Career Stories: Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an animal scientist and professor at Colorado State University.

Grandin was born in 1947 in Boston, MA to parents Richard Grandin and Eustacia Cutler. Not able to speak until she was four, Grandin was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, At that time in 1949 autism was considered a form of brain damage. Temple’s mother was blamed by her physicians for Temple’s condition. Despite these accusations Temples mother did everything in her power to help Temple; from extensive speech therapy to exploring private schools where she would thrive and not get bullied. Her first book Emergence gives a first-person narrative of what it was like growing up.

Inspired by her high school science teacher, William Carlock, who formerly worked for NASA. Carlock worked closely with Temple and saw her potential. Temple now advocates for the importance of mentors for autistic children.

Thinking in Pictures (visual thinkers), smells and touch over thinking in language. Picking up subtle body cues. Thinking logically Temple was not able to understand conceptual learning. Grandin did not understand algebra, however she excelled in Geometry. In Temple’s words “…why does algebra have to be the gateway to mathematics? …algebra had been required for college graduation in 1967, there would have been no Temple Grandin.” Grandin went on to complete her bachelor’s degree in psychology and masters and doctoral degree in animal science.

Grandin became famous after being featured in Oliver Sacks 1995 book, An Anthropologist on Mars, the title of which was based on Grandin’s view of how she sees herself in social settings. By that time Temple had already made a name for herself in autism advocacy. She was initially asked to speak in the 1980’s by one of the founders of the Autism Society of Americal. She has been doing this ever since.

In 2010 a movie abour her life, Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes; a film that Grandin acted as technical consultant. The film was nominated for 15 Grammy nominations and won five. Danes won a Golden Globe for best actress.

Thinking in Pictures is the closest thing to a memoir that Grandin wrote. In it she writes how autism has shaped her life. Temple devised a squeez maching after observing a similar device used with cattle, and how it called them down. Her devise helped calm her down from sensory overload and to manage anxiety.

I first heard of Temple Grandin while listening to her being interviewed on NPR driving home from work. I soon thereafter saw her film and started using it in my General Psychology course. I was fortunate to see her in person, when she spoke at the National

Career Development Association Conference in 2010 in Boston. There, Temple spoke about career development for autistic individuals.

The Temple Grandin School was inspired by Temple. The school is located in Boulder, Colorado and is specifically for autistic children in grades 6 through 12, with small class sizes and located in a rural setting with hands on activities and instruction. https://www.templegrandinschool.org/best-schools-for-autism-g/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA14WdBhD8ARIsAN

Temple was recently awarded by CEO World Magazine as one of the top-ten college professors in the United States. Grandin has been recognized by her peers as the most famous person working at CSU.

Here are some of Temple’s books: Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures; The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed; Thinking in Pictures; Animals Make Us Human; Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior; and two children’s books which I gave two of my grandchildren for Christmas: The Outdoor Scientist and Calling all MInds. Temple has also published over 90 Scientific Journal articles.

Here’s a video linked on the Temple Grandin website with animation that I think you may find interesting and entertaining: https://youtu.be/Ifsh6sojAvg

Temple has made many YouTube videos. Here’s one called How if Feel to be Autistic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qPFAT4p8Lc

Here’s a link to an interview with Ira Flato of Science Fridays on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2006/01/20/5165123/a-conversation-with-temple-grandin

Sources:

Temples Autism Website: www.templegrandin.com,

Biography: https://www.biography.com/activist/temple-grandin,

National Public Radio.

Wikipedia

Special thanks colleague Rhonda Gorenz-Macy for suggesting I write on Temple.

If you are inspired by these stories and would like to work with me, I provide career exploration and counseling as well as educational planning for those in career transition or wanting to re-invent their career. Reach out to me at danmacy.org, danmacy@yahoo.com or 303-819-6178