Posts tagged autistic mind
Karen’s Blog: Sharing a Teen Idol with my Kids
Mar 9th
Last night my dream came true Although I love many different types of music from rock to jazz to blues to orchestra I got to see live in person my favorite musician in the whole wide world, Roger Hodgson of Supertramp! As a young pup, I would drive through the mountains of Seattle with the top down on my convertible and music blasting into the open air singing at the top of my lungs. I listened from one year to the next, like ALL THE TIME, maybe even stimmed, which means engaging in an extreme interest over and over and over again also known as perseverating, out a great deal on Rogers magnificent talent.
I didn’t stop playing their music, not even while my kids were growing up so they got to jam out with me in the car to Supertramp all their lives. My fifth son, Stephen was the one who alerted me to the fact that they were coming to Edmonton. The funny thing was, I didn’t even know the key musicians name until Stephen invited me. You see, I always knew him as Supertramp and never even thought about what his actual name was, didn’t really care, just I knew I loved loved loved Dreamer and Superstar! Who knows, maybe in the back of my mind part of our Autism Today Star logo came from that song.
My dream that came through was that my kids went with me and we got to enjoy the music together screaming, dancing and dreaming all in a state of exuberance. I almost missed out because I didn’t connect the dots of Roger to Supertramp so when Stephen asked if I was going I almost didn’t go. Sounds a little like autism eh? I guess as a parent I’m probably a little spectral in nature too, you know, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
Another special thing that happened (this is unheard of!) my teenage son Stephen came to the back of the venue where I was seated because I registered at the last minute and asked his friend to trade places with me because I was more fun! Wow!!! I wouldn’t have been caught dead with my parents at that age.
Heres a picture of Jonny, Kim and I having a blast at the concert. You can see by Jonny’s expression, I keep forgetting to call him Jon now that he’s older, he’s full of character! We ended up talking about the label of autism and how ridiculous he thought it was that people didn’t like the word autistic. He said its an incredible over use of words to have to say “person with autism” each and every time they talked about autism because some people thought it was bad to say autistic. He said its not derogatory in his mind. Hummmm interesting! Straight from the horses mouth, not that he’s a horse of course.
My daughter Kim also in the picture shared a story of when she went into a printers office, the kid came over and was stimming on an apple computer. He clearly had autism. The woman kept making apologies for his behavior and Kim’s attitude was “get over it woman” its okay, lighten up! You don’t need to be embarrassed about autism. It is what it is and so what. Look at the kid’s strengths and how intelligent he is and enjoy him for who he is. Wow, this was my true dream come true. Yes I want to change the world so that everyone has this message and “gets over it” that is, the embarrassment, the hiding in the closet, the covering up etc. I was thrilled to hear my own children “get it” because as a parent, you must know, its sometimes easier to get the whole world to see your point before your kids even do and finally they are getting it too!!!
When asked ‘why Autism Today‘ Jonny replies “”Parents and Professionals need to know what their child has so they can understand what they’re going through and how they can help to improve the quality of their life and all those that support them”
Sincerely, Kims, Matts, Christinas, Jonathans, Stephens and Alex’s crazy mom, Karen!
Temple Grandin on TED; Autism is a Continuum
Jul 16th
Temple Grandin is very specific about how she describes autism, how to foster success in the autistic child, why the world needs people on the autism spectrum.
Autism is a very big continuum, from severe (nonverbal) to brilliant to (scientists). The kids growing up now can be the next great inventors.
There is a fine line between nerd and someone with Asperger’s. Many times, these ‘nerdy’ types or kids that can’t get focused on their assigned lessons in school get pushed aside because teachers just don’t know how to deal with them. They don’t know what to do with them and they don’t have the resources to help them flourish. Temple’s deep concern is expressed “…one of the things that really worries me is where is the younger version of those kids going today? They’re not ending up in Silicon Valley, where they belong!” (Grandin, 2010).
The autistic mind is a ‘specialist’ mind. Some are visual, photo realistic thinkers and are poor at algebra, They see thoughts or words just like “google for pictures”. The autistic brain picks out the details, but the ‘normal’ brain ignores a lot of details. She says if a bridge designer ignores the details, it will crumble and fall!
There are pattern thinkers, who are good at math and often have problems with reading. There are verbal thinkers, which are poor at drawing, but know every fact about everything.
Temple learned very early that she had to sell her work, not herself. Social people sell themselves in a job interview, more so than their work. Temple showed her amazing drawings! She also learned the importance of manners at an early age, through intensive mentoring as a young child.
It’s important to show kids on the spectrum interesting stuff to get them excited about learning whatever their specialty is. A mind can be social or ‘geeky’. The autism mind is less social, to the severity of being non-verbal. To take art, drafting, music out of the schools is a critical mistake, as autistic kids need to have these programs to nurture their ‘fixation’. These kids are really smart, and teachers need to know how to direct these kids.
We need to get these kids ‘turned on’. Take notice on what they fixate. If they can’t get their mind off horses, then center the [math] lesson around horses. Maybe they should skip math altogether, if they aren’t pattern thinkers! Temple cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good mentor for helping a child develop his or her autism special talents

