Everyday Heroes Who Can't Be Seen

I came across this modern Helen Keller story and although I know many of you have heard of her before, I thought you might enjoy meeting Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin didn't talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping, and humming. She is autistic.

Today she is world renowned as a scientist and speaker. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment is that she has been credited as the person who has provided the greatest insights into understanding autism to date.

Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was diagnosed with "brain damage" at age two. Her parents placed her in a structured nursery school with what she considers to have been good teachers. Grandin's mother spoke to a doctor who suggested speech therapy, and she hired a nanny who spent hours playing turn-based games with Grandin and her sister.

At age four, Grandin began talking, and she began making progress. She considers herself lucky to have had supportive mentors from primary school onwards. However, Grandin has said that middle school and high school were the worst parts of her life. She was the "nerdy kid", the one whom everyone teased and picked on. She would be walking down the street and people would say "tape recorder", because she would repeat things over and over again. Kinda like Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man.

After graduating from Hampshire Country School, a boarding school for gifted children in Rindge, New Hampshire in 1966, Grandin went on to college. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College (also located in Rindge) in 1970, her master's degree in animal science from Arizona State University in 1975, and her Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989.

There are many heroes in this story. Her parents did not give up on her at a time when many brain damaged children were not understood or even tolerated. With the help of teachers, mentors, doctors, speech therapists, nannies and family, she overcame great odds to become who she is today.

For your enjoyment, here is a video of her speaking at a convention. Although she is standing alone on this stage, and although you can't see them, there are many, many average, everyday people that stand behind her.

Will Someone Speak for the 14 Million Children?

The debate on national healthcare rages on in the legislative branch of our government and the party lines are firmly drawn. The Democrats say let's get this done and the Republicans say no way. Our taxes will be too much. The verbal exchanges are wild-eyed and vituperative. Socialists! Naysayers! Liars! Election focused ranting! Fascists! Hitler! This is all sickening. Is there a sane person in our congress? Is there a hero that can break this deadlock?

Can someone speak up for the 14 million children (19% of the nation's children) who live in poverty and can't afford basic life services like food much less medical care (these are 2008 statistics from Feeding America)? Will a Democrat stand up and sacrifice his pork barrel legislation to the health bill for the children's sake?

Can someone in the Republican party come up with an alternate plan to provide affordable medical care to the 47 million Americans who don't have any healthcare coverage? Or is there no hope? Or do we just tell the poor and the sick to go to the emergency room, knowing that some may never go or only go when they are so sick that major medical intervention is needed. BTW, who do you think pays for this in the end?

And can someone tell the radio talk show hosts that it's too late. America embraced socialism many years ago. Even these bilious windbags will collect social security when they get old, take advantage of Medicare healthcare benefits when they need them, have their special needs children and grandchildren be given appropriate schooling by law, and they will even collect unemployment if they get fired from their jobs (not soon enough!). If these aren't "socialist" welfare programs, then what is?

Can someone speak up and tell us? Can we get this done and do the right thing?