I loved the Temple Grandin movie for the same reasons most
of us did. It is a wonderful story. Claire
Danes is a superb actor and she was fabulous in this role. The
story outlined the frustrations and obstacles of autism brilliantly! The inspiration to people and families struggling
with autism was a breath of fresh air! That is why I loved it.
I started to hate it when I heard the take-away from people
who know almost nothing about autism apart from this movie. Last year we went to a family dinner party and
we brought Naomi. As usual we explained
her condition to those that didn’t know her.
Later of in the evening one of
the other guests asked “Autism, is that the condition that they were portraying
in that movie with Claire Danes? “ When
I told her that it was she continued. “That
movie really made a point for me. I
mean, we’re all different; we’ve all got things that are a little odd about us! That doesn’t mean we need a cure for them.” This
was a little surprising since this same person seemed to cringe a little when
Naomi moved around, trying to grab other people’s hands at this event. Maybe she just didn’t like children in
general, but I sensed she was less than fully approving of this little oddity
in particular. After hearing her refer
to autism as if it were a simple ‘quirk’ I wanted to ask her if she noticed
that she had eaten dinner, started dessert and was on her second glass of wine
before I had even had a chance to take my first bite of anything. That’s the life of an autism mom. Something the Temple Grandin movie left out.
Aside from how her condition affects me, there’s Naomi to
consider. Autism really isn’t a simple
‘quirk’ for her. Maybe she isn’t
entirely comfortable with how autism will affect her life. The movie clearly indicated that Temple
Grandin has never been interested in any kind of romantic relationship. Most people are - autistic or not- and yes, autism gets in the way of that. Independent living – or lack there of,
effective communication and major barriers to obtaining things that she may
want in life aren’t just little ‘quirks’.
No matter how accepting the environment around her is, autism will
affect her quality of life.
When I try to talk about
Naomi's future, sometimes people will say “Look at Temple Grandin!” The
tone isn’t “Look at Temple Grandin! What
an inspiration!” It’s more along the
lines of “If she can do it, why can’t your kid? Stop worrying about her and get
on with life!”
I hear these things and I wonder if parents
of children with polio were told not to worry, because hey, look at Franklin
Roosevelt? Somehow, I doubt it. Somehow people got that polio was a serious
epidemic and not just a quirky thing. I
wish that people would get that when it came to autism.
The movie only briefly showed Temple as a child with her mother
using flashcards as Temple sat passively.
Then suddenly, Temple is a young adult, working on her aunt’s farm,
engineering a gate that let cars through and keep the cattle in. She’s even getting ready for college in the
fall. I know there must have been a lot
more blood, sweat and tears in those years between. It’s too bad we didn’t get too much insight
into them.
Then there’s the squeeze machine. Yes, the squeeze machine worked wonderfully
for Temple and I am happy that she made it work. It doesn’t mention that since autism affects
so many people in so many different ways, the squeeze machine isn’t the answer
for everyone with autism. To have the
insight, the skills, the communication
abilities and the intellect to figure out what your sensory needs are and build
something to address them is much more difficult and far rarer than it appears
on a movie screen. For people with
autism, many of the sensory and emotional conditions are much further outside
of their control then most of us can ever imagine.
I still loved it. I truly think she is an inspiration and role
model. I think everyone, including
people with autism should strive to use their gifts and work hard to make accomplishments. It’s just that the difficulties that come
with autism don’t go away by treating everyone like Temple Grandin. The world of autism is so much bigger than
this, or any movie can encompass. I guess it’s like dismissing racism by
pointing to Barak Obama or figuring that we don’t need to help people on
welfare by pointing to JK Rowling. It is far more complex world out there. So
yes, Temple Grandin does not need a cure.
Many others do.
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