December 22nd, 2006 by Jemaleddin Cole

Google Video has an episode of the BBC show “Horizon” about Temple Grandin. They dis­cuss the his­tory of autism treat­ment and research, and the way it relates to her life and her work. Ms. Grandin, it should be pointed out, has a very sin­gu­lar expe­ri­ence as an autis­tic and one shouldn’t draw too many con­clu­sions about other autis­tics from this movie. Still, it’s a good intro­duc­tion to autism, not to men­tion cattle handling.

The part I like least is the title, “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow.” I’d have called it, “The Woman Who Can Think Like a Cow,” because that’s the point: her spe­cial abil­i­ties allow her to see things from an animal’s per­spec­tive, but she thinks like no one but herself.

Jared isn’t much like Temple. His chief emo­tion isn’t fear, though he doesn’t tol­er­ate anx­i­ety very well. Jared has issues with struc­ture and social­iz­ing, but his sen­sory sen­si­tiv­ity is much lower than most autis­tics. He doesn’t mind loud sounds or bright lights, and while he likes deep pres­sure, he doesn’t mind light pres­sure at all.

So enjoy the movie, but remem­ber that autis­tics are indi­vid­u­als, just like every­one else. And they cer­tainly aren’t cattle.

Comments are closed. me by email.