HARTVILLE − A spark of interest can create extensive opportunity for people with autism.
For Temple Grandin, that spark involved animals. As a teenager, Grandin was sent to a boarding school where she was tasked with cleaning nine horse stalls every day.
“In high school, horses were my absolute life,” she said. “I learned how to work because they put me to work.”
As she nurtured that interest, Grandin, an author, teacher and animal expert with autism, said she found a career.
Grandin visited Pegasus Farm in Hartville May 15 to speak to the community about giving people with autism the tools to succeed.
Nurturing a spark of interest
Grandin first found her love of animals while visiting her aunt’s cattle ranch in Arizona. Working with cows would later become pivotal in her career.
“I was raised back east. No cattle around. The ranch was out in Arizona, and I was afraid to go,” she said. “But I went, and that’s how I got an interest in the cattle industry.”
According to Grandin, it’s important for students to be exposed to many things while growing up, which helps them find their “spark.” Hands-on experience and job shadowing are ways young people can nurture their interests. She calls it “trying on the career.”
Individuals with autism need the freedom to try new things, Grandin said. She worries the diagnosis makes people underestimate them.
“The biggest misconception about people with autism (is) they don’t think we’re capable of doing anything,” she said. “We need these different kinds of minds. We need that weird guy at the shop that can fix everything. That’s a really valuable skill that we need.”
Individuals with autism need to be allowed to practice and learn independence.
“What I’m seeing is the tendency to coddle and hold and protect,” she said. “I’m finding some parents just can’t let go.”
Accommodations can also be arranged to help kids with autism try new things. For example, a lot of people with autism have sensory issues.
“We were on a ferry boat when I was a kid, and there was this really super loud horn. I remember throwing myself on the floor screaming,” she said. “Well, we were going to go on this ferry, but the accommodation was I get to ride in the cabin below, away from the horn.”
Pegasus Farm programs, work opportunities help people with disabilities
Like Grandin, Avery Warth found her spark while working with animals. Warth began participating in programs in 2022 at Pegasus Farm. She currently works at the farm four days a week, often in the garden and horse stables.
“I love horses,” she said. “I always wanted to work with them. Now that I’ve been working here (for a few years) … I’ve learned so much.”
Warth, 22, of Hartville, is one of many people with disabilities who work at Pegasus Farm in the Wings vocational program. She loves her job.
Diana Beardsley is equestrian operations manager at Pegasus Farm and an instructor for some of the horse programs, like therapeutic and adaptive horsemanship and carriage driving.
Beardsley said people with disabilities learn and grow from participating in the programs.
“It can be intimidating. Even when we start with the smaller ponies, they’re still 500-600 pounds, all the way up to the draft horses that are 1,400-1,500 pounds,” she said. “We put them in safe situations, and the horses then learn to trust you.”
Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Pegasus Farm speaker touts link for animal work, autism patients
Reporting by Grace Springer, Canton Repository / The Repository
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