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Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin Quotes

Professor

Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science and an autism advocate. Born on August 29, 1947, she has made significant contributions to the understanding of autism and animal welfare through her groundbreaking research. Grandin's innovative designs, such as the 'hug box,' have improved livestock handling practices. She is also an author and speaker, sharing her experiences and insights on autism and animal welfare with the world.

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Famous Temple Grandin Quotes

“Autism is a neurological disorder. It's not caused by bad parenting. It's caused by, you know, abnormal development in the brain. The emotional circuits in the brain are abnormal. And there also are differences in the white matter, which is the brain's computer cables that hook up the different brain departments.”

“I know a number of autistic adults that are doing extremely well on Prozac.”

Knows Wells Numbers Adults Autistic Prozac

Author:Temple Grandin

“I can explain how a person with autism thinks. I am very, very interested in how people think. It's been a gradual process of learning more and more about how my thinking process is different. You know it's bottom up - you take specific examples to make concepts and then I put them in categories.”

People Thinking Knows Persons I Can Different Process Example Concepts Bottom Categories Autism Learning More Thinking Process

Author:Temple Grandin

“Autism's a very big spectrum. At one end of the spectrum, Einstein would probably be labeled autistic, Steve Jobs, half of Silicon Valley, you know, Van Gogh. And at the other end of the spectrum, you got much more severe handicaps where they never learn to speak.”

Knows Ends Bigs Jobs Speak Half Valleys Autism Severe Vans Spectrum Autistic Silicon Handicaps Silicon Valley

Author:Temple Grandin

“One of the places where research is needed is all the sensory problems. And you get sensory problems not just with autism, but with dyslexia, learning problems, ADHD, attention deficit, you know, things like sound sensitivity, problems with fluorescent lighting.”

Knows Problem Sound Attention Needed Research Autism Sensitivity Deficit Lighting Sensory Adhd Dyslexia

Author:Temple Grandin

“In fact, there are autism clusters, you know, around some of the big tech centers. You take two socially awkward computer programmers and put them together, that can kind of concentrate the autistic genes.”

Knows Kind Two Facts Bigs Together Computer Genes Awkward Autism Programmers Autistic Computer Programmers Clusters Socially Awkward

Author:Temple Grandin

“I'm seeing too many kids where they get fixated on their own autism. I'd rather have them get fixated that they like programming computers or they like art or they want to sing in the church choir or they want to train dogs, you know, something that they can turn into a career.”

Knows Want Art Kids Turns Church Careers Seeing Dog Computer Train Programming Autism Choir Church Choir

Author:Temple Grandin

“My life - autism's an important part of it, but it bothers me when I see kids where autism and their autism is the only thing they think about. I'd rather have them think about, you know, some art work they were gonna do or some science they wanted to do.”

Thinking Knows Art Important Kids Wanted Bother Autism

Author:Temple Grandin

“Some cats don't like different types of kitty litter. So might try different types of kitty litter sometimes that works. You know, they don't like one type that sticks to the paws and they don't like it.”

Knows Trying Different Sometimes Might Type Cat Sticks Paws Kitties Kitty Litter

Author:Temple Grandin

“It [cats going outside the litter box] might have something to do with - you know, I am just thinking that if I am the cat, when I'm pooping, you know, I've got to strain a little bit more and maybe that affects how the kitty litter feels on my paws. I'd try a different sub straight, or something like that - make sure it's not slippery.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Feels Trying Littles Different Might Bits Little Bit Cat Strain Slippery Paws Kitties Kitty Litter

Author:Temple Grandin

“I want to make sure to fix these obvious things - like keeping the box CLEAN! Another thing that might affect this [cats going outside the litter box] is if you put the litter box in a laundry room where people are walking by there all the time, the cat might feel kinda too exposed. When you gotta poop, you know, it takes a little longer. You want a little more privacy.”

People Ifs Knows Want Feels Littles Might Rooms Walking Cat Clean Obvious Boxes Privacy Exposed Laundry Poop Obvious Things

Author:Temple Grandin

“A real common problem with a lot of animals is that guys are bad, hate to say it, but they will tune into some big feature like the glasses, maybe the beard, baseball hats, you know some unique feature like that. And they'll generalize like, "Okay! All people with baseball hats or black rimmed glasses are bad."”

People Knows Real Problem Bigs Guy Hate Black Animal Common Unique Okay Baseball Glasses Features Hats Tunes Beard That Guy

Author:Temple Grandin

“Basically when it comes to autistic kids and animals there's kind of three ways that they work, some of them are instant best buddies, they understand a cat, they understand a dog - they're best studies with it, they just know how to communicate with it. Then there's other kids that begin with a little bit of fear of the cat or the dog, but then they begin to like it and then there are other kids where you have a sensory problem - the cat meows and it hurts their ears, so they want to stay away from the cat because you never know when he might meow.”

Knows Way Want Kind Littles Problem Might Kids Three Bits Hurt Animal Know How Study Dog Little Bit Cat Ears Communicate Instant It Hurts Buddy Sensory Autistic Three Ways Best Buddies

Author:Temple Grandin

“If you get a little kitty and he's down on the bottom, and he's laying on his chest, you know tucked up underneath, then that cat is not relaxed.”

