Temple Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science who has Asperger’s Syndrome.

She is also a professional designer of humane livestock facilities. Born in Boston, it was four years before she showed signs of social and academic development. Having attended private schools, she achieved academic excellence and obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois.

Based on her own experiences, she advocates early intervention and supporting teachers who can direct fixations of the autistic child to fruitful directions. She has described her own overt sensitivity to noise and other sensory information, as well as the need to visualize everything. She regularly takes anti-depressants and uses a squeeze-box (hugging machine) she created herself. She became well-known after being described by Oliver Sacks in the title narrative of his book An Anthropologist On Mars, and has lectured about autism around the world and on many television programs.

Dr. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities. Grandin is considered a philosophical leader of both the animal welfare and autism advocacy movements. Both movements commonly cite her work regarding animal welfare, neurology, and philosophy. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Other areas of research are: cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.

Temple is also the author of five best-selling books including The Way I See It, Thinking in Pictures, Animals Make Us Human, and her newest publications, The Autistic Brain and Different Not Less.

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