Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "teaching"

While at the American Library Assoc. conference in Chicago last spring, Shawne Workman, my publisher, and I heard Temple Grandin speak. In clear, straight talk she outlined the theme of her new book with its straight-on directive to parents and teachers--as soon as you get a diagnosis, get busy and help the child become verbal, put in twenty or more hours a week. Then when they are old enough, be sure you teach them simple job skills. Above, all encourage their strengths and quit focusing on their weaknesses. Every brain is unique.

After the speech, people got up, both teachers and autistic students, to say that they had never heard such useful advice. Grandin has clarified autism of every variety so it need no longer be a frightening mystery.

In my vote for BOTY I said, "This book is a game-changer, must-read for everyone to understand the complexity of the human brain and its uniqueness in every individual, for teachers and parents to provide a game plan to realize a child's best potential, for human society to encourage opportunities for individuals that could serve the future most creatively."The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum