Temple Grandin's got a cure for America's energy problems: mentorship of the next generation of kids with autism and Asperger's.
Grandin - author, speaker, professor of animal science and indisputably the most famous person with autism alive - credits her personal and professional success in part to the mentorship of an interested science teacher.
As a guest at the TED Conference this past month, Grandin said she sees so many kids on the spectrum with great potential, but that their teachers aren't equipped to deal with them.
"We've got to get these kids turned on," she said. "You've got to show kids interesting stuff."
TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a nonprofit devoted to "ideas worth spreading" and gives speakers 18 minutes to give the talk of their lives. Many TED Talks, including Grandin's can be watched on the organization's website.
Grandin bemoaned the loss of hands-on classes in the public education system that could benefit students with autism and Asperger's - things like art, shop and drafting. She said those classes can help prepare young people for the kinds of jobs that autistic minds are good at, things like graphic design, math, software engineering, computer programming, journalism and acting.
Grandin joked that Silicon Valley would not exist today if it weren't for people with autism and Asperger's, which drew a big laugh from the techie crowd. And she suggested that this next generation of kids with autism, properly mentored and motivated, could solve the world's energy problems.
"The world needs different kinds of minds to work together," she said.
Grandin called on the TED audience to think about mentoring and hiring those kids.
I believe what she is saying is true. There are undoubtedly many bright young minds that, like Grandin, just need the right mentor to help them find their talent and develop that potential.
And the concept of mentorship can benefit adults with autism long after high school, and not just the high functioning ones. (As Grandin points out, more than half of people with autism are non-verbal.)
My sister Margaret is one who is not destined for a high tech job, but a job would serve her well just the same. I've witnessed her boredom and depression as she faced empty days without sufficient activity. I've also seen Margaret flourish in the right job situation, her social and verbal skills improving dramatically along with her moods.
The point of employment for any of us, of course, is not simply financial. If we are lucky, our jobs give us purpose, satisfaction and a community of peers. The same is true for my sister.
Grandin's talk gives me hope for Margaret and the 1.5 million other Americans like her. It reminds people that autism does not end with childhood, that every child with autism will one day become an adult and, with hours no longer filled by school, they will need something for their minds to grab hold of, something to challenge them - just like the rest of us.
"The autistic mind is a specialist mind," Grandin said. "It is good at one thing, bad at something else."
The job of any mentor, then, whether she is mentoring the next Silicon Valley genius or someone with more modest skills like my sister, is to help identify that one thing and to draw it out.
And isn't that what we are all looking for - our one thing?
