Temple Grandin Book Review

Transcription

1 Lor 1 Temple Grandin Book Review Mai Lee Lor University of Arkansas Fayetteville 7/3/2012

2 Lor 2 Temple Grandin is a woman who has the developmental disorder, Autism. In the book, The Way I See It and the TED Talk Presentation, Temple indicated that she is a visual learner which means she learns through realistic pictures. She struggled for many years with autism, but she has built friendships and a career of designing cattle chutes out of her fixation for art. Also in both the book and the video, she emphasize that she had to sell her drawings or work instead of herself. Over the years she has learned many things from the disorder and has helped others by writing books to help parents, teachers, and adults learn about the autism spectrum. Besides writing books, Temple Grandin is often invited to speak in the autism community. The way I see It, is one of the books she has written. It provides both personal experiences and important information that deals with the autism spectrum. It not only gives information about Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, but also solutions or interventions for parents and teachers to push children with autism and Aspergers to their full potential. The Way I see It, focuses on all aspects of useful information on autism. According to Temple, every case of autism is unique with "different profile of strengths and challenges" and "no two individuals manifest the same characteristics in the same degree of severity" (p. XXiii). Therefore, it is considered a spectrum disorder. Many individuals who has autism vary from ones who are "nonverbal with severe challenges that can include self-injurious behaviors and mental retardation, to individuals on the higher-functioning end of the spectrum (known as Asperger's Syndrome) who are extremely intelligent with good expressive verbal language, yet markedly impaired social skills and weak perspective-taking abilities" (p. XXiii). Dr. Grandin did a good job of explaining the various disorders. For example, she described Asperger's Syndrome as "a milder variant on the autism continuum... [with] no obvious speech delay", compared to a child with autism who must have "a delay or no speech

3 Lor 3 coupled with other impairments in the areas of behavior, social skills, and play skills" (p. 8). According to Dr. Grandin, individuals with Aspergers may have talents that could be over looked due to their language skills and advanced intelligence in one area (p. 8). Besides the disorders themselves, the characteristics Dr. Grandin see as most problematic are the many people who are misdiagnosed due to shared conditions with other characteristics of ADHD, learning disabilities, or dyslexia. These diagnosis can be improved with therapy for a change of diagnosis, but "autism or Asperger's Syndrome is a lifelong condition arising from biomedical, brain-based origins; it never goes away" (p. 8). One other problem is that people get hung up on labels. According to Dr. Grandin, labels are useful when it comes to getting financial help but it "should never define the child, nor dictate what program should be used with a child" (p. 9-10). She encourages people to look at the child instead of the label. In addition, the treatments should be based on the child's weakness and strengths, learning styles, and personality, not the label of their diagnosis. Dr. Grandin NEVER wants an individual's label to lower the expectations for a child and their capacity of learning (p. 10). As stated by Dr. Grandin, the best thing a parent can do to find an intervention method is to "watch their child, without preconceived notions and judgments, and learn how their child functions, acts, and reacts to his or her world" (p. 5). This information will be very useful in finding interventions that will match the child's needs and learning style (p. 5). In addition to the autism spectrum, Dr. Grandin also explains about regressive autism. As readers, we learn that regressive autism occurs at ages 18 to 24 months. In regressive autism, children meet most typical development milestones in motor skills, social development, and speech, but lose those functions between ages one and a half to two. Regressive autism is different from classic autism in the fact that from birth, the warning signs are not present until

4 Lor 4 later (p. 9). According to the research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, "these children may be born with compromised immune systems then subjected to an environmental insult or combination of insults that opens the door for the autism expression" (p. 9). Aside from the information on autism, Dr. Grandin also provide strategies to help children develop skills for the everyday life. It is important to teach children with autism and Aspergers about generalization. One example of such is teaching about safety concepts, especially about the crosswalk and road safety. As a child Dr. Grandin "had to learn that no matter where [she] was located, all cars and all streets had certain common features" (p. 38). She learned from a book of safety songs that were drilled into her head and her nanny took her sister and her on walks in the neighborhood (p. 38) which she had to practice looking left and right before crossing. Another example she gave from her childhood experience was for developing problem solving skills using concrete and hands on. She had to work together with several children in the neighborhood to finish a task of building a tree house. Together they had to "work together to find lumber, design it, take measurements, and discuss to get the boards up the tree and nailed into place" (p. 67). She pointed out that they learned problem solving skills by doing hands on things and experimenting with different things and ideas (p. 67). She believes children with ASD should be pushed a little for advancement of learning to occur. Children with ASD learns best with concrete and visible example and learn by doing. In addition to the problem solving skills, Dr. Grandin also provides ways to incorporate sensory integration in a program for children with autism or Aspergers. One way to integrate sensory integration in the school system is to have an occupational therapist to access the needs of the child and "set up a daily 'diet' plan, and provide sensory treatment to a child" (p. 97). Dr. Grandin suggested that sensory integration strategies such as relaxing deep pressure, swinging,

