Participate and not just educate- conversations with Temple Grandin

Had the privilege of spending a whole day with Temple Grandin earlier this week. There’s so much to learn from someone like her. And, what better than all the wisdom coming from a person in the Autism Spectrum. The focus, sense of humor, ability to accept the deficiencies & learn constantly; and of course the tremendous amount of energy at the age of 67 is just incredible. A lot to take away, but here I would focus just on what we need to do better as parents and teachers of any child (not just for those in the Autism Spectrum). I continue to believe that it’s no different to teach a child in the spectrum than teach a child who’s not – this just gets reinforced each time.

Each lesson has a unique message, and needs to be thought through and reinforced into an individual.

1.      “Why look at curing Autism? Then half of Silicon Valley will lose its edge. Don't get carried away by cures and fads”. Important that we look at the strengths of a person, and don’t get carried away by fads. The fundamentals of learning have remained the same always, and haven’t really changed. We are better equipped to deliver education to our children today, than we were in the past. It’s important that we understand these tools (computers, devices, digital assets etc), and use them in the most effective manner.

 

2.      “Find the kind of thinker the child is – Auditory, Visual or Mathematical”. It’s important that teachers and parents spend focused time with children to identify the kind of learners they are. Temple mentioned how life changed for her when she realized that she was a visual thinker and not everyone is. So, the way others understand might be different from how you perceive. She explains this beautifully her book ‘Thinking in Pictures’. Just to clarify, a visual thinker doesn’t mean, someone who likes to draw and its someone who runs their thoughts in pictures. Its important to get into the root as you start the learning process.

 

3.      “You need to stimulate a child’s learning process through activities and excitement”. This is so obvious! But, most of the times we don’t do this. We think learning is in those classrooms – go out and experience the real world. Converse, encourage, engage to the extent that it’s your play than just theirs – keep away the phone for some time, you’ll probably appreciate the beauty in the child more than the ‘likes’ on facebook!

4.      “Teaching social skills is like teaching a person to survive in a new (foreign) culture”. Wow, never thought of it this way! She gave examples of how some people are quick to learn social skills, and some are not. So, there needs to be a method in the way parents and teachers enable a child’s social learning process. Focus on conversation and activity-based teaching, where there’s an underlying learning objective. As an example, if you are about to celebrate ‘Holi’, start talking to the child days in advance that “Holi is about celebrating colours, you’ll be meeting your mama & mami and they’ll get sweets for you. Mama is your mom’s brother………………….”. Here you are not just preparing the child for a colourful (probably wet and dirty!) Holi, but also teaching them social relations. Such a conversation has to start a few days before, and has to be reinforced.

5.      Teach the kids work-skills – “Teach them what the shop lady wants, not what you thought was cool”. No child wants to be a software programmer or a musician (there might be a exception). They probably just enjoy playing on a device, laptop or listening to music. Engage them in activities that are socially useful, and where they can build on their preferences. If a child likes a laptop, get them to help you with drawings & decorations, or for an older child get them to do the monthly household accounting, and for a much older child ask them to go and help a non-profit or a small business with their computer skills. Getting them into the open will help them build holistically rather than in just one skill.

6.      “Focus on Specific goals and not give vagueness”. This is especially true for children & individuals in the spectrum. Start working towards specific goals, and make it exciting when they reach these goals. She gave an example of specific goals vs vague ones. “A specific goal is one where I tell a software company to make a 3D scanning machine, which should have no moving parts, should be able to scan a bunch of keys upto a soccer ball. Moreover, I don’t like reading manuals, so it shouldn’t have any (laughs)”. This is a specific goal, better than “I want a 3D scanning machine that can scan objects”. Goals also need to be relatively tough, so that the child feels challenged, and there’s a sense of achievement when they get there.

7.      “Teach children ‘Project Loyalty’ “. This was one of the highlights for me personally. We’ve probably heard a lot of quotes around this “Let’s focus on the larger purpose, and not the operational details”, “It’s about winning the war and not the battles”. All this can be summed up as “Project Loyalty” – it’s about trying to handle or control your emotions while being focused on the project goal. And a project could be anything that you wish to achieve. Her initial experiences while working in neighborhood stores and cattle farms taught her this – the ability to ignore or accept perspectives/ conversations that you may dislike, in the interest of the larger goal you want to achieve.

8.      “Don’t let them play video games all day (or on devices!) – connect the real world to the virtual”. (She would have probably mentioned this 10 times during the whole day, and this had to find a place here!).  If you really think that a child is learning all the time while on a digital device, it’s time to act soon.  The learning happens only when the content starts making sense, and this doesn’t happen without conversations by the parent or teacher. Talk to the child on what they are doing, teach them logic, take them out into the open and connect with what they have been seeing on the screen. Above all, children copy what you do, so if your fingers are busy on the devices all the time, don’t expect any different from them. (I need to learn here as well !)

9.      “Get children interested in things – I was not born with livestock skills, I built an interest because I was exposed to that really early. You never know what children might get interested in. Passion develops doing things you are exposed to”. Sometimes, passion is like an arranged marriage. You need to expose a child to various hobbies, skills or vocations. You never know what the child might like to take up for the future. Though you mostly have the choice of what they get exposed to, the power to choose eventually is theirs!

10.  “Disability is sometimes extreme ability. The abilities of a person is like the equalizer buttons on a music system”. This was a really nice corollary, which also probably indicated her visual thinking. She explains this quite well in her book “The Autistic Brain”, where its beautifully explained how children pick up and master certain skills and how as teachers, parents and employers you can make the most of the brain’s wiring. Every individual has abilities at different levels, like that in a music system equalizer where different abilities are at different levels. When it comes to autism, some of these levels are at extremes. Again, gauge the abilities & the weaknesses in a child, strengthen the abilities and build on the weaknesses.

11.  This is a Bonus lesson “Have (and inculcate) a purpose in life”.  Temple mentioned how her purpose is just twofold – To have the best livestock units in the world and to share her wisdom on different kinds of minds. “I still stay in the student quarters, and share all my money into teaching”. Don’t need to explain this any further.

It's seldom that you get opportunities like this to engage with role models, who you never imagined you would meet – the best takeaways are the ones where you let them shape your life in a more meaningful manner.

A BIG thanks to my boss, mentor and a good friend (generally not a good idea to mix these J) – Ferose. And, of course all the partners in this journey ………….There’s a lot more to do!