Temple Grandin is an American
doctorDoctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
of
animal scienceAnimal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
and
professorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at
Colorado State UniversityColorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...
, bestselling author, and consultant to the
livestockLivestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
industry on animal behavior. As a person with
high-functioning autismHigh-functioning autism is an informal term applied to autistic people who are deemed to be "higher functioning" than other autistic people, by one or more metrics. There is no consensus as to the definition. HFA is not yet a recognised diagnosis in the DSM-IV-TR or the ICD-10.The amount of...
, Grandin is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the
squeeze machineA hug machine, also known as a hug box, a squeeze machine, or a squeeze box, is a deep-pressure device designed to calm hyper-sensitive persons, usually individuals with autism spectrum disorders...
designed to calm hypersensitive people.
Grandin is listed in the 2010
Time 100Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the category "Heroes".
Early life and education
Grandin was born in
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, to Richard Grandin and Eustacia Cutler. She was diagnosed with
autismAutism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
in 1950. Having been labeled and diagnosed with
brain damage"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
at age two, she was placed in a structured
nursery schoolA nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
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 making progress. She considers herself lucky to have had supportive mentors from
primary schoolA primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
onwards. However, Grandin has said that
middleMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and
high schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
were the worst parts of her life. She was the "nerdy kid" whom everyone teased. At times, while walking down the street, people would taunt her by saying "tape recorder," because she would repeat things over and over again. Grandin states that, "I could laugh about it now, but back then it really hurt."
After graduating from
Hampshire Country SchoolHampshire Country School is a private boarding school for gifted children in Rindge, New Hampshire, started by Henry Curtis Patey and Adelaide Walker Patey in 1948. Formerly a co-educational school, it is designed now as a residential middle school for boys with high ability who have difficulty in...
, a boarding school for gifted children in
RindgeRindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines, and part of Annett State Forest.-Native American inhabitants:...
,
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, in 1966, Grandin went on to earn her bachelor's degree in
psychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
from
Franklin Pierce CollegeFranklin Pierce University is a small, private, regionally-accredited university in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, founded in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation...
in 1970, her master's degree in
animal scienceAnimal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
from
Arizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
in 1975, and her doctoral degree in animal science from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1989.
Career celebrity, advocacy
Grandin became well known after being described by
Oliver SacksOliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
in the title narrative of his book
An Anthropologist on MarsAn Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales is a 1995 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks consisting of seven medical case histories of individuals with neurological conditions such as autism and Tourette syndrome...
(1995); the title is derived from Grandin's description of how she feels around
neurotypicalNeurotypical is a term that was coined in the autistic community as a label for people who are not on the autism spectrum: specifically, neurotypical people have neurological development and states that are consistent with what most people would perceive as normal, particularly with respect to...
people. She first spoke in public about autism in the mid-1980s at the request of
Ruth C. SullivanRuth Christ Sullivan, Ph.D. , is a pioneer in the field of autism, one of the first parents to be active, an organizer and lifelong crusader for education for people with autism.In 1965, Dr. Ruth Sullivan was one of the founders, with Dr...
, one of the founders of the
Autism Society of AmericaThe Autism Society of America was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland, PhD, together with Ruth C. Sullivan and a small group of other parents of autistic children. Its original name was the National Society for Autistic Children; the name was changed to emphasize that children with autism grow up...
. Sullivan writes:
I first met Temple in the mid-1980s ...[at the] annual [ASA] conference.... Standing on the periphery of the group was a tall young woman who was obviously interested in the discussions. She seemed shy and pleasant, but mostly she just listened.... I learned her name was Temple Grandin... It wasn't until later in the week that I realized she was someone with autism....I approached her and asked if she'd be willing to speak at the next year's [ASA] conference. She agreed...The next year... Temple first addressed an [ASA] audience.... people were standing at least three deep....The audience couldn't get enough of her. Here, for the first time, was someone who could tell us from her own experience what it was like to be extremely sound sensitive ("like being tied to the rail and the train's coming")... She was asked many questions: "Why does my son do so much spinning?" "Why does he hold his hands to his ears? "Why doesn't he look at me?" She spoke from her own experience, and her insight was impressive. There were tears in more than one set of eyes that day.... Temple quickly became a much sought-after speaker in the autism community.
