Temple Grandin: Great Minds Are Not All the Same

Please join LILRC as we welcome Dr. Temple Grandin who will share her experiences of autism and speak about the insights of her recent book, Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions. Temple will discuss her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart, geeky kids.

Temple Grandin wasn’t officially diagnosed with autism until she was in her 40s, but she knew at an early age that she was different from her family and classmates. She couldn’t show affection, she acted out when noises or other stimuli overwhelmed her, and she only felt comfortable when spending time with the animals on her aunt’s ranch. But instead of seeing her differences as limitations, Temple used them to guide her education and career in animal science. She has become a leading advocate for the autistic as well as for the humane treatment of animals at meat packing companies.

She obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College, her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University and her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behavior and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She has authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design and is the author of several books.

Her life story was made into an HBO movie titled "Temple Grandin,” staring Claire Danes, which won seven Emmy awards and a Golden Globe. In 2010, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people. In 2017, she was inducted into The Women's Hall of Fame and in 2018 made a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was named as one of the top 10 Best College Professors in 2020 by CEO Magazine; and in 2022, she was awarded the University Distinguished Professor degree at Colorado State University.

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Code of Conduct

For questions, please email Eliscia Cirrone, ecirrone@lilrc.org.

Professional Development Hours: 1.5 (.15 CEUs)

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