Temple Grandin
Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American professor of animal science at Colorado State University, best-selling author, autism activist and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She is the inventor of the "hug box", a device to calm those on the autism spectrum. In the 2010 Time 100 list of the one hundred most influential people in the world, she was named in the "Heroes" category. She was the subject of the award-winning, biographical film, Temple Grandin.
Early life and education
Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Eustacia Cutler and Richard Grandin. Although she was diagnosed with autism in 1951 at the age of four, she was labeled with brain damage and placed early in a structured nursery school. When a doctor suggested speech therapy for Grandin, her mother hired a nanny to assist in the child's development. The nanny would spend hours playing turn-taking games with Grandin and her sister.
Her speech development delayed, Grandin did not begin talking until she was three and a half years old. She considers herself fortunate to have had supportive mentors from elementary school onward. Even so, Grandin states that junior high and high school were the most unpleasant times of her life due to her poor conversational skills. She was the "nerdy kid" whom everyone ridiculed. At times, while she walked down the hallways, her fellow students would taunt her by saying "tape recorder" because of her habit of repetitive speech. Grandin states, "I could laugh about it now, but back then it really hurt."
Temple Grandin (film)
Temple Grandin is a 2010 biopic directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.
Plot
The film follows Temple Grandin's life through a series of flashbacks. As a child, Grandin (Danes) is uncommunicative and prone to tantrums and is diagnosed with autism. The medical consensus at that time was that autism is a form of schizophrenia resulting from insufficient maternal affection. Despite recommendations to place her in an institution, Grandin's mother (Ormond) hires therapists and works to help her daughter adapt to social interaction.
As a teenager, Temple travels to her aunt (O'Hara) and uncle's ranch to work. She observes cows being placed into a squeeze chute to calm them, and during an anxiety attack uses the chute to calm herself. Inspired by her teacher, Dr. Carlock (Strathairn) to pursue science, she is admitted to college where she develops an early version of the squeeze machine to calm her during stressful times. Her college misinterprets the use of the machine as a sexual act and forces her to remove it. In response, she develops a scientific protocol to test subjects' reactions to the machine, proving it to be a purely therapeutic device. Grandin graduates with a degree in psychology and pursues a master's degree in animal science.
Podcasts:
Famous quotes by Temple Grandin:
Temple Grandin
ALBUMS
- NPR Driveway Moments released: 2003
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