Publisher's Synopsis
Tom talks about how Temple Grandin ruined Autism for him and his peers. Tom is tired of being compared to Temple Grandin. Each person with autism is unique and if you have only met one person with autism then you have only met one person with autism. Tom's insurance company is constantly comparing him to the success of Temple Grandin. Everything Tom asks for is compared to Temple Grandin's life. Tom talks about how Temple's success with autism has made it hard for others to be able to get the help they need with autism.Tom is tired of being compared to Temple Grandin. He loves Temple but he does not feel that his autism services should be designed around the success of one person with Autism like Temple Grandin. Tom has been fighting his insurance company for social skills training for years and their response to him is that Temple Grandin did not have any social skills training. That is not entirely true as she went to a boarding school where she received a lot of extra special supports. The other factor is that not everyone has the same desires and the same outcomes as Temple. Tom talks about how Temple has no desire to date or have a romantic relationship. Tom on the other hand is obsessed with dating and relationships. Relationships are a special interest for Tom so he and Temple are completely opposites when it comes to the goals that they have in life. Temple is happy embracing autism and being successful as an autistic adult and Tom would like to learn neurotypical social skills to make more neurotypical friends and learn how to date neurotypical women. Tom feels very frustrated and trapped because everyone keeps comparing him to Temple Grandin. This book is a story of how Temple Grandin ruined autism for Tom and some of his friends like him. Here is an excerpt from the book. "I have been in several arguments with my insurance company about social skills coaching and they keep circling back to "Temple Grandin did this without insurance, Temple Grandin did that without insurance. Temple Grandin this, Temple Grandin that." It get so annoying to be compared to someone who is not even remotely close to the same age as me. Temple grew up in a completely different time in the world. Temple is great and I love her but man I just wish people could understand that I am not Temple Grandin. I feel like I spend my whole life trying to prove to people that I am not Temple Grandin. Everyone knows who Temple Grandin is and people have read her books and seen her movie. I am all for raising awareness but there are more people with autism than Temple Grandin and I feel like people need to become more aware that there are others out there that have autism that are unique and different to Temple. Temple is great and I am glad she was able to get the help she needed from a young age. Her mother did a great job but there are many other children with autism whose mothers do not have the resources to ensure that their children get the type of treatment that Temple Grandin got when she was growing up."
