“I am different, not less.”
― Temple Grandin
View more information about the event here.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
7:30 p.m., Page Hall, UAlbany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany 12203
Temple Grandin, often called “the rock star” of the autistic world, is a world-renowned animal behaviorist, college professor, inventor, bestselling author, and animal rights activist.
One of the first autistic individuals to write books about her life and experiences, Grandin has been an indispensable source of knowledge and wisdom for parents and teachers confronting the puzzle of autism.
Her bestselling books include Thinking In Pictures (1996), Animals in Translation (2005), Animals Make Us Human (2009), and The Autistic Brain (2013). Claire Danes won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of Grandin in the 2010 HBO film, “Temple Grandin.”
Copies of Temple Grandin’s books will be available for purchase at the event. You may also shop for her books in advance at the local, independent Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza.
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Disability Resource Center and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
About Temple Grandin
Dr. Grandin did not talk until she was three and a half years old. She was fortunate to get early speech therapy. Her teachers also taught her how to wait and take turns when playing board games. She was mainstreamed into a normal kindergarten at age 5.
Oliver Sacks wrote in the forward of Thinking in Pictures that her first book Emergence: Labeled Autistic was “unprecedented because there had never before been an inside narrative of autism.” Dr. Sacks profiled Dr. Grandin in his best selling book Anthropologist on Mars.
Dr. Grandin became a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior. Today she is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She also has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare.
She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) and a BBC Special – “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow”. She has also appeared on as Larry King Live, 20/20, 60 Minutes, and Fox and Friends. Articles about Dr. Grandin have appeared in Time Magazine, New York Times, Discover Magazine, Forbes and USA Today.
HBO made an Emmy Award-winning movie about her life, starring Claire Danes, and she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.
When she was young, she was considered weird and teased and bullied in high school. The only place she had friends was activities where there was a shared interest such as horses, electronics, or model rockets. Mr. Carlock, her science teacher, was an important mentor who encouraged her interest in science. When she had a new goal of becoming a scientist, she had a reason for studying. Today half the cattle in the United States are handled in facilities she has designed. Read more