American animal behaviorist with a unique empathy with animals. She is the world’s leading expert on the humane handling of livestock, designing holding pens and restraining chutes. Also an autism spokesperson, she is one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to publicly share insights from her personal experience of autism. She invented the “Hug Box” device to calm those on the autism spectrum. She was the subject of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning semi-biographical film Temple Grandin.
Diagnosed as autistic at three, she had a neurological impairment so severe that she lived in a mental prison, with an emotional range limited to fear, anger or happiness. She does not know what love feels like nor does she have awareness of other people. At the same time, she has extreme sensitivity to stimuli, making her life a sensory hell. Her IQ has been tested at 137.
Grandin’s life changed when she visited her aunt’s Arizona cow ranch and she watched how the animals acted when afraid and in holding pens. She designed a devise that gently squeezed her own body, finding that it calmed her, and began to consider the ways in which an animal’s stress may be counteracted. With the help of her own homemade devise, she managed to graduate in 1970 with a degree in experimental psychology, and gained her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois.
She not only works with livestock consultations, but is assistant Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State and works with nutritionists at the Denver Zoo in handling wild animals.
Link to Wikipedia biography