In those days, in the '50s, he could have succeeded. There was a tremendous feeling against mothers in those days. What people didn't realize was mothers were breaking down.
Cutler said that autistic children will struggle with concepts and context. They struggle to make social connections. And it is important for parents of an autistic child to explain to others that autistic children do not always make eye contact. They are not being shifty-eyed. Once you understand that, you can deal with it. It's not Hallmark cards - oh, it's all going to be all right. It's really a bet. You check out the odds, and you place your bet.
That's how I describe hope. And I bet on Temple's growth. Eustacia Cutler has words of wisdom for parents who are raising a child with autism. But parents of any child can heed her advice:. And just to clarify, habits are often called skills. The author, Charles Duhigg, describes individuals with memories altered by traumatic brain injury to the point that they could not hold a new, or previously known, concept in mind long enough to master it.
Ultimately, control of this cycle helped patients master some important skills. With enough repetition and a reward as the motivator, the new skill was eventually adopted by the uninjured part of the brain — the cruise control of our circuitry — the basal ganglia. No one forgets that hyper awareness, yet today as an experienced driver you can drive blocks, even miles, without a conscious thought. Her father was a real estate agent, and her mother was a writer, singer, and actress who devoted her time to improving Grandin's life once she was a diagnosed with autism as a toddler.
Autism is a developmental brain disorder, and its origins are the subject of tremendous scientific debate. Autism affects the areas of the brain that direct abstract thought, language, and social interaction, and Grandin displayed the classic symptoms of the condition in her earliest years—she spoke little, did not like to be held or touched, and was prone to dissolve into raging temper tantrums when provoked. In the early s, however, autistic children were sometimes incorrectly judged to be developmentally disabled, and the medical profession often recommended institutionalization.
Grandin's parents were told that their daughter was brain-damaged, and suggested a long-term care facility for her. Grandin's mother instead took her to a neurologist, who proposed a course of speech therapy. She was duly enrolled in a program, and at home her mother read to her constantly. The family was also able to afford a caregiver whose job it was to play with Grandin and keep her from retreating into a corner, as autistic children prefer.
Grandin's mother also sought out private schools with sympathetic staff who were willing to work with her daughter's special needs. Grandin credits this early intervention with pulling her out of the isolationist shell of autism and laying a path toward her professional success later in life. As she grew older, Grandin became fascinated by rotating objects of any sort; such fixations are common in autism and another related condition, Asperger syndrome.
She became incredibly stressed by anything that rotated or made a whirring noise, but learned that doors seemed to soothe her. Beset by panic attacks because of these fears, Grandin fled to her aunt's cattle ranch out West one summer during her teens. One day at the ranch, Grandin saw a squeeze chute that ranchers commonly used to immobilize a cow so that it could be vaccinated or branded. The chute absolutely fascinated her, and her aunt agreed to let her try it out—and Grandin loved its soothing effect on her nerves.
Back at home, she built her own squeeze chute in her bedroom, and an advanced version of that would go on to be used in scores of schools and treatment centers for autistic children in the years to come. The summer on the ranch was significant for another revelation for Grandin: she began to sense that animals and autistic persons shared a signifi-cant trait: both relied on visual clues in order to navigate their world.
For example, a squirrel will hide food in dozens of different places for the coming cold snap, but always knows where the acorns and corn cobs are stashed.
Or an ant, passing by a landmark, will turn around and view it from the other side; Grandin says she does this too, while driving on her return trip. Furthermore, like autistic people, non-domesticated animals retreat from human touch. Though medical professionals discouraged her from using the homemade squeeze chute, one of her teachers suggested instead that she try to learn why it worked for her by studying science.
She entered graduate school in animal science at Arizona State University, and began working in the cattle industry as well. She served as the livestock editor of the Arizona Farmer Ranchman for five years, and saw firsthand the methods used to slaughter cattle in the major meat-processing plants.
She recognized that cattle, like some autistic people, exhibited signs of tremendous stress and anxiety when confronted by certain visual or audio clues. Grandin began to think about reducing that unease by redesigning the chute which led the animals to their death. Her first success came when Corral Industries in Phoenix hired her to design some equipment for its plants, but Grandin recognized that though her autism was classified as the "high-functioning" kind, she did not have good interpersonal skills.
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