A fish out of water

My wife is a special education teacher and sometimes pulls me into her world. Talk about a fish out of water. Oh I listen when my wife talks about her job and I’ve had my own educational experiences, but I’m most definitely in unfamiliar waters. So you can imagine my thoughts when she asked me to tag along with her recently to a lecture on Autism by Temple Grandin, the autistic scientist, inventor, and author.

Diagnosed with autism when she was three, Grandin’s mother rejected her doctor’s advice to institutionalize her, and provided her with intensive speech therapy, a structured home and a nurturing school environment. Grandin became one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experiences with autism. In addition to autism advocacy, Grandin is well known for her work regarding animal welfare, neurology and philosophy. Claire Danes played a younger version of Grandin in the 2010 HBO movie.

Image by Pexels.

My wife and I both found the presentation interesting, but for different reasons. My wife came away excited about Grandin’s insights into the different ways our brains are wired and how she thinks in pictures. Meanwhile, I came away with key lessons about work and life. For example:

  • Make changes specific and practical. To bring about long-lasting change, you need to focus on simple, measurable goals and adoption versus vague top-down, meaningless mandates. For someone who thinks differently than myself, ambiguous goals provide little value.
  • On the job training. Grandin worked at a young age and advocates for meeting learners where they are in settings where they can ask questions, be empowered, and not rushed. Nail that and fluency during busy times will come.

Temple Grandin

  • Focus on outcomes over technology. We live in a technology-focused world. Tech can be a great tool, but not the be-end-all. Success and adoption is not about perfection, but iteration and repetition.
  • Embrace neurodiversity. People learn differently. We miss out on opportunities when we pigeonhole education to one type of learner.

Image by Pexels.

I may be a fish out of water when it comes to education. I may know nothing about the best bait to use or picking where to cast, but to steal another fish-related idiom — with Grandin’s advice I’ll soon be “shooting fish out of a barrel.”

What new tricks or tips have you learned lately?

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41 thoughts on “A fish out of water”

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  1. That must have been a really interesting talk! Your wife is a hero but you probably already know that! I just finished a book that had an autistic boy in the family and also listened to an essay in our writers group from a woman who is a para to an autistic boy.

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    1. The thing that took me awhile to learn was that like most things autism is a big word and covers a wide variety — nonverbal, verbal, folks affected heavily by sensory issues, others not. And yes, it was interesting to hear Grandin’s take on things.

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  2. My granddaughter is also a special ed teacher. She is currently working with behavioral children. In the past she worked with a theatre group of special needs kids – Downs, autistic, ADHD & others. It takes a special kind of patience to do that job, but also very rewarding for her.

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  3. “Embrace diversity” – your point can be expanded to virtually every topic or issue – embracing how we are all different, and don’t reject or attempt to categorize someone else using your own specific standards…great article, thanks for sharing.

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  4. Ah – sooo good! The resonance for me about Temple Grandin will always be the applicability of her encouragement to allow learning to unfold in ways potentially unique to each individual. A ground-breaking idea at the time…and one that educators/systems/schools still struggle with because it takes time to see each person, student, learner as the unique and fabulous human they are. And if I haven’t said it lately, let me add….I love, love, love your sweet wife’s dedication and service as a teacher. Cheers to Kath! 😊💝😊

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    1. “it takes time to see each person, student, learner as the unique and fabulous human they are.” Yes! I work around a lot of corporate trainers and I sent them a similar message. We really do forget too often that people learn differently. I think even as individuals we continue to change. I know that I used to learn from reading. I’m much more of a hands-on learner now. I know that for true learning to take place now I depend on the chance to take something in and then go back process it and come back with an expert to try it out. Thanks Vicki!

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      1. Love that!!! Hands on learning. Gosh yes! With time to visualize and practice? Exactly what I often need. Tactical slowing down! Thanks, Brian! 😉❤️😉

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  5. Brian, I absolutely love that you tagged along with your wife and came away with slightly different lessons, all spot-on! Admittedly, I wasn’t familiar with Grandin until just now, but I really admire how her mother took it upon herself to “rehab” her daughter at home.

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  8. Your wife is an amazing person. It’s so good you went to the lecture with her to learn about learning styles. My son and daughter learn in very different ways. I discovered early on that my daughter was a tactile learner. My son reads to learn. To practice spelling words, I put flour on a baking sheet and my daughter would trace the words in the flour. I found all sorts of techniques like that to help her with her schoolwork.

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      1. Yes! You’re wife would be more of an expert than I was. But I eventually figured it out. My daughter also had a lot of energy so my husband would have her take a break and do jumping jacks to break up homework.

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  9. How incredibly cool to hear Temple Grandin, Brian! And I love your takeaways — especially that tech is a tool, not an outcome! That such a good point that I often lose in the shuffle. Thank you!

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  12. What a treat for you and your wife to have watched a presentation by Temple Grandin. A true inspiration and icon and leader! Thanks also for sharing your key takeaways. Agreed on all points!

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    1. I kept singing the Sesame Street song “One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others.” Everyone else was a teacher, administrator or parent. Ha, ha. and there was me, laughing because she kept hitting on points that sounded like she was talking more about the corporate world than the classroom. Ha, ha. It was a fun presentation.

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  13. I used to work with people with developmental disabilities, including autism, and found Temple Grandin to be about as practical about autism as anyone else whose material I read. Great takeaways for the corporate world–also very practical!

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  15. I read all about her life about a decade ago. She is a fascinating person and how cool that you got to attend her presentation. We all learn differently and that makes us all the more interesting. Hugs, C

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