Based on personal experience, Grandin advocates early intervention to address autism, and supportive teachers who can direct fixations of the child with autism in fruitful directions. She has described her
hypersensitivityThe sensitivity or insensitivity of a human, often considered with regard to a particular kind of stimulus, is the strength of the feeling it results in, in comparison with the strength of the stimulus...
to noise and other sensory stimuli. She claims she is a primarily visual thinker and has said that words are her second language. Temple attributes her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head that can be replayed at will, allowing her to notice small details. She is also able to view her memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows. Her insight into the minds of cattle has taught her to value the changes in details to which animals are particularly sensitive, and to use her visualization skills to design thoughtful and humane animal-handling equipment. She was named a fellow of the
American Society of Agricultural and Biological EngineersThe American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers , was founded in 1907 and is based in St. Joseph, Michigan. It is an international engineering society with about 9000 members in over 100 countries...
in 2009.
Grandin is considered a philosophical leader of both the
animal welfareAnimal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
and
autism advocacyThe autism rights movement is a social movement that encourages autistic people, their caregivers and society to adopt a position of neurodiversity, accepting autism as a variation in functioning rather than a mental disorder to be cured...
movements. Both movements commonly cite her work regarding animal welfare,
neurologyNeurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, and philosophy. She knows all too well the anxiety of feeling threatened by everything in her surroundings, and of being dismissed and feared, which motivates her in her quest to promote humane livestock handling processes. Her business web site has entire sections on how to improve standards in
slaughterSlaughter is the term used to describe the killing and butchering of animals, usually for food. Commonly it refers to killing and butchering of domestic livestock ....
plants and livestock farms. In 2004 she won a "Proggy" award, in the "visionary" category, from
People for the Ethical Treatment of AnimalsPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
.
One of her most important essays about animal welfare is “Animals are not Things”, in which she posits that animals are technically property in our society, but the law ultimately gives them ethical protections or rights. She compares the properties and rights of owning cows versus owning screwdrivers, enumerating how both can be utilized to serve human purposes in many ways but, when it comes to inflicting pain, there is a vital distinction between such 'properties': a person can legally smash or grind up a screwdriver but cannot legally
tortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
an animal.
As a partial proponent of
neurodiversityNeurodiversity is a "controversial concept [that] ... regards atypical neurologicaldevelopment as a normal human difference". According to Jaarsma and Welin , the "neurodiversity movement was developed in the 1990s by online groups of autistic persons...
, Grandin has expressed that she would not support a cure of the entirety of the autistic spectrum.
Personal life
On May 16, 2010, Grandin also received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Duke University.
Grandin says, “the part of other people that has emotional relationships is not part of me” and she has neither married nor had children. Beyond her work in animal science and welfare and autism rights, her interests include horse riding,
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, movies, and
biochemistryBiochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
. She describes socializing with others as “boring” and has no interest in reading or watching entertainment about
emotionEmotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al issues or relationships.
She has noted in her autobiographical works that autism affects every aspect of her life. She has to wear comfortable clothes to counteract her
sensory integration dysfunctionSensory integration dysfunction is a neurological disorder characterized by a neurological sensory integration deficit. The more current diagnostic nosology uses the term sensory processing disorder to describe this condition....
and has structured her lifestyle to avoid
sensory overloadSensory overload , related to Cognitive load in general, is a condition where one or more of the senses are strained and it becomes difficult to focus on the task at hand...
. She regularly takes anti-depressants, but no longer uses a squeeze-box (
hug machineA hug machine, also known as a hug box, a squeeze machine, or a squeeze box, is a deep-pressure device designed to calm hyper-sensitive persons, usually individuals with autism spectrum disorders...
) that she invented at the age of 18 as a form of stress relief therapy, stating in February 2010 that: “It broke two years ago, and I never got around to fixing it. I'm into hugging people now.”
