I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to keynote on the same stage with Dr. Temple Grandin in the past about my life growing up on the autism spectrum from a nonverbal child to professional speaker today.
Some time ago I watched a wonderful video featuring Dr. Grandin that I wanted to spotlight. Grandin who has autism and is one of the leading autism advocates in the country in a FOX 5 interview, discussed the importance of stretching our children with autism just slightly out of their comfort zone to help them progress.
Grandin who has written several books and speaks around the country rose to fame after the release of her 2010 HBO film ‘Temple Grandin.’
Grandin told FOX 5 “You have to expose kids to interesting things. Find those interesting things that they one day can turn into careers.”
What a great message! This is a message that I believe we need to use as our mantra in the autism community. Still too many times I see a focus on the deficit model where we focus 99.9% of the time on what kids weaknesses are and not enough time on finding their talents and strengths. I applaud people such as Temple Grandin for advocating for our community.
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Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a post-secondary education.
Have Kerry, one of the only professionally accredited speakers on the spectrum in the country, speak at your next event by sending him an inquiry here. If you have a referral for someone who many want him to speak please reach out as well! Kerry speaks with schools, businesses, government agencies, colleges, nonprofit organizations, parent groups and other special events on topics ranging from employment, how to succeed in college with a learning disability, internal communication, living with autism, bullying prevention, social media best practices, innovation, presentation best practices and much more!
Thinking in Pictures was my “bible” in raising my son, in a way. Whatever Dr. Grandin said, I took as gospel truth. There was very little else available to me 22 years ago. But there was just so much common sense available in that book. Later on, I took advice she had written in another book, the name I don’t recall. In it, she said that high school was a nightmare “for these kids”, and to get them into a Tech College early, at age 16, where the students took their studies so much more seriously, and it wasn’t the “social club” that high school was. It was the best thing I ever did. My son made all his decisions, was responsible for his own work, and actually was his own advocate. He qualified for accommodations in math, writing, and testing….but he took care of it all. It wasn’t easy, and sometimes he wanted to give up, although he never told me that. He is a CNC machinist now, jut got his associates. He was hired before he graduated, and he is making good money now.
I was raised with common sense, and with Dr. Grandin’s help, my son was raised with common sense, too. It’s hard, but he is tough, and persistent.
We met Temple Grandin when my son was 5 years old. I still love her.