Temple Grandin

[Guest guest]

I met Temple many years ago. This was long before she was famous & before

any of her books about autism. She flew out to Minnesota to build a squeeze

machine for me. I'm one of those innovative people who would try just about

anything non harmful to help a kid.

Most people with ASD have sensory issues. Temple noticed the cattle on her

aunts farm calmed down when gently squeezed in a cattle chute. She built one

for herself because she has tactile issues. If you have read Emergence

Labeled Autistic, the human chute helped Temple a great deal. That deep

tactile pressure helped her calm and focus.

We used her human squeeze machine for many years for deep tactile for kids

with ASD. We renamed it the " hug machine " . It was very beneficial. The

only problem was the generator was so loud that many of the kids with

auditory issues could not deal with it. Instead, we would do deep tactile

squeezes & hugs by having the child lay between two pieces of foam rubber

and having the therapist use their body for the deep tactile pressure.

On the subject of farms and adults with developmental disabilities, I'd

suggest people take a look at Camphill Village in Sauk Centre, MN. Last

time I visited, they had an incredible program. Several years ago, I got a

tour from a young man with Down syndrome. He started the tour by saying " ya

know, city life was a little hectic for me. I'm now a villager at Camphill

and my job is to gather chicken eggs and work in the bakery. I'm really

good at what I do. " It was totally charming and he did have an important job

in the village.

Camphill also had an elder living there. They found a job for everyone.

The very old senior had a job holding the cows tail aside while the younger

people milked. He could semi retire, but still had " responsibilities " and

I'm sure that is what kept this very old man young. I was impressed. In

addition to that, they had a working biodynamic farm with some of the best

food you have ever eaten.

Kathy