Temple Grandin

by Anita Lesko

  I told Temple what Mick had said to me about her reaction to the completed film. “Mick talked about the day you came for the showing of the completed film. He was worried when you just sat there without saying anything. Then finally, he asked you how you liked it.” Here’s what Temple reminisced, “Well, I was sitting there watching it and getting my mind blown, and that’s why I wasn’t saying anything!” She went on, “It was just overwhelming to sit there and watch my life’s story unfold on the screen.” I replied, “Well sure, I can imagine how overwhelming it was for you!”

  “Here’s a question for you, Temple,” I continued, “what was the message you hoped everyone who saw the movie would take away from it?” Temple gave me her answer, “I’ve had a lot of kids write to me and say I inspired them to be successful. That’s really important. And I’ve had women in engineering come up to me and say that the movie inspired them to stick it out and get their degree in engineering. I liked how the movie showed my aunt Ann, my mother, and science teacher really well. But I really liked that it showed my projects, and it also showed how visual thinking works. It makes people understand visual thinking. Mick Jackson is a visual thinker.”

  I had heard Mick Jackson’s thoughts about when he first met Temple, and I wanted to know what Temple thought when she first met Mick. “So, Temple,” I inquired, “what was your first impression of Mick when you met him?” Temple went on, “Well, I remember meeting him in a restaurant, and we were going to have either lunch or dinner, and he couldn’t eat. I said, ‘Mick, aren’t you going to get something to eat?’ He said he had a problem, and if he had something to eat he’d be sick all day; he had gotten sick from something in Morocco. I thought, ‘Man, that’s got to be miserable.’ So here I am, ordering food and eating in a restaurant, and he’s not eating. I felt really bad eating in front of him, but I was really hungry. If I don’t eat something, I get a headache. I can’t really remember everything we talked about. I talked about visual thinking, stuff I built. The thing that I noticed about Mick was that I’d say something very casually to him, and it would end up in the movie! When I talked to him about it, it didn’t seem to register that much.”

  Thinking back to my conversation with Mick, I remembered him telling me about the moment he truly understood how Temple’s mind worked. “Temple, Mick told me about the moment when you called him while he was driving, when he truly realized your visual thinking.” Temple’s tone had excitement in it as she replied, “Well, it was like going back to the sixties and seventies, it was really trippy, and I didn’t have much to say about it the moment I first watched it. I had to play it back in my head. Sometimes with movies, I enjoy them more when I replay them in my head.” I understood exactly what she was saying, and piped up, “You sort of process it better and more deeply afterwards.” Temple agreed, “Right, that’s what I did.” I’ve always done this, and now I learned Temple does it, as well. I wondered if everyone does it, or just those with visual thinking.

  I was quite curious to hear what Temple thought of Claire Danes when she went to Claire’s apartment in New York City for their first meeting. “I’ve got some questions for you about Claire Danes. What did you first think of her when you got to her apartment in New York City?” I smiled at Temple’s response. Temple gushed, “She had a really nice apartment, with this really weird stuff right in the front foyer. It was a big red thing that looked like a giant red cow plop! (Temple started giggling quite profusely as she shared this with me.) And above it was a sort of abstract art of a clown, and I’m thinking, ‘That’s a weird kind of decoration!’ I think I did ask her about it. Then, we sat down at the kitchen table, and there was another person there with her. We talked for about four hours, then we went out for lunch to a restaurant. I can remember walking out to the street with her, and we talked about how visual thinking worked. She videotaped our whole meeting so she’d have that to study. And then I gave her an ancient old Larry King tape from 1988. At first, I thought it would be hard for her to become me, but she did! She seemed really, really serious about what she was doing.”

