Questions from ASG group (Yahoo)
I thought of another question, and I'd like your prospective.? Temple Grandin has said that she thinks when kids with autism reach middle school age, they should start being home schooled to protect them from being bullied and ridiculed by peers.? What is you opinion on this?
Thanks,
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:-)
Perhaps Temple is right, the world is seems to be a meaner place than it once was years ago and now that Autism is a designer disability -meaning all autistic people are now doing life with their arm tied behind their back it might make sense. I mean -- a group home seems to be the only goal of modern autism and if you are going to live a sheltered life you might as well make it a total sheltered life, and do home school as well. I often work from the lyrics of the song, The Dream I dreamed I dreamed was not denied me. That means life was so much more doable before we were expected to bow down and become "Retards." When our Splinter skills and obsessions let us yield normal lives autism painted a different picture in fact your reading it right now on Autism hero's Alan Turing's computer. Autism is both MR/DD and Einstein but the new modern researchers will never care about that.
I grew up in my rural school and was indeed a figure of fun of the whole school. I was the oddest strangest kid and from not being able to run, skip or do jumping jacks to my time spent in the hall being disciplined and tutored I was very easy to be picked on. It built character for sure-mine. By High school most people stopped picking on me and many came to rescue at times. Being autistic I often missed all the intent of the insult given to me. Being deaf and blind with an optic canceling thought (picture thought) meant I often never heard the full brunt of life.
In the 1960s or so in our rural school odds are everyone knew who you were and word got around quick if your kid was good or bad or picking on people. Think Marybeery RFD (Andy Griffith) . The principal, the teachers and even the school cook and bus drivers and even the custodian all stepped in helped keep the peace. One Cook in our lunch room made sure her Cafeteria was kept clean and yes people even finished their meals. She was the judge Judy of her time. If you messed up you often had to spend the rest of your lunch doing dishes! Today that would be child abuse most likely. Besides that and a few whacks given the bullies never really got a big hold on the school like they seem to do today. Even our bus driver could and did give whacks or they drove you back to school and even put the trouble makers up front where they could watch them.
A footnote, I was once supposed to meet Temple in Person at a MAPP (more Able Autistic People conference) in Indiana and we were 3 foot form meeting and who ever she was traveling with made sure we never met. By this point I did two Indiana University events and other autism events and even if I was not outed I certainly diminished the general reputation of autism by then as "GASP" I even drove to those events on my OWN! I didn't realize yet Autism was Group homes and Retards only by then, and I never dreamed that was only version accepted. You should have seen the Late Dr Rimland fume a year or so after that when I showed up at an Autism Town Hall meeting held by the CDC again in Indianapolis. I think all my comments were banished from the record as I tried and tried to get them via the freedom of Information Act and all I got was an unsigned note in my mail box, "You have been banished from the record." The meeting was transcribed, videotaped and I had two speaker slips.
Finally I love and Admire Temple and her work but she is only 1st grade autism if you will, all of us that do so well that even approach normal life build on her work. She tells of still and motion picutres as her autism thoughts they are indeed autism thoughts but low level ones. Until she adds Picture -in-picutre thoughts and 3 and 4 deminsion thoughts and projection thoughts to her autism mix she will not be able to mimic normal thoughts like we do. (and present as Autisitc) While She wrote about Still and Motion Picutre thoughts that have NOT been in a text book and for sure our successfull ones we use have never been either. We learned the high level thoughts via trial and error with the AID of our splinter skills and obessions our learning hallway. Not one bit of modern Autism allows for obession and splinter skills and in fact bans them / they our very best hope. (so much for progress). Rich Shull
Labels: Autism/ Social, Future Horizons, politics and reality, Rimland