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Hello there, this is Jimmy here in Danvers, Massachusetts
and a very special conference focusing on autism and
Asperger's syndrome, and I'm here with a very icon
in the autism community, Temple Grandin.
Well, it's really great to be here.
My question is, first of all, what is like any stories that you might want to tell
that we're might have been left out of the movie?
Well, the movie basically just covered my life
in high school and getting my business started in college,
and when I was a little kid I used to just love to make things
and you know, build all kinds of stuff, build kites,
build experimental airplanes and things like that,
and I just loved making things and you know,
we need to encourage kids to do that.
Another thing is just super important
is autism is a very big spectrum and one end of the spectrum
you got somebody that remains non-verbal,
the other end of the spectrum you got Steve Jobs
and you got Einstein and people like that
and the kids are kind of quirky and different, getting with other kids, where have you have
shared interests, you should be programming
computers, it could be building things, it could be airplanes,
it could be cartooning, it could be music, the school play,
but that's where I got my social life.
It's very fascinating especially how much many people
have diagnosed with autsim or Asperger's syndrome.
And my next question is, how do you feel like,
the thing about autism and Asperger's syndrome
getting more notified and much more noticed over the last few decades?
Well some of the increased Asperger's is just increased detection
because they started that like almost twenty years ago you know,
Asperger's used to be just kind of the geeks and the nerds, not very social.
In fact, they're planning on changing a diagnostic category to take Asperger's out
and make Autism more strict and call the Asperger's Social Communication Disorder.
The thing is, it doesn't really matter what you call it.
You know, we got to take these kids who kind of quirky and nerdy that fall in through the cracks
in the school and find things that they're good at,
because there's different kinds of minds.
There's a visual thinking mind like me and things in photo realistic pictures,
the HBO movie did a fantastic job showing that.
Hell, I'm the kind of kid who couldn't do algebra.
Finding a lot of kids who can't do algebra but they can do geometry.
Then you got the pattern thinkers that's the true mathematics mind,
that's the kid that grows up and he'll be a computer programmer or a physicist
or a mathematician and he may have trouble with reading.
And then you got the guys that are verbal thinkers
so there is a lot of different kinds of minds.
We need to be working on building up a person's strengths.
I totally agree with you, math was not best subject in school, but english was.
How do you feel like your portrayal by Claire Danes
in the movie, Temple Grandin?
Well, Claire did just a fantastic job, she just became me in the 60's and the 70's.
I think the whole HBO team did a great job.
Emily Gerson Saines, who's the producer of the movie, the mother of an autistic child,
and she wanted to have it be right because one thing I really liked the movie
is they showed all my projects, I like showing off my projects.
What is it like to be the inventor of the hugging machine?
Well, one of the reasons why I invented the squeezing machine was when I got to puberty,
I had constant panic attacks, there's visual thinkers often have problems with panic attacks
and I was desperate for relief and I watched cattle going into their squeeze shoot
for their veterinary work and I noticed that some of the cattle kind of relaxed
so I built the device similar to a cattle sqeeze shoot
because pressure helped calm my nervous system down.
But I want to empathize, not everybody on the spectrum responds to pressure.
The autism's spectrum is very, got a lot of variation on sensory problems.
That's totally true.
How do you feel like the change of working with the cattle industry
how much did you change with the way cattle are treated
in like the slaughterhouses and all that?
There's been a lot of improvements.
I've been working on improving slaughterhouses for the last 35 years
and when I first started I thought I could fix it all with equipment.
So you get really good equipment in, that would fix a lot of things.
But that doesn't replace management.
You got to have good management.
Otherwise things aren't going to work.
So in 1999, I started working with McDonalds on an auditing program
and they started inspecting slaughterhouses
and I worked on training on McDonalds auditors on how to do the inspection.
If you're interested in some of that work you can go on my website: grandin.com,
Just my last name, just grandin.com and
that's resulted in improvements, things have gotten better.
Out of all the things that you've done either being like a professor, a writer,
an activist, a cattle consultant, what are the most things that you are most proud of?
Well, there's a lot of things I'm proud of but I don't look at myself as autistic first.
