Temple Grandin

by Anita Lesko

  She kept on going, “There were special toys kept at Granny’s house—they had a little wind-up bear that would walk, move his head, then start walking again. There was a squirrel that would hop when you wound it up, and a fishing set with magnets you’d use to catch the fish.” “Oh, wow! I used to play that game with the fish, too!” I chirped in. Temple continued, “Those were the special toys that we just had at Granny’s. So, when the grown-ups just wanted to sit around and talk, we’d go into the guest room and play with those toys. I really liked the fish with the magnets game.”

  I wanted you to hear about all of Temple’s fun childhood antics. She was always active and interacting with others. Everything she did back then was setting the foundation for her future. She was learning life skills. This is very important for development, especially for children on the autism spectrum. Like Temple keeps saying, “Just get out there and do stuff!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Thrilling Events in Temple’s Life!

  The whole world will be excited to hear this one: I asked Temple for the most exciting, thrilling moment of her life. She thought for a few moments, then said, “Well, I might need a few minutes to answer that one. I can remember once galloping full speed on a horse, we were going really fast, and it was exhilarating. We were out in the woods on a dirt road. It was a really good feeling, a very thrilling experience. It was a beautiful summer day. I was riding Bat Lady, my favorite horse, with my forward seat English saddle. She was the one I rode in the shows; we just called her Lady for short. She was a beautiful bay, but I never knew what breed she was. I remember it like a little movie clip, it was a dirt road where we knew there would be no obstacles. It was flat out, all out galloping for about two minutes.”

  What was the most thrilling thing you’ve ever done?

  Temple was still thinking about her horse days. “Another time we were galloping along on a dirt road, and there was a mud puddle, and I ended up flying over the horse’s head and into the mud puddle! That wasn’t any good.” I shared, “I’ve been there and done that, too. I think anyone who’s been riding horses has experienced a lovely moment like this.”

  She went on, “I remember the time Mr. McCallister—our riding instructor, who was a really heavy smoker—had dropped cigarette ash down into the hole on the front of the western saddle. There was smoke coming out of the front of the saddle, and I said, ‘Mr. McCallister, your horse is on fire!’ He jumped off the horse and pulled the saddle off, and the ash had burned a two-inch hole in the pad! Fortunately, it didn’t burn the horse.”

  What a surprise, Temple the “creatively naughty” kid strikes again! “At the boarding school, we were only supposed to ride with a faculty member. Of course, I did something kind of naughty. I’d sneak out and go riding down in the pasture when nobody was around. It wasn’t Lady, it was usually one of the easier horses when I did that. I’d ride bareback, and use this little thing I’d made out of parachute cord as a halter that I kept in my pocket. It was like a hackamore, with reins. I used that same thing to put on the horses when the farrier would come. When I snuck in those rides, yes, I’d enjoy the scenery, the movement of the horse, but most of all I’d get satisfaction out of being naughty and sneaking the ride!” I’ll tell you, the galloping horse story kind of surprised me. As someone who’s been riding since about twelve, I never did that. I’d have been too scared to go all-out galloping. Temple was kind of a dare-devil kid!

  Making Things Work

  Temple is all about her projects, and she really gets excitement out of making them work. “Another thing that gave me a thrill was making the dip vat work,” she told me. “Just like they show in the movie, I got really excited over that! Having my design actually work made me very happy. You know, equipment start-ups are stressful; you are starting a new system, like when we started up the center track restrainers, and you wonder if things are going to work. Your responsibility is making things work.” Temple takes that word, “responsibility,” very seriously. There’s no exception to that. She puts her heart and soul into everything she does. Continuing, Temple said, “When things don’t work, you have to sort of figure it out at the spur of the moment, because you have to fix it. I can remember when we made the center track restrainer for adult cattle. The cattle wouldn’t relax. I used a piece of cardboard to block their vision, and they settled down. It’s extremely stressful when you are actually inventing new equipment and you have to make it work. The plant manager expects that it’s going to work perfectly when you first start it up, so he’s throwing a fit when it doesn’t function perfectly in the first fifteen minutes. Yet I’m happy because it is working, and I know we can get it up to full production. When you’re inventing something new, it doesn’t always work perfectly, and you have to figure it out as you go.” Temple went on, “Another interesting thing is going to meat packing plants, looking at all the antiquated equipment there, and figuring out how to build things that work. I really get a thrill out of designing stuff, then figuring out how to make it run!”

