It’s impossible to be Autism Mom and not read up on autism. And then not beat yourself of up for not spending every waking moment consumed by autism and treatments for autism and diets for autism and medications for autism. Lazy autism mom. But you can’t hang out with Autism and not know about Temple Grandin, who, along with Sheldon Cooper (and ok, lots of other people) is basically the poster person for Successful Autism.
If you’re not part of my world and you don’t have Google handy, you may not know that Temple Grandin is renowned for her work with animals, and also, in autism circles, renowned for allowing those of us with typical brains a glimpse into her brain, and therefore, insight into our loved ones, especially those like my kiddo, who doesn’t express himself quite as well.
I’m kind of a Temple Grandin fan girl. So obviously as soon as I heard she was speaking at a University Near Me, I got a ticket as soon as they went on sale.
But then, I heard that the autistic community on campus was protesting the choice of speaker because they disagree with Temple’s viewpoints of what autistic folks should be doing…or what parents of autistic folks should be doing to help their kids get through life. And they further point out that Temple Grandin perpetuates the myth of the “model crip,” the disabled person who has such special skills that they “make up” for the disability.
Well shit.
When I saw this I felt a familiar guilty tugging in my gut. And I remembered my Mom saying “well, I guess I said the Wrong Thing” whenever anyone got mad at her. And I considered, for a second, letting my seat a Temple’s lecture sit empty.
I do hate to be on the wrong side of ally-ship. Especially when it’s because I’m totally ignorant.
This is not the first time nor the last this will happen. I have lots of privilege which makes me blissfully unaware of those who don’t, and then when I get called out on it I get icky feelings like the ones above and I try to do better. Really.
But. In this instance. What if by doing better I am missing out on some words that will be clues to the Mystery of Max? Temple isn’t Max, but maybe they share similar internal experiences, and maybe she will share something that can be helpful to him. If she does, I’d like to be there to hear it.
Also, I’m kind of a fan.
But, you know, I’d sort of like to hear from the autistic folks too, because they too have clues that can help me figure things out. Or at least put my in my place. And God knows I need to go to my place every so often. So if there are protesters there, I’m going to try to Woman Up and listen.
And then I’m listening to Temple. And buying a copy of her book so she can sign it!
Eeeeeee!
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