Welcome to Chapter 61!
I am delighted to bring you a conversation with the one and only Temple Grandin whose life has profoundly changed our notions about autism and neurodiversity and whose work has heightened awareness of the importance of animal welfare.
Born in 1947 in Boston, she was diagnosed with autism while still nonverbal at age 4. Told her daughter should be institutionalized, Temple’s mother dismissed doctors and worked tirelessly to help her daughter blossom.
A BA, MA, and PhD later, Temple is a lauded faculty member at the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. She has authored over 60 scientific papers on animal behavior and is one of the first people with autism ever to raise awareness and document her own journey.
This has contributed to her notoriety on many fronts: she was brought to prominence in the world by Oliver Sacks M.D in his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, she has authored her own books on autism, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism and The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Minds Succeed, her TED Talk “The World Needs All Kinds of Minds” has been viewed over 5 million times and the HBO movie,Temple Grandin, based on her life, and where she was played by Clare Danes, shed light on her incredible story as well as picked up over a dozen awards across the Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globes circuit.
As a respected spokesperson in the animal community, Temple is also celebrated for her redesign of slaughterhouses (yes, you read that right). She is outspoken in her belief that, “alleviating anxiety rather than extending life fully,” should be the priority for those raising animals. Her essay “Animals are Not Things” and her books Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human, have garnered her the highest regard, for her ability to empathize with animals is second to none.
In this Chapter, we discuss:
What is the state of autism in the world today?
How do we nurture diverse minds?
What is missing from our education system today?
What are the ethics of eating meat?
How can we value our elders more?
And of course, what are Temple Grandin’s 3 most formative books?
Ready to jump into my conversation with this beautiful and resilient soul?
Let’s go!
What You'll Learn:
What is autism and what does ‘the autism spectrum’ really mean?
What is missing from the education system today?
Why should kids do more hands-on learning?
What does it mean to be a visual thinker?
What could have avoided the Fukushima nuclear disaster?
What is animal welfare and why is it important?
What is the future of our species? (big one!)
How can we embrace getting older?
How do we find our purpose?
Notable quotes from Temple Grandin:
“Nature is cruel but we don’t have to be.” - @DrTempleGrandin #3bookspodcast
CONNECT WITH Temple Grandin:
Word of the chapter:
Resources Mentioned:
Temple’s first book [17:40]
Temple’s second book [29:00]
Temple’s third book [44:20]
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida (translated by David Mitchell)
Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida (translated by David Mitchell)
The Way I See It by Temple Grandin
The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