  I love this one, and you will too! Temple got all gushy when she said, “Another exciting moment was at the Emmys! That was extremely exciting, wondering who’s going to win; it’s a total secret. I jumped up and then the boom camera came over to me! I was so excited. I tried to keep it in perspective: that it was exhilarating, but that’s not real life. After that, I had to go to a cattle meeting, and there I was on a flight at six in the morning. In the middle seat on the plane I said, ‘Welcome back to the real world!’”

  “In his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, astronaut Mark Hadfield wrote about how he dealt with having gone to the International Space Station and doing a spacewalk, then returning back to Earth to build a deck on the back of the house. He wrote, ‘I get satisfaction in the little things.’ It’s kind of a let-down, but you have to keep it in perspective. Those peak moments in your life are not going to be your real life. But being at the Emmys was a really thrilling moment, anyway! I hugged Emily Gersin Saines really tightly, then I hollered out to Mother, ‘I know you’re really nervous, stand up!’ I had on a black cowboy shirt with studs that my sister gave me, and it’s actually a Ralph ‘La-Rain’, Ralph ‘La-REN’ shirt!” You would love to hear Temple say it, because it’s just grand the way she pronounced it.

  CHAPTER 7

  Getting Bullied & Teased in High School

  Many people are bullied in high school, but it is even more common for those on the autism spectrum. It can be one of the most challenging times of a person’s life. Temple had many great times in high school, and many bad times as well. Read on.

  Temple talked about the point in her life that went from happy to not-so-happy: her high school days. “A big high school wasn’t for me. I was happy up to that point, but that’s when the bullying started. When I was in ninth grade, my reading and writing were at an adult level, and I could do all my elementary school math, but algebra was a problem. I got thrown out of a school.” Pausing, I inquired, “Why did you get thrown out of school?” Temple replied, “For throwing a book at a girl—she called me a retard, so I threw a book at her.” I certainly understood why Temple resorted to throwing a book at that girl. Rightly so! I personally think they should have thrown out that girl, not Temple.

  Temple went on to say this, “When I was a young kid, I was all about projects. I loved to do projects. I got along with other kids because they like doing projects, too, so there was a common interest. Then, when I got into puberty and there were different kinds of emotions, that’s when trouble started for me, because the other kids weren’t interested in making projects anymore. They became interested in other things like clothes, jewelry—things I had no interest in. That’s when all the bullying started. Up until then I never got bullied. When I was in elementary school the teacher explained to the other kids that I had a disability, something that you couldn’t see, like a wheelchair. So, life was good up until puberty, when I turned fourteen.”

  Temple contin
ued, “I then went away to Hampshire County School in Ridge, New Hampshire. I spent the next three years doing horse barn management, carpentry, costume making, and things I liked. I didn’t do any studying until Mr. Carlock came along in my last year. But during those three years I was learning how to work, which is one of the most important things you can learn. I still had to be on time, and attend classes and the dining hall. I was not allowed to become a recluse in my room, absolutely not! Mr. Henry Patey, the headmaster, kept track of me. I had a good roommate there, too. We rode horses together, and talked about horses all the time. We’d do things like decorate those plastic horses and make costumes for them.”