5 Lor 5 visual tools, and others should be components to a good autism program. One way to incorporate it is to "try doing discrete trials while the child receives soothing pressure" (p. 98). For example, if laying across a beanbag chair with another bag on top of him calms the child down, then allow him or her to do so because the pressure calms their nervous system down for learning to occur. Other children with ASD may require slow swinging ten to twelve times a minute while learning a lesson (p. 99). Along with inclusion of sensory integration in the school system, it is also important to include it for mono-channel learners. Mono-channel learner only learn by doing one thing such as watching or listening at a time. In a case like this, we should approach having available professionals to incorporate sensory integration. Psychologists can help the child focus on one sense to develop or be aware of his or her other senses as well. They can be introduced or exposed to new things gradually for them to grasp little by little (p. 125). Besides mono-channel, there is also clipping that occurs in autism and other developmental disorders. For these children trying to get them to shift their attention can be very slow that it can cause them to miss half the information conveying to them (p. 111). An example of clipping is if a child is playing with a toy and you tell him or her, "The juice is on the table", he or she may only hear "on the table" (p. 111). A tactic to avoid clipping problems such as this is to get the attention of the child. For example, parents or teachers can do so by using a phrase like, "Tommy, I need to tell you something" (p. 111). After getting their attention only then can the instructions get through without half of the phrase clipped. According to Dr. Grandin, the statement of all behavior is communication can mean several things. Either he or she has "ear infections, a bad tooth ache, a sinus infection, gastrointestinal problems, acid reflux (heartburn), and constipation" (p. 129). Most children who has

6 Lor 6 autism, especially "those who are nonverbal or have limited verbal skills", their behavior is their way of communicating that something is wrong (p. 215). For this reason, parents and educators need to be observant and look for any "sudden or unexplained acting out behaviors" because it could be "hidden physical issues affecting the child" (p. 215). These behavior signs can help determine the problem before seeking drug treatments. From reading this book, the reader begins to understand the many challenges a child or adult has with autism. One of those challenges is Theory of Mind. The author defines the concept of Theory of Mind as "the ability to understand what other people may be thinking" (p. 167). It is the ability to understand that different people have different thought or ways of thinking. Theory of Mind according to the author, "is perspective taking, being able to think about and understand an event or a situation 'through the eyes of another'" (p. 167). Children with higher functioning autism or Asperger's Syndrome, do not have a fully functioning social thinking system so these social thinking skills do not develop as they do in other people. For children with visual Theory of Mind to understand how another person feels, they would have to experience it for themselves (p. 169). Lastly, it is important to focus on social rules when working with children with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, because emotions and social relationships are hard for them to understand and incorporate in their lives. For Dr. Grandin these rules had to be meaningful and she had to make sense of it in her "own way of thinking and viewing the world" (p. 177). She learned these rules by observing others and grouping them into category formats that she could relate to, such as the really bad things, courtesy rules, illegal but not bad, and sins of the system (p. 177). These categories worked for Dr. Grandin, but she did state that each child may need different rule categories for it to make sense to them. Furthermore, it is important for autism or

