Temple grandin
Born 1947 (73 years old)
“There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do instead of what he cannot do”
Every penny of the profits from these prints will be donated to Marshall University’s Program for Students with ASD. I love you, Victor and Claire.
I first learned about Temple Grandin in graduate school. It was in a teaching course, and the title was something about teaching children with “exceptionalities” if I remember right. I didn’t love all my education courses, but I loved that one. And it was not due to the teacher. She was boring. I found the content absolutely fascinating.
One day in class, we watched the movie Temple Grandin. Claire Danes does a serious bang-up job playing today’s Badass Woman in the movie. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. It’s an excellent movie, but I found the woman herself to be one of the most interesting people I’d ever heard of. I’ve since listened to just about every lecture I could find online by her. It’s hard not to feel fascinated when she speaks. Whether she’s talking about designing a cattle inoculation pen or the structural differences of neuro atypical brains, her quick staccato speech makes it hard not to pay attention.
Temple is considered to be the world’s most famous person with autism. She has a PhD in Animal Science and teaches at Colorado State University. She has designed innovative systems for handling livestock that have seriously reduced stress on animals and are used worldwide. Temple was one of the first adults with autism to speak out about their own diagnosis and experience. She has written a ton of books, essays and papers on both autism and her work with animals, and is credited by many for transforming the way we understand both of these subjects.
One in 54 children in the US are diagnosed with autism, and chances are you know and love one. As a public school teacher, I so loved working with students with autism that I thought about getting a specialization in this area. Since that time, I’ve had the opportunity to know a few people with autism, and every interaction changes the way I understand it. Forget what you think you know about autism, and listen to Temple Grandin speak. Her TED talk below is a great place to start, and you gotta watch the movie with Claire Danes too. This is an absolutely fascinating woman who will change the way you see people with neurological differences.
Thank you, Temple Grandin.