Temple Grandin Essay

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Temple Grandin Temple Grandin is an associate professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Dr. Grandin is one of the leading authorities on the design of animal handling facilities, specializing in the humane handling of animals at the point of slaughter in the meat industry. She is credited with having “done more to improve welfare for animals at the point of slaughter than any human alive” (Cohen, 2005, Oct 25). Grandin has been diagnosed with autism that is a condition which she believes helps her to think or perceive more like an animal than a “normal” human. She credits her autism with providing her insights concerning animal behavior. Temple Grandin was born in Boston, MA, in 1947. It was soon apparent that she was developmentally different than most young children. She did not talk until she was three and a half years old. Instead, she communicated by humming or screaming. She was eventually labeled autistic, and her parents were urged to institutionalize her. Instead, her mother pushed for her inclusion in the activities of “normal” children, and did not isolate her. Grandin struggled in school. She says her schoolmates thought she was “weird”, and admits that she was “totally useless” at algebra and languages in high school, (Gerson Saines & Jackson, 2010). However, Grandin found a way to succeed in animal science programs, eventually earning a doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1989. As Grandin’s career developed she found ways to use the perspective of her autistic brain to better understand the animals she was working with. She believes that autistic brains are less interconnected than the "normal” brain. This belief, leading to increased abilities to concentrate in a specific area, allowed her to focus on any animal she chooses. She found that she empathizes with animals better than non-autistic

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