Temple Grandin: 'The Autistic Brain'

Temple Grandin is one of the world's most iconic scientists. A leading expert on animal behavior, she has even been the subject of a movie, in which Claire Danes played her in an award-winning performance. Her accomplishments are legion, including her creation of livestock-handling facilities based on animals' natural behavior. But her greatest impact might be as one of the most prominent adults with autism. The condition has given Grandin unique insights, orienting her work on animals and allowing her to rethink human nature. The result is a series of best-selling books—"Animals Make Us Human," "Animals in Translation," and "Thinking in Pictures," among many others—as well as the hug (or "squeeze") machine, used for calming hypersensitive patients. More recently, autism itself has become the subject of her research. Her most recent book, "The Autistic Brain," presents the latest physiological research and charts the shift from neurological to genetic approaches to the condition. Grandin shares this new work with her trademark intelligence and accessibility.

This program is generously underwritten by Rose L. Shure.

[Mindy]

I wish she was running schools. We desperately need someone like her to run the department of education.

[SA-vicj]

As a father of an autistic child, this woman gives me immense hope and makes me proud of my boy.

[sugarboots]

Temple was my graduate instructor. She was the first person to recognize my own autism. She helped me focus my talents. Its nice to listen to her presentations and recall how much we think alike. I struggle in my present work because they prefer to march in a straight line.

[lmmaxwell]

I am 71 and am hearing this for the first time. It felt like she was talking to me. 😊

[jamescolahan]

Temple was discovered by media in the early 2000’s. I couldn’t keep her books on the shelf of the bookstore where I worked. She is a great mentor to us on earth.

[steveascension]

She deserves the Nobel Prize or any other equivalent. She has more guts than a room full of prize fighters.

[metalmogul]

I am 66 years old and have just discovered this video. Temple Grandin has described Autism so well that I finally feel like I fit in this world. I have Autism and struggled with everything she has described, every last thing. Wow wow and wow again the light switch just went on. I Like every minute of this video. What a relief.

[Fiona]

It's so sad that it takes this amazing woman to point out that having different ways of looking at things is important. We can not pretend that everyone thinks the same, that only one way of thinking is "correct".

We need to accept each other's differences and appreciate them.

[Luckybeme]

Dr Temple Grandin is an amazing teacher author and mentor. She has earned the Nobel prize

[vampmilf]

i’m autistic and i’ve been struggling a lot in life because i had an abusive family and did not have support to nurture my unique way of thinking. i’m thankful i am still alive because there have been many times where i have lost hope for myself thinking that i will never able to handle how overwhelming the world is, and it’s doubly hard when you weren’t raised with the support to learn the skills to cope with it. but having watched this video for the first time i can firmly say that this gave me hope that i can change the world. i am so amazed by her enthusiasm and passion and knowledge. this made me realize that i have to accept myself and be unapologetically myself. and the life i want to live is one where i experience all that i can and amass as much knowledge as i can about my interests and create an expansive portfolio of my work. i have so much creativity and ideas inside of me and this reminded me that i need to share them.

[tomaszstarling]

She was lucky to have the right motivators, mentors and teachers, unfortunately too many don't and fall thru the cracks into oblivion!

[callanrose]

My 3 year old son is autistic and this video not only gives me skills to nurture him, it gives me hope that he will live a wonderful and fulfilling life.Thank you.

[faithclark-crawford]

I worked with a boy who was 5 at the time who is so incredibly smart.I went to put a paper in his backpack and saw he had a periodic table tucked in there. At first I thought it was something that just caught his eye but curiosity got the better of me so I asked him. He not only told me what it was but when I pointed to the symbols he correctly identified each and every one. At six he knew all the planets, could spell them and tell you how many moons they did or did not have. Definitely has a science brain. But socially he struggles. I just find working with autistic kids fascinating, challenging and rewarding.

[remnantresurrected]

I started teaching my children how to talk at ten months. My highly autistic daughter said her first word at six months old. She was speaking by the time she was one. It can be done! She absolutely excels in every subject in school. Though she has sensory issues and struggles with relationships. We put her in jujitzu and she is blossoming!!

[v.a.carter]

Thank you. Our son took his life at 21 in October of 2019. My spouse and were already divorced by then When our was just 6 or 7. I took him to a neurologist who identified autism. His father disagreed with the diagnostic or any treatment offered by the doctor. He didn't want our son stereotyped. I then found a school specialized for autism and other anxiety disorders.. . Again, his father disagreed fearing that the diagnostic would be our son's identity definition, and was so rude with that school's principal, the enrollment was denied. I felt lost in assisting our son. The information you share means a huge difference in obtaining a fulfilling life. I too did not speak until I was 3 and didn't make friends easily. But I was lucky because I am a twin, my twin made all the friends and did most of the speaking for me. A doctor had told my mom that when my twin stops speaking for me, my speech would develop. Thank you. Be blessed.

[gaillewis]

Not to take anything away from her brilliant designs and her lecture circuit, but Temple is the undisputed Queen of the Cowgirl Shirt.

[Fred-rgvw]

I could listen to this amazing woman talk all day. So interesting.

[mojomarj]

I absolutely love this woman. She reminds me of all the great teachers I grew up with that KNEW how to teach that encouraged your strengths.

[meadowrae]

I'm autistic and so is my son. At about 23 minutes I almost cried. People always acted like I was weird for how I spoke to my son, how I taught him things. Every concept needed an example, like when they ask for word origin at a Spelling Bee. It takes longer, and it meant I was having (in my mind) full conversations with him at 3 years old. When he got to school they said he couldn't possibly be autistic; his language skills weren't impaired. The "impairments" didn't show up until 1st grade, when he started having meltdowns and problems socializing with peers.

[hereigoagain]

Love TG's comment on letting your work talk for you. A neighbor boy lacked social skills and had a hard finding a job after college. His hobby is electronics and robotics. He landed a job at a robotics firm by showing them his work. Now he makes a good living from his hobby.