With significant increases in children being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the past decade, many changes need to be made to legislation and programming to accommodate the increase of individuals with ASD. This past week in the Senate a bipartisan Autism CURES Act passed. This act is designed to improve existing programs focused around education, early detection, intervention and research for individuals with ASD. It's important that such progress and advocation is occurring on behalf of individuals with autism, and hopefully this Act as well as other legislation with similar intentions will have success in congress in the future.
Another example of advocating on behalf of individuals with ASD can be seen in the success and work done by Temple Grandin. Grandin was born in the 1940s and was diagnosed with Autism when doctors and society believed in psychogenic theories of causation. Grandin's mother worked very hard to keep Grandin out of institutions as a child, and instead had her educated in a traditional academic setting. Grandin was challenged by her mother to complete many tasks that trained her on key life skills that served to greatly benefit her later in life. In her interview, Grandin shares of how she faced great difficulty socially as she got older. Due to her cognitive functioning, Grandin saw the world differently. She found certain courses to be nearly impossible to grasp, while understanding other subjects with great ease. One aspect of Grandin's life that I found quite interesting was her success with working with animals. Grandin explains in her interview that individuals with communication and learning disabilities tend to work really well with animals. She tells of how these individuals, herself included, have a unique way of empathizing and relating to animals because of their challenges with relating to other individuals. It was through this understanding and Grandin's love of building that she was able to successfully develop and implement machinery for meat packing companies and other farm-related jobs. Grandin's story was so inspirational that it was made into a Lifetime movie starring Claire Danes. The movie does an excellent job of demonstrating how Grandin sees the world differently, but by no means in a way that's lesser than other individuals. I highly recommend watching "Temple Grandin" if you have never seen it!
Article on legislation: http://hometownsource.com/2014/08/05/klobuchar-sponsored-legislation-to-support-autism-programs-passes-u-s-senate/
Article on Temple Grandin: http://www.onethingnew.com/index.php/true-love/395-temple-grandin-qyouve-got-to-stretch-these-kidsq
Another example of advocating on behalf of individuals with ASD can be seen in the success and work done by Temple Grandin. Grandin was born in the 1940s and was diagnosed with Autism when doctors and society believed in psychogenic theories of causation. Grandin's mother worked very hard to keep Grandin out of institutions as a child, and instead had her educated in a traditional academic setting. Grandin was challenged by her mother to complete many tasks that trained her on key life skills that served to greatly benefit her later in life. In her interview, Grandin shares of how she faced great difficulty socially as she got older. Due to her cognitive functioning, Grandin saw the world differently. She found certain courses to be nearly impossible to grasp, while understanding other subjects with great ease. One aspect of Grandin's life that I found quite interesting was her success with working with animals. Grandin explains in her interview that individuals with communication and learning disabilities tend to work really well with animals. She tells of how these individuals, herself included, have a unique way of empathizing and relating to animals because of their challenges with relating to other individuals. It was through this understanding and Grandin's love of building that she was able to successfully develop and implement machinery for meat packing companies and other farm-related jobs. Grandin's story was so inspirational that it was made into a Lifetime movie starring Claire Danes. The movie does an excellent job of demonstrating how Grandin sees the world differently, but by no means in a way that's lesser than other individuals. I highly recommend watching "Temple Grandin" if you have never seen it!
Article on legislation: http://hometownsource.com/2014/08/05/klobuchar-sponsored-legislation-to-support-autism-programs-passes-u-s-senate/
Article on Temple Grandin: http://www.onethingnew.com/index.php/true-love/395-temple-grandin-qyouve-got-to-stretch-these-kidsq