An evening with Temple Grandin….

Last night, Cal Poly’s Colleges of Agriculture and Education hosted a presentation by Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State. Professor Grandin spoke about her efforts to improve the management of animals by the meat industry. Of course, to psychologists, Dr. Grandin is known for her eloquent insights into the world of autism.

Mr. F snapped this picture before the presentation, when I had an opportunity to meet Dr. Grandin. She was kind enough to offer her advice for our daughter, Karla, who has also been diagnosed with autism. We discussed the rising rates of autism in the United States, and whether these data represent real increases in prevalence, more attention to milder cases of autism spectrum, or a loosening of the diagnostic criteria. Dr. Grandin mentioned that we need more information about children who seem to progress normally up until the age of 2 years or so, then regress. Senior project and thesis students–here’s an important line of research you may want to investigate.

Although I know little about the meat industry, in spite of having worked on an Ag campus for over 20 years, I do understand a fair amount about animal behavior, having spent many hours in rat labs and with rhesus monkeys at UCLA and Yale. It was interesting to see how concepts of classical conditioning and habituation have been applied in Ag. I was also fascinated by the insights Dr. Grandin brought to her subject, such as her willingness to actually go down the chute to see problems from the animals’ point of view.

My students who attended the presentation had many enthusiastic things to say about the presentation. I bought three of Dr. Grandin’s books: Thinking in pictures: My life with autism, Animals in translation: Using the mysteries of autism to decode animal behavior, and her latest work, Unwritten rules of social relationships: Decoding social mysteries through the unique perspectives of autism. Right now, Mr. F, Karla, and I are sharing–we are all enjoying the books a great deal. One of the terrific things about working at a university is the opportunity to listen to visiting expert speakers.

Dr. Grandin maintains two websites. This one focuses on animal handling, and her other site focuses on autism. These are a must-read for all of us interested in autism and animal behavior.