I look at myself as a professor first, a scientist first,
one thing I don't really like, especially a lot of those kids on the higher end of the spectrum
is where autism becomes their fixation.
We're all they want to do is study autism.
I don't like it when nine year olds come up to me and want to talk me about autism,
I'd rather have them talk to me about their science project, they like history,
they like photography, they like to do artwork, I'd rather hear about those sorts of things.
I mean, autism is an important part of who I am, but it doesn't define me.
Anything else have you done lately?
Well, I can't emphasize, I'm not feeling the importance of an early intervention
you know working with little kids the instant you see symptoms.
The worse thing is you can do is do nothing with them.
I'm working on a lot of different things, I'm a graduate student so working on cattle behavior
for a graduate student from Germany named Connie
and she's been working on a project on looking at how different mother cows
vary and how well they defend their calf so I'm still working on animal behavior.
I read in your according to your wikipedia page that the squeezing machine broke down
and you still haven't fixed it.
Are you saving that for like a museum piece someday, your life or what?
Well, I just didn't get around fixing them that I'm hugging more real people now,
I'm not going to throw it away because I think maybe somebody might want it someday.
I've got some of my original press passes from the Arizona Farmer Ranchmen
in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame also the hand embroidered shirt
that got me into the original Swift Plant but it wasn't, it was shown as Abbott in the movie
but it really was a Swift Plant, they couldn't use the real name
because Swift still exists but this brings up the thing
showing off your portfolio to other people.
She liked the shirt that I had done the embroidery on
because wearing my portfolio when I didn't realize it.
When I was a really weird geek I was trying to get cattle people that build some of my designs
they didn't want to talk to me till they showed my drawings.
You know, I had to learn how to sell my work rather than myself.
You know, someone is good at drawing, they're good at programming,
or they're good at art or something like that,
you need to make sure you always have it on your phone
because you never know where you might find a person that can open the door,
there's also all kinds of fabulous stuff on the internet now,
all kinds of free courses online, things like KNOW labs
some of that style of KNOW Labs
Udassaday, Khan Academy, all kinds of free and science and math things online
these things can serve as a door and we need to be taking advantage of
there's some lot of these really good things that are free online,
you know Standford's got free classes online, MIT does too.
Wow, that's fascinating and it's great advice.
So, anything else going on?
Well, all I can say is develop the child's strengths,
also, autism is such a big spectrum, at one end of the spectrum
you got the geeks and the nerds and the quirky kind of kids,
the kind of kids that when they grow up, half of Silicon Valley is
from the autism's spectrum.
You know if you go look up the old 60's and 70's and the old pictures of Mission Control.
Oh man, half of those people of Mission Control
probably were on the autism Asperger's spectrum
and then you got kids on the way more severe end of the spectrum
and they need totally different kind of services.
You know, when I was saying a lot of schools are starting up
where people start small schools for the kids on the high end of the spectrum
and then the more severe individuals they need a different service
and it's really almost like two seperate things.
Well, okay well Mrs. Temple Gradin, lovely to meet you and thank you very much.
Okay thank you.
Hi, I'm with Temple's mother.
So, how it's being Temple's mother?
I'm very proud, very proud indeed.
But I'm speaking for all the moms
because I'm proud of them too.
They've done a wonderful with their children.
All mothers are good mothers.
Yes they're really are, I think we have to hold on who it is we think we are, don't you?
Yeah.
I think that's the most important thing of all that we are individuals, quite unique,
each of us and I believe in that uniqueness.
How are you happy for us to come over here and interview your daughter and now you?
I think it's a treat and I'm honored and thank you for coming.
It's lovely and I wish you all godspeed and good luck
and thanks so much for including me.
You're welcome.
Hello, this is Jimmy, we had a wonderful time
at the Autism Asperger's Syndrome Conference
and I want to thank Camille and Kenny Murphy right here helping me out with this.
It is a wonderful special event so I hope you enjoy and have a great time learning
experience like I have, so until next time,
don't forget we're all out there
so we're not invisible anymore just get used to it.
Until next time, peace out brothers and sisters.
Yay!