Considered the most influential Autism speaker and humane animal treatment activist in the world, Dr. Temple Grandin has changed the face of slaughter house designs and functions immensely throughout the United States. She gives speeches and lectures around the country informing people of Autism and its effects, as well as how best to treat Autism in its young victims. She is a symbol of hope and perseverance to those affected by Autism and even those who aren’t, proving that with determination and hard work, anything can be achieved. Autism has slowed her down in many areas of her career, but it was never enough to stop her from becoming an engineer of the most popular and most accepted livestock handling plants and regulations in the country.
Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents Richard Grandin and Eustacia Carter, on August 29, 1947. At the age of two, she was diagnosed with brain damage and, that same year, diagnosed with Autism. Grandin’s parents refused to send her to an institution and tried as hard as they could to help Temple learn how to talk. She was soon placed in a structured nursery school with teachers and staff who had special training in Autism. At the age of four, Grandin began talking and making moderate progress in developing her social and motor skills. She spent most of her childhood at home where a nurse, hired by her family, watched over her and attempted to keep her from some of her Autistic habits. Grandin admits that her teens were the worst times of her life. She was the nerdy girl in school who everyone made fun of and would call “tape recorder” because she would often repeat the same thing over and over again. Her parents placed her and took her out of many private schools, refusing...
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Grandin, Temple. Animals in Translation. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.
Grandin, Temple. Thinking in Pictures: and Other Reports from My Life with Autism. New York: Doubleday, 1995. Print.
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This book was a great read. The heartwarming tale of two young children who manage to overcome the disability under the category of autism. The author, the mother of these two children, uses her language to make the reader feel connected with the struggles of the family and the elated feeling when the children are deemed functioning within normal levels. This book gives insight on several different therapies, some that seemed helpful and others that seemed silly. It touches on the subject of inclusion as well. This book allows individuals to relate to those who have children with autism and gives parents of children with autism hope that their child's disability is not a permanent one.
The title of the book is called, “Thinking in Pictures”, written by Temple Grandin. Temple is also the author of, “Animals in Translation.” This book was copyrighted in the year 1995 and was edited with more updated information in the year 2006. Thinking in Pictures is an autobiography. An autobiography is a book written about their lives, written by themselves.Throughout this book multiple pictures were shown when she was a younger child of her showing symptoms of autism, blueprints and designs of her work, and pictures of her giving lectures and informing others of Autism. There are multiple severity levels of autism, Temple was a high functioning autistic individual, with that being said she was able to write a book about her life. Temple is a very gifted animal specialist and has shown multiple times throughout the novel to never give up and that possibilities and endless.
Giving others who do not suffer from autism or caregivers an insight on how the individual may be feeling and what they are going through. This book can also help numerous medical professionals such as speech-language pathologists and pediatric doctors. As Grandin stated in the book that not all sufferers act, think, and feel the same so this novel may not be beneficial to readers who are looking for information on a wide scale of individuals who suffer from the illness. She also stated that there is no cure for autism, however some medications can help with some symptoms such as depression or anxiety. What intrigued me the most about Grandin was that she never gave up and worked on her social skills. Not only did she became a spokesperson for autism, but also became a professor at Colorado State University in which both require public speaking and being comfortable in front of people.
The Case of Temple Grandin paints a picture of a young woman’s determination and hard work while struggling with autism during a time when the disorder was unknown. This case discusses Grandin’s challenges, early diagnosis, growth and development in school, and support from her mother. Temple Grandin could not speak like the other children at the age of two, so because doctors could not find any physical issues she had been subsequently labeled as brain-damaged. To communicate with others, she would throw tantrums and scream. She could speak by three and a half years old with the help of speech therapy. A few years later at the age of five, Grandin was diagnosed with autism so her mother worked with her 30 minutes every day to keep her from being placed in an institution. At her aunt’s ranch, Grandin develops the “squeeze machine” a device used to apply pressure without being stimulating. Grandin excelles in school and receives her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College in 1970. After her graduation from college in 1970, Grandin attends Arizona State University where she earns a master’s degree in cattle in 1975. In 1989, Grandin earns her doctoral degree from the University of Urbana-Champaign in animal science. Grandin has never married, but she is proof that individuals with autism can lead productive and notable lives (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009).
