Reflection Paper Temple Grandin
Temple Grandin Emergence: Labeled Autistic
Positive Outcomes
Born in 1949, Temple Grandin was first diagnosed with brain damage at the age of three and then, at the age of five, labeled Autistic. Today Temple Grandin, self-labeled as a recovered autistic, is a well-respected doctor in animal science, a professor at Colorado State University, a bestselling author, an autism activist, and a leading consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. While it is easily argued that Temple Grandin’s life does not represent the norm for most children with autism, her autobiography, Emergence: Labeled Autistic (1986) offers a powerful picture of the influences and experiences that steered Temple through her journey ‘emerging’ from autism.
Considering Temple’s challenging behaviors as a toddler and the norms for the time, it would not have been surprising if Temple’s mother had followed the advice of the doctors and placed Temple into an institution at the age of three or kept her isolated at home. Instead, her mother provided therapy and activities that kept Temple “from tuning out and failing to develop” (p. 20). At the age of three, Temple began regular therapy with a speech teacher who “helped [her] hear the consonants by stretching out and enunciating the consonants” (p. 17). Although the reader only has a glimpse of the challenge it must have been, it is clear that Temple was included in the daily and special activities of her family’s life with little allowances made for her atypical behavior: “Being a child of the 1950’s was an advantage because of structured Miss Manners meals and lots of turn-taking games kept me tuned in. The family meals and games also taught essential social skills” (p. 20).
As Temple grew older, her mother continued to strive for Temple to have a normal life, enrolling her in kindergarten at the age of five, while also taking a proactive role in preventing problems before they happened. “The school I attended
Positive Outcomes
Born in 1949, Temple Grandin was first diagnosed with brain damage at the age of three and then, at the age of five, labeled Autistic. Today Temple Grandin, self-labeled as a recovered autistic, is a well-respected doctor in animal science, a professor at Colorado State University, a bestselling author, an autism activist, and a leading consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. While it is easily argued that Temple Grandin’s life does not represent the norm for most children with autism, her autobiography, Emergence: Labeled Autistic (1986) offers a powerful picture of the influences and experiences that steered Temple through her journey ‘emerging’ from autism.
Considering Temple’s challenging behaviors as a toddler and the norms for the time, it would not have been surprising if Temple’s mother had followed the advice of the doctors and placed Temple into an institution at the age of three or kept her isolated at home. Instead, her mother provided therapy and activities that kept Temple “from tuning out and failing to develop” (p. 20). At the age of three, Temple began regular therapy with a speech teacher who “helped [her] hear the consonants by stretching out and enunciating the consonants” (p. 17). Although the reader only has a glimpse of the challenge it must have been, it is clear that Temple was included in the daily and special activities of her family’s life with little allowances made for her atypical behavior: “Being a child of the 1950’s was an advantage because of structured Miss Manners meals and lots of turn-taking games kept me tuned in. The family meals and games also taught essential social skills” (p. 20).
As Temple grew older, her mother continued to strive for Temple to have a normal life, enrolling her in kindergarten at the age of five, while also taking a proactive role in preventing problems before they happened. “The school I attended