Temple Grandin and Autism

Temple Grandin's battle against inhumane livestock conditions was way ahead of  most people's way of thinking.

As early as 1965, she has been working towards more humane facilities for cattle, making her one of Time Magazine's most influential people in the world.

Professor Grandin believes that her autism — or what she terms as her "cow's-eye view" — has been her advantage, giving a unique insight into how animals see the world.

In fact, she firmly believes that they see the world in the same way she does.

Temple Grandin (Danes) was an uncommunicative child prone to tantrums who was diagnosed with autism. The medical consensus at that time was that autism was a form of schizophrenia resulting from lack of maternal affection. Despite recommendations to have her institutionalised, Grandin's mother hired therapists and worked to help her daughter adapt to social interaction.

Source: ABC News - Credit Rosalie Winard

As a teenager, Temple traveled to her aunt and uncle's ranch to work. She observed cows being placed into a squeeze chute to calm them, and, during an anxiety attack, she used the chute to calm herself. Inspired by her teacher, Dr. Carlock to pursue science, she is admitted to Franklin Pierce College where she developed an early version of the squeeze machine to calm herself during stressful times. Her college misinterpreted the use of the machine as a sexual act and forced her to remove it.

In response, she developed a scientific protocol to test subjects' reactions to the machine, proving it to be a purely therapeutic device. Grandin graduated with a degree in psychology and pursued a masters in animal science. She is now a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and her life is to the subject of a movie starring Claire Danes.

Read more about this remarkable woman on ABC News or borrow the book Temple Grandin : How the girl who loved cows embrased autism and changed the world, by Sy Montgomery. Available at PMBH Health Services Library