Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow

I first heard the name Temple Grandin a few months ago. I frequent an Autism support message board and someone mentioned her name. I had never heard of her before, so I googled the name. I've been hooked since. I can't seem to read enough about her, her amazing life and all that she's accomplished.

I'll start by giving a short run down of her accomplishments; her resume in short.
  • A designer of livestock handling facilities
  • A professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University
  • B.A. from Franklin Pierce College (less than an hour from where I live), M.S. from Arizona State University and Ph. D. from University of Illinois
  • Featured in Time Magazine, People Magazine, New York Times, Forbes and US News among others
  • Featured on 20/20, 48 Hours, CNN's Larry King Live, Primetime Live and the Today Show
  • Written hundreds of articles featured in journals and other publications
  • Written several books

And most astounding, she's autistic. Temple Grandin was diagnosed with severe autism by the age of 3. Her entire life story has really intrigued me, touched me and given me even more hope for Nathaniel.

I recently read her book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic and it was superb. If you have a couple of hours to spare, it's worth the read. She describes in detail what it was like for her as a child to have autism. And how she learned to deal with the world around her.

To continue with my Autism awareness, I thought I would post this wonderful BBC show Horizons, that featured a story about Temple. It's in 5, 10-minute pieces and very interesting.

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