28 March 2020•The Week Junior 13
All about autism
She has inspiredaglobalenvironmentalcampaign, and is frequentlyinvited to
speak in front of worldleadersabout the importanceoftacklingclimate change.
Greta Thunberg says her success has partially been duetohaving autism. Like
ChrisPackham,shehasAsperger syndrome, and she also seesitasastrength.
In 2019shetweeted, “I have Asperger’sand thatmeansI’m sometimesabit
different from the norm. And,given the right circumstances, being different is
asuperpower.”She hasalso said that she thinksshe feels so passionately
about the environment becauseofher diagnosis with Asperger’s.She told
areporter, “I seethe worldabit different,fromanother perspective.It’s
verycommon that people on the autismspectrum haveaspecial interest.
Ican do the same thingfor hours.” Her interest happenstobethe
environment,andshe thinksherautismallows her to be
verydirect andclear about what needs to be done.
In 1986, DrTe mple Grandinpublished her first book
explainingwhat lifewaslikefor someonewith
autism. Shewasdiagnosed with theconditionatthe
ageoftwo,and itwasn’tuntil shewasfouryears old
that she began to talk. Grandinovercame difficulties
associated with autism and did well at school,college
and university.Sheis now anexpert in animal welfare,
but is perhaps morerecognised forsharing her
experiences of autism. Grandin alsohelpsparents
and teacherssupport children who areontheautistic
spectrum. She says,“Children with autism do not pick
up social cues from other people.Theyneedto be
instructedonhow to behave.”Asanexample,she
explains that ifachild with autismmisbehaves,
grown-ups shouldcalmly give them instructionson
whattodo, not justtell them off. Grandinhasalso
designedahug machine, which isametaldevicethat
applies pressureevenly across someone’s body.
Grandin’sinvention helpssome people with autism
tocalm downwhenthey arestressed.DrTempleGrandin
Gret aThunberg
Although you might notrecognise his name, SatoshiTa jiri isresponsible for
one of the mostrecognisable gaming series of all time:Pokémon. Asachild,
he hadapassion for two things:collecting bugs and playing video games.
As an adult, he decided tocombine these two interests by designinganew
game that involved characterscollecting different creatures. When itwas
launched in 1996, few people thoughtPokémon would beahit, but it turned
out to be massively successful. The National Autistic Society in the UK
suggests thatcollecting objects isapopular hobby among people with
autism,which iscertainly thecase forTa jiri. He also liked that the original
console forPokémon, the GameBoy,allowed players tocommunicate using
their devices, instead of having to talk to one another in person.SatoshiTajiri
DIDYOU
KNOW?
It is thought that about
threetimes as many
men haveautism than
women.A