Temple Grandin, autistic

Temple Grandin is not just a heroine for autistic children and their families but for all people who see the world a little bit differently. In an HBO movie chronicling her life we can see what a huge impact shes had on animals and people. Temple was born to a wealthy New England family in the 50's. Early on there was no diagnosis for her unusual behavior as she was clearly intelligent and had all her senses intact. It was with great distress her well-to-do mother didn't know what to do with her. Especially in an era where the discourse on the role of women was so attached to the 'feminine' arts and the ability to catch yourself a good husband, to have a child like Temple must have been extremely upsetting to a family who's social standing was greatly affected by the accomplishments of their children.

After several unsuccessful attempts at college she spent the summer at her aunt's ranch and discovered her calling. Temple had, due to her autism, a clear connection to the perceptions of animals. Back at college against her wishes, she devised a 'hugging' machine which would drop two wooden panels into her sides to 'hug' her whilst she was on all fours in a wooden stall type contraption. To those around her it was disturbing to view and the administrators had it destroyed. She had finally created something to help her deal with the internal stresses of her condition and in their ignorance they destroyed it. Not all this can be blamed on the misinformation of people. I believe a great deal of the ignorance can be attributed to the era in which she grew up. The medical community was not as enlightened as to mental conditions and certainly the only affiliation autism had was broad at best. Women were looked at differently and a woman without marriage prospects with an mental condition was an anomaly.

A special needs college was found for Temple and she went on to get her degree in animal husbandry/agriculture. Her first school visit to a slaughter house was disturbing to her, not because the animals were being killed, but because the methods they used to slaughter the animals was so against the natural inclinations of the animals it made the situation utterly unbearable to her. Though to us most slaughtering of any kind is distasteful, Temple saw how this could be done with less fear, less stress, and therefor, less pain to the animals.

Though PETA may disagree, Temple Grandin used her abilities to see the world differently to change the way animals are treated forever. Ranchers doubted her unusual ideas for slaughterhouse architecture, considering it superfluous and expensive. Many reporters kept asking her if she didn't want a romantic relationship for herself. Its a hurtful and ignorant question for someone like Temple who has no emotional desire for that kind of connection to another person. Her mind doesn't work like the rest of us, she has no physical need for human contact the way we do. Her legacy will be bringing less cruelty to the world. She has an amazing mind and to respect the differences of others is to appreciate the gifts each one of us has to give the world.

http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html