I’m reunited with this little one after such a long time. 

My heart is so happy.

I drove over here last night because the Temple Grandin conference started early this morning in Monterey.

I walked in and was shocked at the crowd of people buying books at the table they had set up. As I scanned the table looking for a sign-in sheet or a registration table of some sort, I noticed that Dr. Grandin, herself, was standing there and chatting with people. A few people had crowded around her to listen to her conversation with another woman. Several others formed a line in front of her in order to have her sign their recently purchased books. I jumped at the chance to talk to her and show off ALL THE THINGS I knew after reading her books. She didn’t really seem to care.

She was speaking to this lady about the “mucky spectrum.” How ‘they’ went off and screwed everything up in the diagnostic manual. How it’s ridiculous that we would stamp someone who was completely non-verbal and non-functional with the “autism” label and then stamp the same label on another fully-functional, Aspergers’ type person. Everything was mucky and confusing. And she was clearly upset about it.

I finally managed to get a picture with her. But she wasn’t looking at the camera. I didn’t care.

I met Dr. Temple Freaking Grandin. I was SO starstruck all morning and had a blast listening to Dr. Grandin and her mother talk about her childhood experiences and the customized intervention program. Listening to, and meeting, Temple Grandin was a long time dream of mine and I’m so lucky to have had the opportunity to hear her stories. But I, surprisingly, got a lot out of the second half of the conference as well! The afternoon speaker was an occupational therapist named Beth Aune who discussed behavior supports in the inclusive classroom.

As she was speaking and describing the various sensory-seeking behaviors and potential solutions or supports, I was picturing some of my students. The behaviors she described were SPOT. ON. I felt like she had snuck a peek of my kiddos before she got up on the stage.

Key things I walked away from this conference with:

• Watch what your kids are doing instead of trying to stop them from doing it. And ask yourself, “Does it affect the child’s functional performance?” Sometimes things are not getting in the way of functioning. Sometimes they need a certain behavior because it HELPS them function.
• STOP SAYING NO. That doesn’t change behavior. Make them try it again. Show them the right way.
• “If I hear criss-cross applesauce one more time, I will die.” Looking around at everyone at the conference, I realized we were all sitting differently than the people around us. Some were leaned back a bit. Some were hunched over their iPads. Some had their feet up on the chair next to them. Nobody was telling them how to sit. We need to move BEYOND the robot mentality. What is it that we are trying to do? We are losing sight of the learning because we are focused on the sitting.
• Children learn about the world by moving and touching, yet we want them to learn by listening. We, as adults, learn by DOING. Why do we instruct our kids with auditory information? Add to the fact that most of our kids have language delays.
• We need to give our kids permission and tools to advocate for themselves. Examples: “Too many words.” “Sorry I was distracted, can you tell me again?”
• There’s a reason rehab is 28 days. It takes that long to relearn a habit. When we implement a new strategy, give it time to show effect.
• Genetics of personality traits are like a music mixing board. It’s not like you have it or you don’t. You can dial it up or down.
• And my all-time favorite: “They say you gotta know how to do algebra in order to be a diesel mechanic. That’s a pile of lard. We have to learn how to get around some of these stupid things.” – Temple Grandin