Thursday, January 28, 2010

Remarkable story of Temple Grandin on HBO

HBO has made a film about the early life of activist, scientist and writer Temple Grandin. It airs Feb. 6th. Catch it if you can



The NPR Blog notes

Her improbable life story is the subject of a new movie starring Claire Danes as the woman who overcame the odds to earn a Ph.D., write half a dozen books, advocate for autism education, and work as a professor of animal science at Colorado State University.

Dr. Grandon recently did a fasinating interview with Talk of the Nation on NPR and she also answered her readers questions at the NPR Blog.

I have all her books, and I recommend these titles, in particular: Animals Make Us Human, Animals in Translation and Thinking in Pictures.

Whenever I meet someone who works with animals I recommend starting with Animals in Translation. If I knew someone with a child diagnosed with Autism or Asberger Syndrome or, as often happened when I worked in Silicon Valley, I had a colleague with Asperberger Syndrome who was interested in knowing more about the ways their different, and often brilliant, minds work, I recommended they read Thinking In Pictures. (1)

Sia

(1) Go to any Scifi, tech or Pagan convention and you'll meet a lot of folks with Asberger Syndrome, compulsive/addictive disorders and/or ADHD. I could wish more people in spiritual communities would take the time to learn about these issues and the ways in which these challenges effect behavior in group settings so that they can offer support and boundaries where needed.

Additional Links

Update 1/29: Oregon Leads Nation in use of therapy dogs for children with autism.

Temple Grandin (Wikipedia)

Oasis: A resource for individuals and families with Autism or Asberger Syndrome

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