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Tacoma-Pierce County PACEs Connection (WA)

Temple Grandin Has Some Great Tips to Help Kids With Autism Cope During the Coronavirus Quarantine (Parade)

 

By Deborah Wallace, April 3, 2020, Parade 

Parents who are working at homeduring the coronavirus quarantineface many challenges. But the boundaries between work and home life are blurred even more when your child has autism. To commemorate National Autism Awareness Month in April, international autism expert Temple Grandin spoke to Parade.com about how parents and caregivers can help their families thrive during this unprecedented time of isolation.

Grandin, Ph.D., professor of animal science at Colorado State University, a noted lecturer on the topics of animal science and autism, knows that children and adults with autism often have difficulty adjusting to changes, surprises, transitions and disappointments. This is exacerbated during this time of uncertainty amid the global health crisis. And with new statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealing 1 in 54 schoolchildren are being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, it has never been more important to intervene early to help them learn life skills.

Please click here to read the full story: https://parade.com/1019088/deb...onavirus-quarantine/

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One of the practices I have made a habit of in the last year is intentionally listening and deferring to voices from historically marginalized communities, including neurodivergent folks and autistic adults specifically. Something that I have had the opportunity to read about has been a criticism of Temple Grandin, and the reason I think that it is important to acknowledge is because the voices of these autistic individuals are often clear about the harm and trauma she has contributed to their community; though they also acknowledge how groundbreaking she was many years ago. This harm has been particularly due to her use of functioning labels, and support of eugenics, ABA, and organizations such as Autism Speaks. I don't say any of this to be argumentative, but I believe uplifting these voices is important and that that we have these conversations as an opportunity to recognize multiple sides of a story 

Here are the words shared by someone in response to this article in another space recently:

Sigh. I really, really, *really* wish neurotypicals realized there are so many other autistic advocates out there besides Temple Grandin. We autistics greatly appreciate what she did to change the face of autism, but desperately wish she would stop putting herself forward as an autism expert. She is steeped in classism and ableism, even to the point of preaching eugenics. 

There are some good points in that article. There are also lots of bad ones. Look to Autistic AdvocateThe Neurodivergent TeacherAutistic Not WeirdKristy Forbes - Autism & Neurodiversity Support SpecialistThe Autistic OT, or Autistic, Typing instead. Read The Thinking Person's Guide to AutismNeuroClastic, or The Autistic Self Advocacy NetworkAlliance Against Seclusion and Restraint isn't necessarily doing anything COVID-19 specific, but they are doing great work. Temple Grandin was groundbreaking for her time and she may still be great at the science she does, but she actually sets autistics back every time she speaks.

Another article that helped me have a better grasp was this one. I hope that by bringing this up, we can spark new insights!

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