I got to watch Temple Grandin speak about different types of minds. For those who may not know her, Temple is a famous advocate for autism and college professor. Her own experiences with autism motivated her to pursue a degree in agriculture along with write various books about that and autism. I was able to meet her, get some books signed, and ask a couple of questions. Her talk was honest and insightful. I brought home a couple lessons:
- Speak your mind and stop caring about what others think. Her honesty is something that you'll appreciate if you get the privilege to listen to her speak.
- Show your work off. I asked her afterwards what advice she would give as a person with autism pursing SLP(I told her that I have autism before she started), and that was the advice she gave me.
- Don't take hands-on experiences for granted. You gain much more valuable insight by doing it that hearing it for hours on end doesn't give you.
- Don't let a diagnosis, whether it is your own or someone else's, scare you.
- Focus on your strengths. Everyone is good at something, disability or not.
- Find those friends who have shared interests with you and keep them. For Temple, it was horses. For me, it is my passion for autism and of course, dogs.
- Don't let mistakes keep you from stepping out of your comfort zone or trying new things. Mistakes are opportunities to learn.
- Different minds can work well together. In other words, it's not a bad thing to disagree. It's not a bad thing to be different from someone.
- Technology is amazing, but it doesn't (and shouldn't) replace everything.
- Autism is a beautiful way of living.
Grandin, Temple. (2020). Understanding Different Kinds of Minds presentation.