In popular culture
Grandin has been featured on major media programs, such as Lisa Davis's
It's Your Health, ABC's
Primetime Live, the
Today Show, and
Larry King LiveLarry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, the
NPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
show,
Fresh AirFresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
with Terry GrossTerry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....
, and written up in
Time magazineTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
,
People magazineIn 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
,
Discover magazineDiscover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...
,
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
and
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
She was the subject of the
Horizon documentary “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow”, first broadcast by the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on June 8, 2006, and
Nick News in the spring of 2006. She has also been a subject in the series
First Person by
Errol MorrisErrol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and...
.
On November 1, 2009, Grandin was featured in a three-hour interview on
C-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
called “In Depth with Temple Grandin”.
Grandin is the focus of a semi-biographical HBO film, titled
Temple GrandinTemple Grandin is a 2010 biopic directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.-Plot synopsis:...
, starring
Claire DanesClaire Catherine Danes is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in...
as Grandin. The movie was released in 2010, was nominated for 15 Emmys, and received five awards, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Best Actress in a Drama. Grandin was on stage as the award was accepted, and spoke briefly on the microphone to the audience. Coincidentally, the 2010 Emmy Awards happened on Grandin's birthday.
She was featured in
Beautiful Minds: A Voyage Into the BrainBeautiful Minds: A Voyage Into The Brain was a 2006 documentary on super-talented savants. Prof. Gerhard Roth of the University of Bremen in Germany, and Dr. Darold Treffert of the University of Wisconsin Medical School in USA introduced savants from different countries...
, a documentary produced in 2006 by colourFIELD tell-a-vision, a German company.
Grandin appeared in 2011 in a documentary on Sci Channel, "Ingenious Minds". She was named one of 2010's 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.
Major publications
- Emergence: Labeled Autistic (with Margaret Scariano, 1986, updated 1991), ISBN 0-446-67182-7
- The Learning Style of People with Autism: An Autobiography (1995). In Teaching Children with Autism : Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socializaion, Kathleen Ann Quill, ISBN 0-8273-6269-2
- Thinking in pictures : and Other Reports from My Life with Autism (1996) ISBN 0-679-77289-8
- Developing Talents : Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism (2004). ISBN 1-931282-56-0
- Animals in Translation : Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior is a 2005 book by Temple Grandin and co-written by Catherine Johnson...
(with Catherine JohnsonCatherine Johnson is a British playwright, producing works for stage and television. She is best known for her script for the musical Mamma Mia! and screenplay for the film of the same name, which became the highest grossing UK film of all time and the biggest selling UK DVD of all time in January...
, 2005), ISBN 0-7432-4769-8
- The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism (with Sean Barron
Sean Barron is a journalist for The Youngstown Vindicator in Ohio.He is the co-author of two books about autism. There's a Boy in Here: Emerging from the Bonds of Autism was written with his mother, Judy Barron. With Temple Grandin he co-authored Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding...
, 2005), ISBN 1-932565-06-X
- The Way I See It: A Personal Look At Autism And Aspergers (2009)
- Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best life for Animals (with Catherine Johnson
Catherine Johnson is a British playwright, producing works for stage and television. She is best known for her script for the musical Mamma Mia! and screenplay for the film of the same name, which became the highest grossing UK film of all time and the biggest selling UK DVD of all time in January...
, 2009) ISBN 978-0151014897
See also
- Controversies in autism
Controversies in autism encompass the disagreement over the exact nature of autism, its causes and manifestations. Autism is considered to be a neurodevelopmental condition which manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, and patterns of interests.The cause of...
- Sociological and cultural aspects of autism
Sociological and cultural aspects of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects how we define personhood. The autism rights movement is based on a belief that autism is a different way of being and not a disorder to be...
- Wendy Jacob
- Net Koene researching Temple Grandin's ideas regarding linguistics
- Temple Grandin (film)
Temple Grandin is a 2010 biopic directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.-Plot synopsis:...
External links