Temple Grandin Presentation

I really enjoyed the presentation by Temple. I once knew an autistic boy back home growing up, and he had several qualities that made him different from the other kids I knew. He always had to tuck in his shirts and wear his socks high because he hated the feeling of anything touching his skin. Socially, he had a hard time understanding situations. The way Temple talked and dressed reminded me of how my friend talked and dressed. I found it interesting that she is so knowledgeable, and her qualities mirrored those of my friend's.
I thought she was a fascinating person, and she was so smart! I really liked that she knew a lot about teaching autistic children, because as she shared her knowledge with us, it calmed me because I am actually a little nervous about getting autistic children as students mainly because I hope I handle them and their differences the correct way. She repeated a lot of things that I learned in my Exception Students class last semester. She said that it isn't a good idea to all of a sudden change things, like the room's layout or the schedule of the day. Autistic children don't adapt well to change in any manner, whether it be having indoor recess or making science before reading for a day. She advised that we take the child aside in the morning and tell that child that today will be a little different and it is nothing to get worked up over, and just make sure they understand that there will be changes in that day. I think this is the part that makes me the most nervous about having autistic children in my classroom.
I'll be honest here, I'm vegetarian and so the fact that she's all about the slaughterhouse scene doesn't put her high on my favorites list. But, other than that, she's an amazing speaker! That's totally off topic, and yes, she was very interesting to listen to!