Temple Grandin

I just finished watching Temple Grandin's talk when she came to Mount Holyoke this past week. I highly recommend you watch it. It's absolutely fascinating. She talked about autism, animals and the need to fight overly abstract thinking because often enough it doesn't relate at all to the field of study in practical terms. I kept thinking about Waldorf Education and how it really gives a strong foundation in all types of different fields. Temple Grandin supports hands-on learning and is really concerned about the  decrease of these classrooms in schools.
Some notes I took while watching about what Grandin discussed.

fight abstactisism
be observant, details
animals have emotional systems
behavioral diagnosis
Hands on learning is crucial to know before doing computer--mistakes in engineering are often due to not seeing right. There appears to be a disconnect between theory and actually hand drawing and building things.

photo realistic visual thinkers- poor at algebra
pattern thinkers-music and math (engineers, chemists)
verbal mind-poor at drawing (history...)
auditory thinkers-poor at drawing

Kids need to be learning work/job skills as well as social skills because that is what allows people with autism or aspergers to function in society and actually keep their jobs and utilize their skills.

bottom up thinking--things get too abstract and don't relate to the field

travel is a great educator-get out in the field and fight being overly abstract

have a reason to study--shortage of science teachers, we need them more
"half of silicon valley has aspergers"
sensory processing disorders--extra noise, attention shifting, multi-tasking