Temple's story is very touching on so many levels for me.... 1)a child overcoming a very difficult neurological disorder with help from very strong women that didnt take the experts advice. 2)That autism was what made Temple see different from everyone else. It's what made her special.. it was her gift that she learned how to share with the world...and finally 3)she helped defenseless creatures that we breed for our food die a more humane death. How more accomplished can you be!
HBO did an amazing job with Temple's story. Claire Danes is an amazing actress so much so that you forget you are watching an actress portraying an autistic woman.
The perseverance that Templ had was astounding and it was because of the strong structured parenting that she recieved from her mother and aunt then her mentoring teachers that helped her overcome the difficult social barriors of autism. And because of her special gift of being autistic... yes gift! she was able to revolutionize the treatment of cattle in this country. A must see to all the mother's that have faced a difficult diagnosis.
http://www.hbo.com/#/movies/temple-grandin/index.html
NPR has interviews of Temple Grandin discussing how she thinks and visualizes the world as well as the books she's written.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123383699
Here's a breif interview with Temple and Melisa Silvertein talking about the movie.
Temple Grandin spent a couple of minutes on the phone with me talking about the film, her work and her life.
W&H: First I want to talk a little bit about your mother. The film shows how your mother never gave up on you. And it's almost a love story between the two of you. What was your father's role?
Temple Grandin: Mother was the one who kept me out of an institution. My father, like a lot of dads, had very little input. He would have gone along with the doctors. Back in the 50's you sort of did what the doctors did. In a lot of families where they have a severely handicapped kid, it's the mothers that take care of it. I go and do a talk and autism meeting and there are a few dads there. But for every dad there are ten mothers.
W&H: What was so magical for me was your relationship with animals.
TG: When I was in high school I thought everybody thought in pictures like I did. The movie showed how I thought in pictures brilliantly. The other thing that I really liked about the movie was that all my projects that were in the movie. They were all actually done and they were all made. The squeeze machines were built off the drawing. Those were all built exactly the way I did them.
