Barb Rentenbach

            Barb Retenbach’s speech and presentation was the best speech I have ever heard. I was completely intrigued the entire time. Barb opened up the door to a lot of misconceptions about Autism. Unfortunately, people believe that individuals with severe Autism are poor thinkers and profoundly retarded. However this is not the case. Individuals diagnosed with Autism are brilliant, they just communicate in a different manner than what is deemed as normal. However, once we figure out the best method to communicate with that individual with Autism we will discover sheer brilliance.  

            One aspect that was brought up during the presentation that made a profound impact on me was the whole concept of diversity and what our society is trying to do to it. Our society is trying to eliminate “disabilities” or medicate individuals to make them more “normal”. For example, people with ADHD we are trying to medicate that “condition” out of them by giving them medicine which makes them calmer and more normal. However, people with ADHD are our adventures, risk-takers, and warriors. To be an entrepreneur an individual has to take a huge amount of risk. During the presentation it was presented that most entrepreneurs have ADHD to some extent. So if we are trying to medicate some of these conditions away in order to make people more than it will completely change society as we know it. Society wants everyone to be the same but the fact is we all NEED to be different. Diversity is what makes the world go round.

            Another aspect from the speech that I really liked and has quite honestly been on my mind all day is the fact that people with Autism live in a world of the moment. Normal people have adult baggage they carry around every day and are constantly trying to juggle a million different things at once. However, someone with Autism can appreciate what is going on in the present and not worry about anything else. I consider this a great gift and blessing. Barb said they can look at a raindrop and think what a beautiful thing God made or think about all the colors in the color spectrum that glisten off the raindrop. We however, take this for granted almost every day. I believe that people with Autism live in a world of simple complexities while we live in a world of complex simplicities. I love the fact that individuals with Autism can take a simple every day event and see the extraordinary events behind it. Also Barb stated that normal adults can’t even sit down to enjoy a good lunch; she however can sit down and have a nice relaxing and refreshing lunch without a care in the world. Honestly, it makes me think that “normal” people are in reality the ones with the disability.

            This speech also helped me in regards to working with students with Autism in my future classroom one day. My number one priority will be finding that person’s interests and strengths in order to help them out the best way that I can. Barb mentioned that as teachers we need to meet these individuals where they are and go from there. I think too many times people get frustrated in the classroom with people with Autism. We expect them to do simple tasks and try to function more like normal individuals. In reality they may be missing the concept of a simple task because they are too busy thinking about a complex issue within that simple task. Also their normal function is not the same normal function that society holds and expects. As a teacher I should hold students accountable for their personal normality, not society’s.  It is safe to say that this speech has made a profound impact on me.