In a more traditional school setting, a teacher may REACT to a behavior such as “refusing to write an essay”. At this school, they take great care in understanding WHY a child is having such difficulty. It is this approach that helped me and my husband to be able to deal with the meltdowns or the “refusals to go to bed”.
Temple Grandin is now a respected Animal Behavioral scientist and is a strong advocate for more humane livestock handling. She has designed many innovations at facilities that help reduce stress in the animals before they are slaughtered. Temple credits her autism for her success as a scientist. She recognized that autistic people and animals rely on visual clues to navigate their environment. This led to her devising new ways of how livestock are handled.
I’d imagine Temple would have a similar reaction to a question my son was asked as a second or third grader: “If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be”? My son’s answer was “me, of course”. He explained that if he was different, then he wouldn’t be into science and Star Wars, for example, and that’s what he likes about himself. I have to agree with him that his Asperger’s makes him who he is today: a creative, highly intelligent, inquisitive young man, whose dream is to work at the CDC one day.
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