Temple Grandin Movie

I just finished watching the Temple Grandin movie on DVD.  I can't tell you how amazing it was but....I'm going to try.  First of all, this amazing woman's mother was told to institutionalize her because she was autistic.  She wasn't talking at age four, wouldn't let anyone touch her, and often had fits and panic attacks. 

While this was in the early days of the diagnosis of autism, it was still sad to see how people treated both her and her mother.  No one thought she would amount to anything and, for a while, it seemed her fear would overcome her and negate the gifts she had.  But her mother, and several other key teachers and mentors, pushed her, kept her going, forced her to keep trying new and uncomfortable things and, lo and behold, they became more comfortable for her and she tried more and more things until she had a doctorate and was able to clearly articulate what it means to be autistic.  Parents of kids on the autism spectrum, this clearly calls us to not give up and to push our children to be what they are capable of being, even if it is uncomfortable for them (or for us).  Teachers, we need to look behind the challenging behaviors of some students to who they are inside and help them develop the gifts God has given them.  This movie truly challenged me as both a parent and a teacher to not give up, to keep loving and praying and pushing my child (and those I teach) to become what they were made to be.

The truly amazing part of this movie was the insightful way which Claire Danes (and the director) portrayed Temple Grandin.  It gave me a previously unknown insight into how my son Daniel (who has Aspergers) and other people on the autism spectrum view life.  I know that the spectrum varies widely as do the experiences of people with this diagnosis but it helped me to see how the chaos and noise of life physically hurt those with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and how the mind of someone with this diagnosis can view things in a beautifully different way.  She could do things that no one else could do and see things the way no one else saw them.  I know that Daniel does this too - he can take something that my "normal" brain cannot do (like see Lego instructions in 2D and convert them into a 3D model) and do it with ease.  He can laugh, smile, and have fun but he is also sensitive to noises, chaos, temperature, change, etc.  Just like Temple's mother, I am proud of him and excited to see what he will become and the plans that God has in store for him (Jeremiah 29:11).

One of my favorite quotes was that Temple is different but not LESS.  God did not put my son (or any other person given the label of autism or asperger's) on earth by accident. Each person is made with gifts and talents and a reason for existing.  Temple views her autism as a gift that enables her to do things and see things that other people cannot see.  The more articulate she became, the more she was able to express that she still wanted her life to have meaning even if there were things she would never understand (like people and their non-verbal cues, emotions, reactions).  Don't we all want our lives to count for something regardless of our challenges, failings, gifts, or emotions?

Take some time to view this film whether or not you have people with autism or asperger's in your life but especially if you do.  It will be well worth your time.