  I knew that Mr. Carlock, Temple’s science teacher at the Hampshire boarding school, was a pivotal person in her life. He recognized Temple’s potential and took her under his wing, and he challenged her with special projects that encouraged her to solve them. The movie did an excellent job of sharing that with the audience. I wanted to hear how seeing him portrayed affected Temple. I already knew the response I was about to hear when I asked Temple, “What kind of emotions were stirred up inside you when you saw David Strathairn playing the part of Mr. Carlock? How did it make you feel?” Temple’s voice got strained, and I could tell she was getting choked up. “Well, I saw the picture with the NASA astronaut, David Strathairn, holding the helmet, and I broke down into tears. I just broke down and cried about that.” I heard though the phone that Temple was crying, so I remained silent and waited until she was ready to continue. I knew she was playing those scenes with him in the movie in her mind. Finally, she went on, “It was a real astronaut helmet he was holding. Then, when I looked at the rocket they had, I thought that it didn’t look balanced, and that perhaps they didn’t do a weight and balance. When I talked to the stage hand, it turned out they hadn’t. I noticed that in the movie.” At this point I started chuckling to myself, as Temple’s logical side was back in order. She continued, “The other thing that was really weird, was when we went to a filming in New York, and Catherine O’Hara and David Strathairn were there, and Catherine O’Hara was sitting near me, and it was like having my aunt Ann there. I know that’s totally weird, but that’s how it felt. She really looked and acted like Ann. I told her she did a great job.”

  The Happiest Part of the Movie

  I wanted to know what made Temple the happiest when she watched the movie. Can you guess what it was? I didn’t guess correctly! Here’s what Temple got just tickled over. “So, Temple,” I asked, “what made you the happiest when you saw the film?” Temple replied, “Watching the dip vat working! That was happy! My actual drawings were in the movie. They took really great shots of the dip vat from a cherry picker; it was really high and scary, but they got some really beautiful shots. Seeing my projects really excited me!” I was envisioning the big grin on her face on the other end of the call. I know her very well and the facial expressions she makes, and how gleeful she gets at things. This surely was one of them.

  Of course, if there’s a movie made about anyone’s life, there are going to be parts that are sad and might bring great pain. It would certainly transport you back to that place, where you relive it in your mind and heart. For Temple, it was no different. I began, “Temple, I know you’ve had many painful moments in your life. During the movie, which scene brought you emotional pain?” There were a few moments of silence until Temple shared her memory with me. “The most painful parts were the teasing and bullying. There was one scene, at Scottsdale feed yard, with those cowboys leaning against the hay. It looked exactly like the real Scottsdale feed yard on that day I got thrown out of there, and that brought back a lot of memories.” I could hear Temple getting upset at this point. She then continued, “It made me think of how I went straight to the Arizona Farmer Ranchman magazine office and got my press pass. That pass allowed me access into the big cattle conventions, and the Scottsdale Feed yard.” I knew what a profound moment that was for her when she saw that scene, as we had already talked about the real event. I also realized that memorable day of her getting thrown out of the Scottsdale feed yard was a twist of fate. It spurred her on to go get that press pass, which opened some pretty big doors for Temple.

  By now, you must be wondering what the proudest moment in that movie for Temple was. Here you go! “Temple, what made you most proud in that movie?” Without hesitation, Temple replied, “The proudest part of the movie was seeing all my projects! They did a scene in the movie where they showed off the optical illusion room. The real one that I showed off at school was the one with the trapezoidal
window, and I was very proud of that. For the movie, I learned that the stage hands had a great deal of trouble with that.”

  I asked Temple about the original red squeeze machine. She stated, “When we moved, it got thrown out. Things have a way of getting into the trash when you’re moving.” I then wanted to know how she de-stresses herself these days, since she doesn’t have a squeeze machine to use. Temple replied, “I do the virtual squeeze machine. I imagine it in my mind. I tend to get really tired and not as stressed these days.”

