An Inside View of Autism

Ever wonder what is going on inside an autistic mind?

There is an excellent article written by Temple Grandin, Ph.D. here:
www.autism.com/autism/first/inside.htm

Yes, she is an assistant professor who was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

James,

Great Article. Thanks!

Very informative. I am a teacher and I have taken several classes on students with diverse needs including autism. I find it is a very under-researched, and misunderstood disorder. This should shed some light on it for the Intercot community. Thanks!

She's published books too. Animals In Translation is amazing. I would recommend it to anybody

Interesting Post - but I would caution anyone who says "this is what its like to be autistic" .... without adding the phase "for me" to the end.

Austim is actually often termed ASD (autism spectrum disorder). The reason being, the symptoms and severity of Autism vary with each individual .... each person fall somewhere on the spectrum. (Personally, I think too many people feel that the spectrum is linear ... when in reality, it is multi-dimensional).

Some Autistic people hate being touched, others crave deep pressure. Some are bothered by noises or lights, others are not. Some have physical limitations, others do not. Some develop speech, others may never develop this skill. Some have reactions to food, others will not.

I believe the post is a great post for what Autism is like for one person.... and if it opens some eyes, great. But just a word of caution ... until more is known about the condition, each person must be treated as the individual that they are.

I agree one hundred percent with you, Matt's Dad. I have never met or read about another child with autism that is just like my DS9. So even if someone has met one or two kids with autism and understands those one or two kids, they need to realize that there are probably not another one or two that are exactly like those. That is what is so frustrating about autism. People just need to be open minded about all the 'possibilities/combinations' of what they may encounter with someone with autism. Never a dull moment, for sure! :)

Thanks for posting the link, Nate's Grandpa. I had the wonderful experience of hearing her speak at an autism conference. If anyone is interested another speaker at that conference was Liane Willey. She has Asperger's and is another great speaker.

BTW, Temple was born in 1947 so she is not 44 years old.