Autism, it is considered a death sentence when one is diagnosed with it. However, one
Whilst the concept of autism and what it means to be autistic is still widely unrecognised by many, Mark Haddon’s use of conventions of prose fiction and language amplifies the distinctive qualities of the text. Haddon exemplifies key themes such as the struggle to become independent, the nature of difference and the disorder of life through the strategic placement of literary devices.
Snell, M. E. (2003). Autism, Education of Individuals with. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 161-162). New York: Macmillan Reference USA.
What is Autism? It’s a developmental disorder that impairs one’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Christopher Boone from the novel A Curious Incident in the Nighttime and Temple Grandin, who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry both fall on the high-functioning spectrum of autism. Even so, they do not display the exact same traits and behaviors. Whereas Grandin thinks in pictures and employs this unique gift for practical use, Christopher thinks in patterns and fails communicate his talents with others. However, they both speak their mind and have trouble understanding facial expressions and emotions.
Kluth, P. (2003). You're going to love this kid! Teaching students with Autism in, the
Before completing the assignment of reading “Thinking in Pictures,” by Temple Grandin, I did not have much knowledge about autism. My only understanding was autism was some sort of neurological disorder that is seen similar to mentally handicapped individuals to someone with little understanding, like myself. I am very thankful to have been given an assignment like this one that gives me more knowledge of something I should already have in my line of work (though I am sure that was the whole purpose of the assignment, to educate the ignorant). I now have a better understanding of the cause, learning process and functioning of different levels of this defect.
There is no known single cause of autism. Researchers are investigating a number of possible theories including genetics, heredity, medical problems, problems during pregnancy or delivery, as well as environmental influences. It is widely accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in the brain structure or function. There is evidence from neuropathological studies that autism has its origins in abnormal brain development early in prenatal life which continues postnatally, showing acceleration in brain growth measured by head circumference (Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P., 2005). The disorder also seems to have a genetic basis, although researchers have yet to find the specific genes that link to the onset of autism. There could be a cluster of genes that have somehow interfered with normal brain development and function. Studies show that twins of children with autism were more likely to be autistic themselves than the regular population, demonstrating there is a heredity lin...
Somebody Somewhere offers a rear glimpse of the world of autism—from within. Australian born Donna Williams was diagnosed as psychotic at the tender age two, later as deaf, and ultimately as autistic; “Autism had had me in its cage for as long as I had ever known” (p. 5). In her book she describes her escape from “my” world, into “the” world. She talks about “picking up the pieces after a war” and “learning how to build somewhere out of nowhere and a somebody out of a nobody” (p. xi); yet she has something for everyone: “within each of us there is a stranger (or strangers) lurking in the shadows of our subconscious minds” (ibid). The author
Andrews, K. (2002). Interpreting autism: a critique of Davidson on thought and language. Philosophical Psychology, 15(3). Retrieved from:
In a study by Schmit, Alper, and Raschke (2000), the effects of using a photographic cueing system during routine school transitions with a child who has autism were evaluated. The use of a pictorial visual support system indicated to the student that an activity change was about to occur. The target student was a 6-year-old boy who lived in a rural, Midwestern community; his family included his biological parents and a sister without disabilities, who was 5 years older than Alex. Alex was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4, and at the time of the study was not verbal except for saying the word “no”. The setting of the study took place in a public school special education classroom that Alex attended four days a week. Beginning approximate...
Dempsey, I. & Foreman, P. ( 2001). A Review of Educational Approaches for Individuals with Autism. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48 (1), 105-116.