  I saw Temple’s movie in 2012, about a year after it came out. At the time of its release, February 2010, I didn’t yet know that I was on the autism spectrum. A few weeks ago I decided to watch the movie again, to see it now that I personally know Temple. I cried myself silly throughout most of the film. The next day Temple called, and I shared this event with her. She wanted to know why I cried so much. I stated, “Well, it’s different now that I know you, and have listened to you tell me these actual events from your life. I felt your pain, your successes, and everything in between. I identify with so many things.” I then said, “Of course, a movie can only be so long, and there’s so much more about you that people will discover in this book.”

  “Yes, they will,” Temple agreed.

  CHAPTER 2

  The Temple Machine

  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be world famous, recognized everywhere you go? I’ve gotten to know not only Temple, but those people closest to her that support everything she’s doing. I know you are going to enjoy learning just what it takes to be a global phenomenon. Temple has a very demanding schedule and speaks all over the world, about both autism and animal handling. She also continues to work in the cattle industry. It takes several people to handle this grueling schedule. Teresa Corey, Temple’s liaison, handles the autism side while Cheryl Miller, Temple’s other liaison, tends to the animal side. During the eight months I worked on this book, I couldn’t believe just how many places Temple was traveling to, multiple times per week, sometimes for weeks at a time. I decided to put this chapter early on to give you an idea of how demanding Temple’s schedule really is. She just takes it all in stride and keeps on going.

  I had the opportunity to interview Cheryl Miller, and here’s what she shared with me.

  “Cheryl, tell me how you first met Temple. Where was it?” I asked.

  Cheryl replied, “I was hired in the Department of Animal Sciences as the administrative assistant to the department head, and I also did typing for a number of the professors. Temple was one of them. That’s how I first met her, and that was about 1997. About ten years ago I was getting ready to retire, and I had mentioned that to Temple. She asked, ‘Who’s going to do my work for me?’ and I said, ‘Well, I can continue to work for you out of my home.’ I live very close to her, only about a mile away. So, that’s how that happened.”

  How well-known was Temple at the time you started working for her?” I inquired. Cheryl replied, “At that time, no one knew who Temple Grandin was, so I would only get a trickling of emails. Shortly after that, her movie came out, and things exploded! It was released February 6, 2010. I went to working six or seven days a week instead of just a few minutes a day. It got pretty serious. It’s simply crazy, because she has so many speaking requests and she’s been publishing a lot more as well.” I gushed, “Wow! That’s pretty amazing! That must have been quite an experience for you. Of course, for Temple as well, but you have to handle it all.”

  Cheryl continued, “Teresa deals with most of the autism speaking engagements, and Temple and I handle the rest. She also has an agent who gets speaking requests to Temple, and then we tend to that. Temple always makes her own flight reservations because she knows where she’s going and where she’s coming from. She’s not always departing out of Denver, so she does everything regarding the flights. I’ll handle Power Points, pictures, and getting in touch with the people who want her to come and speak.”

  I asked, “Do you ever go with her on any of these events?”

  “I do go with her to local events,” Cheryl stated.

  Cheryl also shared, “We go out to lunch quite often, and her friend and assistant Mark will go, too. Mark and I will joke and Temple doesn’t laugh, and she says our humor is too sophisticated for her. She says such funny things. She gets a kick out of things that are kind of child-like, such as talking about vomiting. Silly, goofy things make her laugh, then she can’t stop laughing. Anything about boogers, vomit, or anything that makes kids laugh will get her laughing her head off! She’ll get bouts of uncontrolled laughter, which makes you start laughing, too. Temple has developed a really good sense of humor. She’s also the most nonjudgmental person I’ve ever met, and very sensitive. She could get a thousand good reviews of her book on Amazon, but if she gets one bad one, she can dwell on it a long time. If somebody doesn’t like something she said or wrote, it really bothers her.”

  “I’ll share this with you, Cheryl, I’m just like that, too. So I totally understand that Temple gets like that.”

