Temple Grandin proved people wrong about what she could do. She's helping others do the same

Algebra was a struggle for a young Temple Grandin.

The mathematical concepts required to solve its equations just didn’t make sense, she said. Her brain didn’t work that way.

It still doesn’t.

One of her 16 published books on autism is titled, “Thinking in Pictures.”

That’s how Grandin and others like her see the world.

And it allows them to see things in ways others can’t, providing a unique perspective Grandin has used to become one of the world’s foremost experts on animal welfare and the design of feedlots and slaughterhouses.

“One of the big motivators is because I wanted to prove I wasn’t stupid,” said Grandin, now 77 and a distinguished professor of animal science at Colorado State University. “A lot of people thought that because I couldn’t do higher math, that I was just stupid, and I wanted to prove them wrong.”

Grandin did — and still is.

The dip vats she designed when she was in her 20s that prevented cattle from drowning when they had to be submerged in chemicals to kill external parasites were quickly adopted by the livestock industry. Her auditing of slaughterhouses for McDonald’s in 1999 led to a scoring system that was quickly adopted by fast-food rivals Burger King and Wendy’s and is now widely used by producers and purchasers of all meat products. And her curved chutes to keep cattle moving through feedlots and center track conveyer restrainer for slaughterhouses have become industry standards. She gets down in the chutes to see what the cattle are seeing and uses those visual pictures to design more efficient equipment.

Grandin has since written more than a half-dozen textbooks on animal welfare and the livestock industry and is a frequent presenter not only on autism, but also on those topics at conferences and speaking engagements in the U.S., Canada and beyond.

Her autism isn’t a disability, she said she learned. It just provides her with a different view of the world in which we live.

“Being a visual thinker, I can remember things others might not,” she said. “My memory’s like little phone pictures. I see something interesting, take a picture of it, and put that in my memory. And I can think of things very clear in my memory.”

Temple Grandin, a distinguished professor of animal sciences and the 2024 USA TODAY Colorado Woman of the Year, is pictured with cattle at Colorado State University's Agricultural Research Development and Education Center.

An HBO-produced 2010 biopic on her life, starring Clare Danes, won numerous awards, including seven Primetime Emmys. A documentary celebrating her work, “An Open Door: Temple Grandin,” released in 2024, won awards at film festivals throughout the U.S. and two international competitions.

Her primary focus now is providing opportunities for people like her.

“You have to keep your eyes on the goal, and right now that’s motivating students and talking to parents of autistic kids about encouraging their kids to be everything they can be,” Grandin said. “I’ve had an interesting career, and I’ve done some things that have been helpful. We need the skills of some of these autistic kids."

Who paved the way for you?

When I was a teenager, I had a great science teacher (William Carlock). He gave me interesting projects to do that got me motivated to study. And getting into the cattle industry, there was a contractor, a former Marine Corps captain named Jim Uhl who was starting a small steel and concrete business, and he sought me out to design facilities for him. He showed me how to get a business started, and that was really important.

What is your proudest moment?

I was really proud when I got the dip vat to work right. Nobody thought I could do it, and it solved the problem of cattle drowning.

What is your definition of courage?

You just have to keep persevering. Another thing I did is I always had more than one project going, so if one project failed, I would still have something else to do.

Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself?

I was a Star Trek fan, and they had the Prime Directive. When I was working on projects, my job was to design a system, get it installed, get it to work. My Prime Directive right now is I want to see that kids that think differently get put into great jobs and get out and become really successful.

Who do or did you look up to?

William Carlock. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of good teachers. Teachers make such a difference.

How do you overcome adversity?

I have good people to talk to, good friends to talk to. That’s helpful. When I was young, I seemed to have this big drive to prove I could do it.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Exposure and then mentoring. You’ve got to take the thing the autistic kid’s interested in and broaden it, develop it.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Temple Grandin proved people wrong about what she could do. She's helping others do the same