Ifs Knows Littles Cat Bottom Chests Relaxed Kitties

Author:Temple Grandin

“I know a lot of animal communicators and I think a lot of them are just good behaviorists because they pick up on a lot little posture things like how the eyes look, the posture of the cat ears, is it tense? They're picking up just a lot of their body cues from the dog, the cat or the horse.”

Thinking Knows Looks Littles Body Eye Animal Dog Picks Cat Ears Horse Tense Posture Communicators Good Behavior

Author:Temple Grandin

“I try to return my calls but I get inundated with emails and I can't answer them all. So often, I have to refer to them my webpage and the frequently asked questions or refer them to the books. But if they take the time to call me, I try to call back. You know, I am really busy, but just happened to have an hour in the hotel room and had some time before I have to meet some people about 20 minutes.”

People Ifs Knows Trying I Can Book Hours Answers Rooms Happened Minutes Return Busy Hotel Call Me Email Hotel Rooms

Author:Temple Grandin

“The thing is, autism is a big spectrum. Going from folks who remain nonverbal, all the way up to, ya know, famous scientists and musicians. And we've got to work on strengths. We also have to work on teaching basic manners and skills.”

Knows Way Bigs Teaching Skills Musician Scientist Folks Manners Autism Spectrum Nonverbal

Author:Temple Grandin

“My mother was always expanding my art skills and getting me to paint different things. You always got to push some. And, I mean, I learned basic things like getting up on time, how to shop - you know, you don't touch things in a store you're not going to buy. These things were taught very young. I don't see today enough of this basic, you know, basic skill teaching.”

Knows Mean Art Different Enough Today Young Mother Teaching Taught Skills Paint Stores Shops Different Things Expanding Basic Things

Author:Temple Grandin

“I think it's a real shame so many schools have taken out the hands-on classes. Art, music, auto mechanics, cooking, sewing, these are all things that can turn into jobs. You know, wood shop, steel shop, welding. These are all things that can turn into great careers, get kids interested. Things they can do with other students. Other things for our word thinkers: journalism clubs, drama clubs.”

“How do you have a think in pictures? Well, you have to sort the pictures into categories. You know, for example, a dog knows that, you know, there's good people and there's bad people. And I talked to a lady the other day where her dog was afraid of people with white beards because she had adopted him from an animal shelter and somebody with a white beard had abused him. And this dog was now afraid of everybody that had a white beard. That was the bad category.”

People Thinking Knows Wells White Animal Dog Example Categories Good People Shelter Adopted Beard Bad People Animal Shelter

Author:Temple Grandin

“I feel very strongly, we've got to give animals a good life. I've worked really hard improving slaughter plants and animal handling and transport. And people have said to me, why don't you work on improving conditions on pig farms? And basically, to be effective on making real change out there on the ground, you can only work on so many things. You know, you get too distributed, you're not effective.”

People Knows Giving Feels Said Real Hard Animal Conditions Plant Farms Good Life Very Strong Pigs Improving Slaughter Transport Plants And Animals Real Change

Author:Temple Grandin

“I've got my one area I work in and I want to educate people about autism and I also want to improve, you know, animal handling and transport and make a real change out in the field on the ground.”

People Knows Want Real Animal Fields Areas Educate Autism Transport Real Change

Author:Temple Grandin

“Fear was my main emotion until I started taking anti-depressant medication. And I was one of the people where, as I got older, the fear got worse and worse. So I can really relate to an animal getting, you know, scared and traumatized.”

People Knows I Can Animal Emotion Scared Relate Medication Depressants

Author:Temple Grandin

“Things like microphones are dangerous things because you never know when they might feedback and squeal.”

Knows Might Dangerous Feedback Dangerous Things Microphones

Author:Temple Grandin

“The thing is, autism is all different, you know, variables. And you start out with a certain amount of, you know, the point where the differences in the brain are going to just be a personality variant and, like, for very mild Asperger's. But you get into more severe kinds of autism where there's obvious speech delay, obvious abnormal behavior in a two and three-year-old child, you know, the initial neurology is different from case to case. But all children with autism are going to do better if they get really good educational intervention.”

“I look at the successful people that have, you know, high functioning autism and Asperger's, they're ones where maybe the parents were in the computer industry and they just taught the kids programming at, you know, age eight and nine and they just went on into the industry with their parents.”

People Knows Looks Kids Age Parent Successful Taught Industry Computer Eight Nine Programming Successful People Autism Aspergers

Author:Temple Grandin

“You have to get autistic kids out and expose them to things, but do this without any surprises, so they know what to expect. You have to find skilled mentors to teach them things. For me, it was an aunt, and it was my science teacher. You need to find the things they're interested in and good at and expand on this.”

Knows Needs Kids Teach Teacher Surprise Mentor Aunt Autistic Science Teacher

Author:Temple Grandin

“I don’t want my thoughts to die with me, I want to have done something. I’m not interested in power, or piles of money. I want to leave something behind. I want to make a positive contribution - know that my life has meaning.”

Knows Want Done Dies Behinds Contribution Not Interested My Thoughts

Author:Temple Grandin

“As you may know, some of the stereotyped behaviors exhibited by autistic children are also found in zoo animals who are raised in a barren environment.”

Knows May Children Found Animal Environment Behavior Raised Environmental Barren Zoos Autistic Autistic Children

Author:Temple Grandin