Barb

We so often (wrongly) believe that people with autism are somehow incapable of communicating with or understanding us that it can be difficult to attach wit and wisdom to the diagnosis.  Barb's presentation proved that not only do people with autism poses the capacity for both, but also the ability to reach each and everyone of us in a very meaningful way.

Many of my colleagues have spoken at length about Barb's inspiring life and story, and while I am also moved by her accomplishments, I am equally fascinated by the discussion of the implications autism has on the human race.  Last summer, I discovered a TED video by Juan Enriquez in which he proposes the theory that humans are currently undergoing an evolutionary change; one of the avenues for this change could be autism.  When viewed not as a disability, but as a new, hyper-active and hyper-sensitive response of the brain to the plethora of information and data available to us today, one begins to view autism in a brand new light.

Barb's "smiling shrink" discussed how advances in civilization were almost surely made by people with ADHD and/or autism.  It is easy to see the possibility of these "disabilities" as being responsible for moving society forward--without people who are willing to consciously think against the grain, norms go unchallenged and unchanged.  Enriquez goes one step further and suggests that humans will become the first species in history to not only undergo evolutionary change, but be in complete control of the method and outcome of that transition.  We have the technology to bend, break, manipulate, transmute, and clone nearly anything into nearly anything else; it is only a matter of time before a game-changer turns that technology on him or herself.

I thoroughly enjoyed Barb's presentation and the intellectual workout it gave me.  Her bringing up the idea of autism being simply a different type of neurology, not a disability, has inspired me to do more research into the possibilities of autism and how to best reach those students in my classroom.

 - B

-----

TED profile of Juan Enriquez:
http://www.ted.com/speakers/juan_enriquez.html

"Will Our Kids Be a Different Species?" TED Talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_will_our_kids_be_a_different_species.html