  I asked Temple, “How did you feel about going away to boarding school?” She replied, “When I first went away to boarding school, it wasn’t easy. It was pretty difficult for me in the beginning. Eventually, I got into riding and other things. The day Mother drove me there I was alright about it.” I wondered, “Well, how did you feel as you watched her drive away?” She went on, “Yes, it was difficult getting dropped off there. Like in the movie, I cried a lot, and got into some fights. The school took horseback riding away, but I still had to clean out the stalls.”

  At first, Temple didn’t want to do social activities at the boarding school, like attend movie night. So, here’s what happened next. “Temple,” I said, “I heard that you didn’t want to attend movie night. How did that go?” Temple answered, “Well, they made me be the projectionist; I ran the movie projector. That way I could walk around during the movie. I almost got electrocuted by that projector, because I touched the light switch and the projector at the same time. I was turning the lights off as I turned on the projector, and I got fried across one hand to the other. It was one of those old sixteen-millimeter movie projectors. So, I did get to watch the movie, too, only standing. The reason they put me to work as the projectionist was that they weren’t going to allow me to stay holed up in my room. I had to participate in everything with the other students. It was Mr. Patey who made me do it all. Even though I didn’t study for the first three years, I had to attend the classes, I had to attend the meals, I had to attend chapel, and I was not allowed to be disruptive.”

  “There were definitely some people I was friends with. There were also some bullies—mostly the boys. Pretty much all people on the spectrum were bullied. Steve Jobs was bullied at school, Elon Musk was bullied at school, and then there’s Wozniak. He got bullied.” It doesn’t take much for cause to be a victim of bullying at school. But when you are different, you have waving red flags over your head that say, “bully me!” Myself, and everyone I know and have read about who is different, were bullied in school.

  This made Temple very sad. “One of the things that the other students called me was tape-recorder. I didn’t understand why. But it was because I was always using the same phrases. The only place I wasn’t bullied was where there was a shared interest, like electronics, model rockets, or horses. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting these kids (with autism) involved with those of shared interests.”

  Hormones certainly do put a different spin on things. Temple experienced this in her own way. “I went to a large, all-girls high school. Once puberty hit, that’s when everything changed for me. I was really happy up to that point. But then the girls were no longer interested in projects. They were interested in clothes, fashion, and boys. I had no interest in any of that.” This is typical for females on the autism spectrum. Another problem Temple suffered at puberty was horrendous panic attacks. She discusses how she handled panic attacks in her book, Thinking in Pictures, which I highly recommend.

  Temple continued, “There were no such things as video games back then when I was a kid, and mother restricted the amount of television that we could watch to one hour on weeknights and two hours on the weekend. That was highly restricted. You don’t ban it, I never recommend banning it, but put limits on it.” To all the parents of kids on the spectrum, listen up to this one. You have the power to regulate your child’s time on that machine. Temple and I talk all the time about the kids “addicted” to video games; it should never have gotten to that point. And if it has, then it’s time to make changes. Like Temple said, you don’t just stop it, but put limits on it. Then adhere to them. I also suggest that you only have the computer in an area where you can see what your child is looking at, like in the kitchen, or anywhere nearby where the parent can monitor the kid. Leaving a child on a computer in their room with the door shut is only an invitation for bad choices to be made.

  Temple liked to talk about early learning of life lessons, “When I was seven and eight, I learned a lot. I learned how to save money. I got fifty cents a week for my allowance, and if I wanted a kite and some string, I’d have to save for two weeks. That was an important lesson to learn.”

  The Importance of Mentors

  I asked Temple who her role models were when she was young. “Well, Mother, of course. Then there were other people, Mr. Carlock, and Ann … but I’d rather call them mentors. There was also a good contractor who sought me out to do design work for him, Jim Uhl. And then there were the people out there who did the bad stuff to me, like the ones who put bull testicles on my vehicle, who you saw in the movie. They were the foremen, not the feed lot owners, but the cowboy foremen. They were the same ones who put the metal plate in the dip vat and messed it all up. You know, they didn’t like this nerd girl coming in on their turf.” In the long run, both the good and the bad can all be teachable moments.

