University Business - April 2012 - (Page S12)

BTech 2012 12 UBTech Welcomes keynote preview Temple Grandin I t was the 2010 hBO mOvIe Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes, that first introduced the masses to the brilliance of UBtech’s opening keynote speaker, temple Grandin. The most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world, Grandin has spent more than 20 years as a professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University and is the author of several books on animals and animal behavior. Until publication of her book emergence: labeled autistic (warner Books, 1996), most professionals and parents saw an autism diagnosis as virtually a death sentence to achievement and productivity in life. It’s an assumption that Grandin—who didn’t talk until she was threeand-a-half and communicated frustration by screaming, peeping, and humming—has shattered. while in school, a mentor recognized her abilities and nurtured her interests, and Grandin later established herself as one of the few livestock-handling equipment designers in the world. she has designed the facilities in which half of all U.s. cattle are handled. In Grandin’s speaking engagements, a common theme often emerges—that the world needs all kinds of minds. she has spent her lifetime challenging conventional thinking about people with autism. her unique perspective has special significance for today’s higher education leaders, and at UBtech, she will get attendees thinking about education, technology, and how we relate to the world around us. as a preview, she shared her outlook on education with UBtech. UBTech: how would you say higher education is doing with recognizing that some students can be very successful with extra supports and then putting those supports in place at the institutional level? Grandin: Colleges are beginning to recognize the need for the supports, including extra time on tests or tutoring. One big assistance that a lot of students need is tutoring. I had to seek out and find tutors. I never would have gotten through math without tons and tons of tutoring. UBTech: what kinds of accommodations should be made for students with special needs? Grandin: I’m not saying let them get out of math, but substitute geometry for algebra. There’s a lot of really good creative people who are just getting screened out—people who can solve a lot of problems in the world. The problem you have with kids who are different is that they’re good at one thing and they’re bad at something else. UBTech: some campuses offer testing centers where students who, for example, have difficulty concentrating in rooms with fluorescent lights can go to be in an environment that allows them to better concentrate. should there be more options like that? Grandin: The single worst thing in the classroom environment is fluorescent lights—they make the environment really, really bad. I’ve had students where when they go to read the print jiggles on the page. It 12 varies from extremely mild to very severe. as a professor, you have to give them a place to take their tests away from the fluorescent lights. Then you can have situations where they want to take all their tests over at the testing center. The accommodation gets to be too much. [In our department,] we have a nice conference room without fluorescent lights [and we may suggest,] let’s do it there. I think up to a certain extent [these accommodations are] a good direction—but you don’t want so many supports that when a student gets out into the big bad world he doesn’t know what to do. I’ve seen kids have an aid all through high school—smart kids, fully verbal. Then they get to college, they don’t have an aid, they don’t know what to do. You haven’t gotten them prepared for college then. UBTech: what can higher ed administrators do to prepare campuses for the growing numbers of students diagnosed as on the autism spectrum who will be arriving in future years? Grandin: One of the problems is the american Psychiatric association is changing all the diagnostic criteria [for autism], which is going to make everything about as clear as mud. we need to forget about those labels and look at what is the student’s actual problem? maybe it’s a problem with doing math. what’s his sensory style? Does he need extra time on tests? That’s a better approach than some name that they give it. UBTech 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2012

University Business - April 2012
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Viewpoint
Independent Outlook
Models of Efficiency
Guns on Campus
Campus Finance
Internet Technology
End Note
Contents

University Business - April 2012