ASLC_Bios

Dr. Temple Grandin, Member-at-Large:

Dr. Temple Grandin -- noted author and professor -- is known as
the "most famous adult with autism in the world." She is an
associate professor at Colorado State University.

Grandin grew up in a time when very little was known about
autism. At age two, she was diagnosed with 'brain damage'.
Despite displaying autistic traits such as rocking, fixation, and
emotional distance, doctors would not recognize her condition as
autism for several years. She was placed in a structured nursery
school with what she considers to have been good teachers. She
considers herself lucky to have had supportive mentors from
primary school onwards.

Grandin received her bachelor's degree in psychology from
Franklin Pierce College in 1970, her master's degree in animal
science from Arizona State University in 1975, and her PhD in
animal science from the University of Illinois in 1989.

Based on personal experience, she advocates early intervention
and supporting teachers who can direct fixations of the autistic
child to fruitful directions. She has described her own
hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli, as well as her
need to visualize everything. Temple attributes her success as a
livestock 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 that would otherwise be
overlooked. 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 have taught her to
value the changes in details which animals are particularly
sensitive to, and use her visualization skills to design thoughtful
and humane animal handling equipment. She regularly takes
anti-depressants and uses a squeeze-box (hug machine) she
invented at the age of 18.