7 Lor 7 Asperger's syndrome children to learn the social rules because they will help them function in social situations. There are many ways to incorporate a diverse and inclusive environment for all students. As a future teacher I will try to create and incorporate my lessons to include racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. In doing so, I will learn and expand my knowledge about my student's backgrounds and culture and try to address every culture at the appropriate time. This will create an appreciation of the cultures in our society and the many individuals with disabilities so there is acceptance and understanding. To achieve this goal I will implement as provided by Salend (2011), a positive environment with inclusion of strategies of relationship building, group oriented management methods, and social skill instructions (p. 251). In addition to this, I will also use a variety of attitude change and information sharing strategies to "confront ableism, the belief that individuals with disabilities are in need of assistance, fixing, and pity and replace negative labels and stereotypes with meaningful information related to individuals, and the support that enhance their learning and inclusion " (Salend, 2011, p. 178). From creating a positive environment with inclusion, I will also tailor my lessons base on my students' strengths and challenges. As stated in Grandin (2011), "it is a mistake to stamp out a child's special interest, however odd they may seem at the time (p. 41). For example, if several students are interested in art or math it is best to accommodate lessons that relate to the interest for a more positive outcome. In Temple Grandin's case, she was fixated on art which was encouraged by her mother. This fixation turned into a lifelong career of designing cattle equipment (2011, p. 41). In addition to focusing on their interests, I will "make materials more readable by modifying them, reducing their linguistic complexity, incorporating the principles of typographical design, and using instructional technology" (Salend 2011, p.315). For assessing

8 Lor 8 the student's knowledge, I will perform observational assessment during activities as well as occasional quizzes. This routine will be for the purpose of assessing how much the students are retaining the information instead of finding out on a big test that they did not meet the expectations. This concept will allow me to determine which students need more addressing compared to others. Besides the observations, during assessments I will make available a paraeducator who can translate for the ELL students in their language if needed. As for the students with disabilities and require assistive technologies, I will do all I can to make those technologies available to assist them in the areas needed. This environment may require a lot of time in planning, but I am determined to create an inclusive environment where all students can be mainstreamed without labeling and segregating them. As Dr. Grandin (2011) mentioned, it is important for teachers to understand that "for a child to learn, the teaching style must match the student's learning style" ( p. 27). Overall I have learned a lot from the book, The Way I see It and the TED Talk Presentation. Both, not only provide information on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, but also Temple's own personal experiences. The book and the video has increase my concept on how to approach students with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. The most interesting thing I've learned from this book was the sensory oversensitivity and perceptual difficulties of the autism spectrum. I would have never known that a student with autism or Aspergers could have such sensory issues with loud noises, lighting, smells, taste or texture of things, and chaotic environment. I myself have a sensitivity issue with strong smells as well, but I've never thought from their perspective as it being repulsive or painful to the extent of throwing a tantrum (Grandin, 2011, p. 101). Another concept I found interesting is that, children on the autism spectrum think with "bottom-up". Unlike non-autistic people, they "need to see many, many different kinds of dogs

9 Lor 9 before the concept of dog is permanently fixed in their mind" (Grandin, 2011, p. 47). This by far was an eye opener for me. I will honestly take these things into consideration in my future career as a teacher. This book is very helpful in acquiring information and strategies on the autism spectrum which I can apply in numerous ways. I've learned about the many types of thinking in autism and how to address them in productive ways. These types of thinking are, visual thinking which thinks in photo realistic pictures, music and math thinking in patterns, and verbal thinking. In both the book and TED talk video, Temple emphasize the importance of focusing and broadening the child's fixation so they can excel in society. For example, if a child likes trains, use trains to do math problems and if they like to draw dogs, expand it by having them draw other things (Grandin, 2011, p. 42). As a future teacher I will be flexible and creative in making my lesson plans that it will accommodate to both visual and auditory learners to maximize their learning capacity. One other useful information was the methods for handling hitting, biting, and kicking. Instead of using forceful restraint to prevent hitting or kicking, they suggest to use a soft large object such as bean bags or cushions to shield oneself from harm. I feel this is a very safe and useful way to prevent the "person from causing harm to himself or others" ( Grandin, 2011, p. 147) and I will definitely use this method in the future if need to. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning new information from this book. I didn't know much about the autism spectrum before, so this book was an eye opener for me. I found Dr. Grandin's personal experiences to be very insightful. This book helped me understand the autism spectrum from hers and others with autism's perspective. Dr. Grandin's strategies may be demanding but they have proven to be successful with her own life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about autism and what to do for an autism child.

10 Lor 10 References Grandin, Temple. The Way I See It. Arlington: Future Horizons, Print. Salend, Spencer J. Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Effective and Reflective Practices. 7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Print.