Growing up in the mid-west, it should come as no surprise that I’ve heard of Temple Grandin. Afterall, she is the woman who revolutionized the cattle industry and has pushed knowledge about autism ahead by leaps and bounds. For these reasons Temple Grandin is February 2019’s “aspie of the month”!
In preparation for this article, I went and watched Temple Grandin’s TED talk (below), read her book “The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum,” and watched her movie “Temple Grandin” by HBO. After all that, I can say right off the bat that she is truly inspirational.
As a quick background, Temple Grandin was born in Massachusetts in 1947 to a wealthy and well-educated family. Temple was diagnosed with brain damage at the age of 4 (autism was nearly an unheard of diagnosis) and was encourage to be institutionalized. Despite all of this, Temple Grandin’s mother (a Harvard graduate) believed letting her child go to a place like that would be the same as giving up. Temple’s mother believed that greatness was to be had for her daughter, despite what the professionals of the day were saying. That one belief has single-handedly changed the lives of untold numbers of people. If ever there were a lesson to be learned in this article, it’s to follow the example of Temple Grandin’s mother. Persistence and love do more good than anything else ever could.
How Temple Grandin Sees the World
Temple Grandin sees the world in pictures. When a problem is presented or when a word is said, she starts to think about all of the pictures she associates with that word or with that problem. She is, in every sense of the label, a visual thinker. It’s how she designs some of her incredible machines and provides upgrades to processing plants. Oh right, did I forget to mention? Temple Grandin is an engineer at heart! She has a mind literally built for science!
Grandin makes it a point to try out every new piece of brain scanning equipment that enters the medical world so she can learn more and more about her brain. The results from these sorts of tests have helped her explain why she has trouble with certain motor skills and has led her to a conclusion that is quite fundamental in many of her speaking engagements these days. That conclusion is that those on the spectrum who are weak in an area (such as the socializing area) of the brain are more likely to be strong in a “thinking” area of the brain. She finds that this is true for many of the people in Silicon Valley, many of whom she coins “happy aspies” meaning many of the programmers, engineers, and scientists who work there are undiagnosed aspies who have found their happy place.
Grandin’s Attitude on Autism – Different, not Less
Countless times both in public speaking engagements and in her writing, Grandin has said that those with Autism are immensely valuable to society. She goes so far as to say the following in her book The Way I See It: “What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.”
I’ll be the first to admit it. That quote is certainly an exaggeration, but it does well to get her point across. A hypothetical world where autism does not exist would certainly not have made it as far as the world we live in today (at least not as quickly as we have made it here). The fact that those with autism are critical to optimal progression of the world as a whole is my driving force in writing these articles about inspirational aspies!
Given how strongly Grandin feels about the benefits of autism, it should come as no surprise to hear this quote as I wrap up this section of the article:
“If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.”
Temple Grandin
Grandin’s Hope for the Future
Grandin’s vision for the future is well documented. She wants schools to allow for those on the spectrum to play off their strengths and be taught social skills in a proper way (not through abuse and bullying). Temple wants those on the spectrum to find jobs that will suit them and to use the strengths they have (as there are always strengths) to branch out into the skills they need to function, however much they need to in order to reach his or her objectives.
When it comes down to it, Temple Grandin has a lot of very specific hopes for the future that work to reach her more general dreams. She knows autism is an asset, not a liability, and wants to use the strengths of autism to better the world faster than ever! I’ll say it again, her book “The Autistic Brain – Thinking Across the Spectrum”, the HBO movie “Temple Grandin”, and her TED talk are all wonderful ways to see exactly what Temple Grandin is all about. As such, I can recommend all three of these resources as high quality and aspie approved!
My Opinion on Temple Grandin
“In an ideal world the scientist should find a method to prevent the most severe forms of autism but allow the milder forms to survive. After all, the really social people did not invent the first stone spear. It was probably invented by an Aspie who chipped away at rocks while the other people socialized around the campfire. Without autism traits we might still be living in caves.”
Temple Grandin – Thinking in Pictures
Given the overall tone of this article, it should come as no surprise when I say that I find Temple Grandin truly inspirational! What you see above in that quotation contains the only part of her view on autism that I am unwilling to agree with at this time. It is my belief that even the most severe forms of autism are absolutely not worth exterminating. Every single person the spectrum has the potential to do good. Just because an autistic child or adult has “severe autism” that prevents some activities or slows down reaching certain goals does not mean that a person should have had autism removed from them scientifically! Every person with autism has the potential to do good.
As I’m wrapping things up here, I want to make this very clear: Temple Grandin has done good for untold numbers of people and that fact should not be ignored! People like Grandin are the ones who are really making this world a better place, and I would strongly recommend that each and every one of you reading this article go to learn more about this woman’s fantastic life!
As always, anyone looking to ask me questions about autism is strongly encouraged to do so by sending me an email at “wouldaspie@gmail.com“