Temple Grandin at Cornell

I just returned from a lecture by Temple Grandin at Bailey Hall at Cornell. I've read several of her books and was really happy to get an opportunity to see her speak. Her subject was "On Autism", basically a primer on how the autistic mind works, and sometimes doesn't work, and how to intervene with autistic children in order that they have meaningful lives. Her basic metaphor was the brain as large office building, with the frontal cortex as CEO and then lots of different departments lodged in the different parts of the brain. Temple says her brain has tons of high-speed internet connections to a few departments, say graphic design, and one very slow, antiquated dial up connection to the human resources department. And recognizing that autistic brains tend to be very good at one limited area, parents and teachers need to steer children into careers and lifestyles that are consistent with what they are good at. She mentioned the importance of mentors and real life experience in those areas that a person is good at and enjoys. And she mentions her concern that with the overweening importance of testing and degrees, that many very intelligent, capable autistic people are being shut out of the careers they are suited to and shunted into meaningless jobs and unhappy existences.

She said all of this in the context of the school system, but it is easy to see that homeschooling, with its flexibility, ability to individualize a child's education and lack of worship for standardized tests can be a good option for the parent of a autistic child. When I withdrew my son from school after kindergarten, I always said it was so I could tailor his education to his abilities and not to his disabilities, which was the only thing that the school was interested in. Of course, homeschooling parents of autistic children are wise to partake of the services of professionals in the area of speech, occupational and other therapies. Also, Temple is a high functioning person with Asperger's, and not a severely disabled autistic person, who require much higher levels of intervention.

One thing that surprised me about Temple was her very sharp sense of humor - she had the audience cracking up at several points. I hadn't thought people with autism to be capable of the subtleties of humor. However, I don't know if she retains a sense of humor on the fly, or whether it is very much rehearsed and polished for lectures. But it certainly was a way for the audience to feel closer to her than I thought would be the case.

Homeschooling Article in the Ithaca Times

I was interviewed last week by a fairly disgruntled-sounding reporter for the Ithaca Times about homeschooling, (click post title for link to article) and more specifically, the Northern Light Learning Center. I guess I received the honor of being interviewed because mine is one of the only names and numbers on the website - I'm not out there lobbying to be the poster-family of homeschooling. At any rate, maybe one of the reasons the reporter is disgruntled is because she is in a career she is so completely unsuited for. I don't think I've ever read a worse sentence than the one in which I'm introduced! And I quote:

Among the largest members of organized groups of home-based educators are families who participate in the Northern Lights Learning Center. About 70 families are enrolled in the group, formed about 18 months ago, which rents space at the former Henry St. John's School Building at Court and Geneva Streets in downtown Ithaca to offer workshops and classes, as well as using the gymnasium at designated times for team sports and other activities. "If you were in a schooling environment, you'd see us as an extracurricular group," says Robin Tuttle, a member of the cooperative who currently teaches a writing class for teens. Tuttle homeschools her three children, sons ages 10-14"


I was out to dinner last night with my buds, Della and Monica, also homeschooling moms, and we were all a little put out by the end of the article which makes it sound like homeschooling is the province of only traditional middle class families with one parent at home and one parent working a traditional job. We know many families that look quite different: both parents working from home, both parents working out of the home but with staggered times so they can both spend time with the kids, single parent families, parents that look for flexible, creative income-making situations so they are not tied down to a traditional job or lifestyle. Some of the jobs held by homeschooling parents in our circle are artists, carpenters, writers, musicians, alternative health practitioners, potters, organic farmers, home-birth midwives, house cleaners, day care providers, house painters. It has been real eye opening for me to realize that the path to success is not necessarily paved with college degrees and the traditional professions.

Picture Caption: Tapping a maple tree at Sugarbush Project; a collaboration between the Cayuga Nature Center and the Northern Light Learning Center.