Is there any indication that autism and ADHD are related?

A marvelous, brilliant person.

What a spectacular story. My grandson is autistic, and he mirrors her quite a bit. We've been working with him since we were aware of his condition. He has come so far and is doing wonderfully.

Rene: ADHD and autism are two different things; however, one person can have both at the same time. Both have similar therapies such as consistency, personal interaction, visual cues, speech, etc. On the other hand, depending on the severity of either condition, many other options and combinations can be worked through. If medication is indicated, sometimes one med might conflict with another. Be careful on that one.

Hope all turns out well for you.

Temple Grandin has done amazing work that has helped both people and animals. How many folks can claim that? She is a wonderfully sane and reasonable voice.

I am very glad Temple Grandin made the statement regarding manners and that people on the spectrum can be succesful. My 19 year old son has Aspergers and is currently attending college 3 hours away from home. While he can be unintentionally rude more frequently than neurotypical individuals, he also knows that manners are important. We set rules and expectations for him on day one and we have all worked hard to ensure that he met them. It makes a major difference in how he is perceived by the rest of the world. I know he will be successful.

The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) was pleased to partner with HBO on the Chicago premiere of this important film.  You can learn more about the film, and view a video interview with Dr. Grandin at our blog:  http://advancinghope.blogspot.com/

Manners are great but the trouble we have is the hitting, if not of others it's the hitting of self. I also like the concept of her restriction apparatus, would be very useful when the child is engaging in hitting themself or others. It is definetly behavior modification science at it's greatest need. If one can capture the moments of greatest peace and serenity, not neccasarily love, and bottle it for times of angst it may help better than medicating on constant intervals.

Autism, in many cases, is a neuroimmune disorder. It can be treatable and some children recover. There is more known about this complex disease than the mainstream knows. Genetic problems that run in families, like autoimmune and methylation problems coupled with environmental factors can bring the onset of autism.

The travesty is that a generation of children are being affected; everything from allergies, to the worst case scenario of autism and yet noone is doing anything about it.

Again, autism, in many cases is a treatable condition.

For more information, look at the Defeat Autism Now! site.

I am so glad to hear this woman's story is being shared with a wide audience. My brother is probably on the Asperger's spectrum (never diagnosed, doctors looked for horses, not zebras when he was young), and although he is high-functioning and incredibly intelligent, he has trouble holding down a job. Multi-tasking is his downfall (the more tasks he has on his plate, the longer it takes him to complete any given task), so he is again looking for an intellectually satisfying career that requires more linear thinking. Like Temple Grandin, my parents didn't allow his different way of interacting with the world to excuse bad manners. He is punctual, diligent, loyal, and much more sociable then he used to be. He still misses a lot of social cues, and spends a lot of time "reinventing the wheel." While most people look to others when they are unsure how to act, my brother internalizes the situation, and tries to figure out logically what the best course of action is. That leads to him putting on a sweater a different way every day, for example. Or taking three hours to solve a math problem because he doesn't think to imitate the example shown by the professor. I was incredibly frustrated with him as a child, because I just wanted a "normal" brother, but now I believe it would be a shame to eliminate these traits from the human genome. The tricky question is drawing a line between an acceptable variation of "normal" human behavior, and behavior that truly requires remediation and intense therapy.

I love what Dr. Temple Grandin has done for the autism community she is my hero and I thank god that the world is blessed with such a smart, sometimes funny and always to the point woman who has done so much for me and so many other autistic people.

Temple Grandin is a national treasure.

What a wonderful story, with all her pains and successes Dr. Temple Grandin is a true overcomer. I am sure the was a lot of prayer from those who were close to her and loved her. I praise GOD for his grace and love for Dr. Grandin!

I think there is too little acceptance of differences between people. After all, no 2 people are the same. The whole society needs to pick up its act on manners and respect. Some kids don't do well because they are insecure in a society that is poorly managed, and in which people's rights seem to come before their responsibilities.

I have an IQ in the top 2% of the population, and have raised 3 highly intelligent sons across 2 generations. An incompetent teacher tried to have my youngest son diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, purely because he didn't understand him. I think it is a very sad day when schools and individuals want to label the most gifted people, whether due to jealousy or the prospect of a school getting more funding.

My 2 older sons thought their little brother had been reincarnated, due to some really astounding things he could do as a baby and toddler. This would certainly fit in with his stubborn behaviour and refusal to listen to others. I think it is likely that we are all born with varying amounts of genetic knowledge.

We have a set of beautiful identical twin granddaughters. At the age of 4 one was diagnosed with autism. I watched the movie about Temple Grandin the other night. Temple's story has given me so much needed hope. I have ordered the bi-monthly digest and a childrens book Little Rainman. I can hardly wait to get them, I'm so excited. Thank you so much Temple for your story. You gave me a breath of Heaven

I highly admire your stamina and work with people. I've studied and read a lot, and consider your work the best due to the fact that you make words more visibly understandable. I beg for your help to do more to help the undiagnosed and especially late diagnosed young adult Asperger people; the ones that aren't poor enough to qualify for aide, but their parents lost their home and had to file bankruptcy still trying to help them.

My grown child owes student loans that demand payments now; he wants a job, wife, and family; but I don't know how badly he wants it--- due to no plan or hope. It breaks my heart to not be able to help him give him baby steps for a hopeful plan.

We live in Canon City, CO. He got an Associates degree in General Studies (although he had a hard time concentrating on subjects he didn't like) and a degree in Computer Information Systems. Now it's been 2 years, he has trouble with interviews and can't find work. They put him on SSI and Dr's have him on all kinds of med's and I feel it's such a waiste of talent. He feels he's losing his memory and recall. My husband and I don't know what to do about paying his college student loans.

I am 58 and have always been different and sad, my anxiety and stress levels are off the charts; but I am very diplomatic. I believe I have some form of autism spectrum and have had a hard time working, and wanted life better for my kids!

I try so hard to help my 2 boys have as much of a well rounded life as possible. We had to move around a lot to save grace/face for my oldest son. We always moved to help him however possible. My son's entire life I tried to tell the school systems that something wasn't right, but he kept slipping through the cracks. We had to spend a lot of time on our youngest son that we loved him equally although his brother needed so much more.

Our oldest son graduated High School and I helped him through college, thinking that would give him an edge; but all it's done is get him in debt. He wasn't diagnosed until age 24 that he has high functioning Asperger's Syndrome. He is 27 now, feels depressed and doesn't know what to do. He has trouble trying to get a job.

My son has no social traits and just wants to bury his head in his computer. Everything is such a struggle and my husband and I hide how bad off our finances are from our friends. I don't see how we can possibly help him or us by very much anymore. I'm sorry I'm rambling. Life's never been fair and I raised my kids to know that and to have faith and never give up. I'm afraid I'm the one giving up; except for my belief that God doesn't always want us to know his plans for us, and that his time is so much different from ours.

Signed,

An absurdly disappointed mother.

How do you know?

Temple Grandin is a fantastic individual and someone to be admired and respected for all of her hard work not only for herself but for her contributions to society and animals of all kinds. I saw the movie which is where I first heard of Temple Grandin and then I researched everything I could find on the internet about her. The movie portrayal by Claire Danes was great and I saw where she won an award for her performance. She has come a long way as an actress and grows more beautiful each year. The film also won other awards and I am glad it was in the top ratings for a must see movie. I enjoyed it immensely.