  Temple is always logical. “Talking about teachable moments, when I was a kid, manners were a very important thing to be taught. I can remember when I was in second or third grade, the school cafeteria served chocolate ice cream and I licked it like a dog. They picked up my dessert and said, ‘You are not a dog.’ That was all they said. So, I had no dessert that day. Did I throw a fit about that? No, I didn’t. That’s how kids were taught manners back then. I think it’s really bad to not have structured manners these days.”

  Temple feels strongly about bringing back classes at high school that do hands-on projects. “One of the things I really enjoyed at school was jewelry-making class. I had lots of fun making things. We also had class for making costumes! I really enjoyed that, too!”

  Physical activity is a great thing for kids on the autism spectrum. “We had volleyball, and I really liked that. I was pretty decent at that, and even won an award for it.”

  “Temple, you sure were into a lot of physical activity back then,” I stated. She replied, “I was really active when I was young. Now I just do my back strengthening exercises each night for my sciatic nerve, which are stretches and sit-ups. I do one hundred sit-ups every night because they help me sleep. And I hate every one of them!”

  I guess they help me sleep too, as I get tired just thinking of it!

  CHAPTER 8

  Crazy About Horses!

  Everyone saw in the movie Temple Grandin that she was involved with horses while in high school. She first rode horses in her younger days, but it was at the high school boarding school where horses became a big part of her life.

  “So, Temple, what were your favorite things about horses?” I asked. “I really liked riding them, and getting ready for shows,” she told me. “We’d go to little shows, and there was a lot of preparation getting the horse ready for them. I’d go in the equitation classes, where you’re judged how well you ride, so I’d practice that. I also jumped horses over small jumps, only like two-foot-high fences. I had to have just the right saddle, one with forward padded knee rolls, as that kept me from falling off.”

  As you’ve already seen, Temple liked to put on a show! “Tell me about the glitz and glamour side of things,” I piped up. She quickly replied, “Banners and flags! In the Cowgirl Hall of Fame Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is one of my western shirts on display. I didn’t make the shirt, but I did hand-embroider it. That shirt was basically my portfolio. That’s what got me into the Swift Plant; it was the s
hirt I was wearing when I met the wife of the insurance agent who worked for the Swift Plant. At the boarding school, we would have elaborate horse shows at our commencements. I made all kinds of stuff for those events. Also, there at the museum is a serape that I made which went under the saddle, kind of like a banner that hangs down on each side of the horse. I also gave them one of my early Arizona Farmer Ranchman press passes, the one I used to get into the National Cattle Association Meeting. That press pass enabled me to get into meetings that were very expensive, with three-hundred-dollar registration fees. And I was getting into those meetings for free!”

  Temple was at work, getting in the back door of things!

  Photo of Temple’s press pass, courtesy of The Cowgirl Hall of Fame Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

  “Have you ever fallen off a horse, Temple?” I asked. “Once in high school,” she responded, “and later, in my twenties, my aunt bought me a horse named Sizzler. Sizzler would buck when you changed gaits. He was perfect at the walk and trot, but when you’d ask him to canter, he’d start bucking. I fell off him three or four times. It wasn’t any fun when that happened.” But just like everything else, Temple got up, dusted herself off, and got back on the horse.

  “How often did you ride at the boarding school?” I wondered.

  “When I was at the boarding school, we got to ride every afternoon. We didn’t ride much in the winter because it was all snowy. When we couldn’t ride, we skied! But even though I didn’t ride in the winter, I still had to clean the barn. I can remember one year at Christmas when I went home, then came back, I found that no one had cleaned the stalls. The manure was frozen in the stalls, and I had to literally hack it out with a hoe. I was pretty mad. There were eight horses and a donkey, and it took me four hours to get all that frozen manure out!” This surely demonstrates Temple’s sheer will and perseverance. She never quit. Just kept on going.