From my journal Archives 19, 1995 (26 years ago today, pre LJ, just html back then!)

12/19/1995. – (one day, I’ll bring all my journals together.but for now, it’s cut and paste) I searched for the word ‘autistic’, and this was among what came up.

I once read an autobiographical book by an autistic woman who makes a living designing efficient USDA-approved slaughterhouses. I can’t remember the author -or- the title, but it was very interesting… she tackled the problem of why there were “good” slaughterhouses and “bad” slaughterhouses that cows going through the process would somehow react differently to even though, in some cases, they were designed almost exactly the same way.

Also, the author talked at length about what it’s like being autistic (every case is different, but there are some common things that are different between austistics and non-autistic people)– for instance, how her memory worked (almost like a slideshow) and interesting social experiences. For instance, it was only when she was fourteen at a friend’s party that she realized that a lot of social interaction was deeply affected by your emotions, and not just going along with the normal ‘mind your manners’ routines; and as of the writing of the book she still didn’t understand the concept of ‘love’.

-end snip.

I remember reading the book, and her name was Temple Grandin.

A good deal more about autism has been discovered in the last quarter-century or so.

Do not donate to Autism Speaks, by the way.

https://bit.ly/3Fyb5lK https://instagr.am/p/CmXdoSGrvyn/

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