  Cheryl also tends to things regarding Temple’s graduate students. “All of Temple’s graduate students love her, and when they leave with their degree they all get excellent jobs and become very successful. One thing I’d really like for people to know is how Temple supports all her students. When they leave, they graduate with no debt. She pays their tuition and all expenses. Very few people know that. I’ll get a bill from the accounting department of the school for a student for sixty, seventy, even eighty thousand dollars for their tuition, and Temple just writes out the check for that. That’s why she does all those speaking engagements, because she uses the money she makes from them to pay for all her graduate students. That’s pretty outstanding.”

  I stated, “When I heard Temple announce that at her birthday party, I nearly fainted. So, all these years she’s been a silent philanthropist. That is so incredibly admirable. I truly feel proud to know her.”

  Cheryl went on to speak more on Temple’s admirable qualities. She started, “I make her blank business cards, and the only thing on them is her picture. I make up about fifty to seventy-five at a time. She likes to put hand-written messages on them for kids. She goes through four to five hundred of these cards a year. I think that’s pretty outstanding of her to do. She also takes calls from people who just want to ask her a question. Sometimes a kid will call saying they are going to write a report about her, and they’d like to interview her. She does call them back! Practically nobody at her level does that. Can you imagine being a little kid, and you’re going to write a report about somebody famous, and they call you? How exciting for them. That will affect them the rest of their life, and they’ll always remember that. Temple knows that.” I smiled, stating, “Yes, there are many times she tells me she just got off the phone with a kid or young adult with autism that just called her. And she’ll talk to them for an hour! It’s unbelievable!”

  “It’s really an experience when you travel with her,” Cheryl shared. “When we went to her induction into the Academy of Arts and Sciences, everybody just stared at her. Some people will come up to speak with her. Most people know who she is because they’ve seen the movie, and by the way she dresses. It’s so interesting to watch, to be in the background seeing how people react to her. It’s really cool, and lots of fun. At the Arts and Sciences event, there were all these world-famous scientists and artists, and Temple was the most sought-after one out of all of them! What’s amazing is when we go to lunch in town, the same thing happens. We typically go to one of two restaurants. People will be looking at her, some will even come over to her to say something like ‘thank you for all you’ve done,’ or they’ll say they saw her movie and really admire her. She’s really humble about it, and she’ll keep eating and talking after they’re gone.”

  “Yes,” I stated, “I know how humble she is. All her fame didn’t change her. It didn’t swell her head. That is very unique.”

  Cheryl told me this as w
ell, “Temple also has no qualms about confronting people who are saying bad things, or wrong things about her. Once, up in Canada she was giving a talk about slaughter, and there was a group of protesters outside. She just walked right up to them and started talking to them. She’s really gutsy like that! She’s not afraid to go talk to them.” I replied, “I would have liked to see their faces when Temple came walking towards them!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Down by the Seashore

  Most everyone has childhood memories of family trips to the seashore, whether just for a day or weeks at a time. I can fondly remember the annual summer trip to Cape May, New Jersey for a week’s visit. I figured Temple was no different than others, and I was correct. Think back to when you were a kid, did you go to the seashore? What do you recall?

  “Temple,” I prompted, “tell me about your times by the seashore when you were a kid.” Temple replied, “Well, I used to love walking on the beach near where we lived in in Massachusetts, and collecting all kinds of sea shells. We went to Cape Cod in the summers. Then, when we’d get home, I loved to glue them onto a big piece of cardboard and make a mosaic. I made a big turtle, using the shells to make all the scales and small rocks to make the other parts of him. My aunt used to like to go out to the beach with us. She liked making those mosaics, so that’s what we did. Kids these days aren’t doing enough of those kinds of activities. I loved to walk on the beach, watch the waves coming in, and feel the sun on my shoulders. I’d sit down on the sand and spend hours just picking up the sand and letting it sift between my fingers. I loved that feeling. I also loved to fly kites on the beach. It was the best place to do that. This is what kids need to do! They need to learn to make things, like kites, and then go fly them.”