Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

By: Sy Montgomery

Temple Grandin is an inspiration to many. Growing up during a time when autism was even more understood than it is now, Temple learned to work to her strengths and use her differently working, but amazing mind to change an entire industry. Temple's mother knew there was something different about Temple from the time she was a baby. Yet, she refused to look at it as simply "something wrong" and send her away for someone else to help her daughter. Temple was taken to doctors and discovered to have autism, which was identified not too long before. It was not understood, and Temple had a very difficult time communicating with others, which caused her a great deal of frustration. Thanks to her mother's dedication, Temple was eventually able to attend school with other children and work on the things that she was able to do very well. 

It turned out that Temple was very smart and her brain worked in such a way that made her see pictures in her head. She worked well with her hands and was able to design and make amazing things. Temple loves animals and eventually her abilities and her love of animals would come together and she would help to change the way animals were raised and slaughtered for food. She also became better at communicating and in addition to working with many companies within the meat industry, she speaks at schools and other places about autism awareness and teaches many people what it is like to think in a different way. Temple is an inspirational person to not just those with autism, but anyone who has ever felt different. 

A wonderful book for any student to read, this nonfiction book is especially great for reluctant readers, who will be drawn in by the photos and the page layout. The book is thin, the print is large, and there are many picture of Temple throughout her life, her inventions, the places she has lived and learned, and the animals with which she has worked. It is interesting to learn about Temple's life and her transformations. The chapters are short and there are fact pages throughout about autism that are a great resource for learning about different ways of thinking and how disabilities can be embraced. 

I am happy that this is a book that I purchased for the purpose of this class, because it will be a great addition to my future classroom library. It is interesting, engaging, and a non-intimidating read. Temple Grandin is an interesting person to learn about and with the growing number of people who are diagnosed with ASD, it is a good topic to introduce to students. Many students, even those not on the spectrum, may have different ways of thinking or problems with communication. They can relate to this book and to Temple as well. 

Temple Grandin on TEDTalk discussing the way her brain works and the benefits of it: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF4sP-uC-yI

If you have not seen the HBO movie about Temple Grandin, I highly recommend that also. The trailer can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkN0JdXRpM