Temple Grandin

[sammason]

Here's an infographic about Dr Temple Grandin. Out of date: by now, she's Professor Grandin. Some say that Prof Grandin is 'a special breed of hero.' What do you say?

Comments

[fallconsmate]

i don't think she's a special brand of "hero". maybe to the cattle that are treated better because of her insights, but other than that?

she's a person with disabilities who has been blessed enough to find the job where she FITS. and that is a blessing for ANY person, and that much better for someone whose needs are different than Joe Average.

[eqfe]

Well put.

[brightlotusmoon]

Thank you.

As an autistic adult, I'm always bothered when Grandin is held up to such high standards. It's as though many people find it hard to see most autistic adults beyond Grandin and other "celebrity" autists.
A lot of activists and advocates in my circle are concerned that the idea of "autism" is focused on children and Temple Grandin.
I'm in my thirties. I'm okay with eye contact. I love talking about certain things, I am a writer, I love my cats, I have a fascinating husband. I'm not Temple Grandin, though.

[fallconsmate]

The only thing that has struck me as really "how cool" about Dr Grandin is her name. There are not too many people named "Temple" as a given name, you know?

And there are PLENTY of autistic people with varying degrees of limitation who, as you have done, hold down employment, have marriages and social lives, and go on about your lives. Yep, severe autism sucks boulders through a bendy straw, but so does severe affliction with ANY disability.

The face of ONE individual cannot be put out as THE ONE TRUE WAY that any given illness or disorder IS.

[dragonsally]

Not a hero, except to those cattle as fallconsmate said. A role model, sure.

[nightengalesknd]

I believe Temple Grandin has done very real harm to other autistic people in several ways

[brightlotusmoon]

I'm glad I read this. Like I said above, I'm really bothered by people putting someone like Temple Grandin on pedestals, hyperbolically. I feel like having "token autistics" is doing so much harm. Society concentrates on autistic children... and on the work of Temple Grandin. I feel like I'm in an invisible place in between. Especially because I also have cerebral palsy and various other disabilities. I've been told I should not exist. I'm actually kind of uncomfortable here, right now. I know people might not understand the autistic perspective, which is so varied on such a spectrum. But I feel like people don't want to understand all my complexities.
If someone were to assess me based on Temple Grandin, I would be an absolute enigma. I don't think like her at all. I think like me. I am still autistic.

[nightengalesknd]

I have CP too. My CP and ASD are both "mild" enough not to be noticed (by anyone but me) until I was an adult. I read a description of both as a kid and thought they sounded like me

[shehasathree]

This.

[lakmiseiru]

I... okay, so it's nice to see something that's not Autism Is Horrible Let's Make It Go Away. And that's about all I'd say on the positive end. Warning: snark ahead.

On the other end... special breed of hero? I don't like the phrase. Apparently getting a PhD is an (emphasis theirs) "incredible accomplishment for someone with autism". I have several friends who have gotten PhDs who are on the spectrum; in some cases they've said that academia is easier on them than other areas, or that their particular flavor/form/instance of ASD works well with academic research. She's not "special" just because she's disabled and has a PhD. (otherwise, I'm "special," since I defend in a month for mine despite multiple disabilities, and I'm sure as heck not "special") And again, at the end, what she did is "not bad for someone who was almost institutionalized." Is what I do "not bad for someone with a disabling connective tissue disorder and mental health issues"? How nice to compare her positively to people who are "worse off

[sammason]

I hope your PhD defence is a great success. Go you!

I did my PhD defence (called a viva here in Britain) wearing an incontinence pad under my smart suit, sitting in my wheelchair and eating my own packed lunch. Now when teaching disabled undergrads, who gravitate towards my obvious crippage I tell the story of my PhD viva as cripspiration.

Yes, Prof Gradin's academic work is inspiring. Esp to agricultural scientists like me. Here's her profile on ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Temple_Grandin?_sg=gceekuJ4IP0B7vr%2BqKtjxuckcKGRAIPMwVruFoSY5H4vhAfvjBYWyCbupddfhBrf_DA1QReD4MZnDgcFVY7T%2BN%2BnzNk0CusbgwOdpizNFmln5gKp2xwGRA3Ds1tbKhcVW Is she cripspiring? Opinions vary. Being an outsider to autistic experience, my only remark is that she made a difference in her generation.

[fallconsmate]

as someone who has only a high school diploma? you ARE special. plenty of people never finish college at all, nevermind get to the point of defending your PhD thesis. you ARE special for reaching that level. huzzah you, and may it all go brilliantly! :D

[nightshade1972]

Seconded. I wish I'd been able to go further than a BA, but whatchagonnado.

:-)

[firecat]

On the one hand she is a hero to me because I admire what she has done for animals; breaking into the community of people who build and operate slaughterhouses has to have been hard for 1. a woman, 2. with a disability, 3. who wanted to change the way things were done

[shehasathree]

Yeah, i think the 'thinking in pictures' stereotype can be really damaging (it sure meant it took me years longer to figure out that i'm autistic, since i'm cognitively weakest on visuospatial stuff and highly verbal).

[sammason]

I'm glad the 'thinking in pictures' idea has come up on this thread. I'll bring it to my teaching. Since in biology, diagrams and sketches are often used, we ask undergrads to draw specimens in the lab. They observe by naked eye or through a microscope as appropriate, draw and label their drawings in the approved way. There is indeed an 'approved way' to draw in biology, likewise to keep a lab notebook, to write a report and so on. These are skills to be learned.

Thinking in pictures is harder for some students than for others, a bit like the way some students thrive on numbers while others don't.

[shehasathree]

omg, i had such a hard time in 1st year Biology subjects figuring out how to make what i was seeing under the microscope look at all like how the diagrams were 'supposed' to look.

i actually find making diagrams (or concept maps) quite useful for my learning, but looking at diagrams? Nope.