Temple Grandin was born in 1947, and is the oldest of four children born to the Grandins. She was diagnosed as "brain damaged" at the age of two. Temple did not like to be held or touched and could not effectively communicate until the age of four. As a child, Temple's mother was often blamed for her difficulties.
In an interview Temple was asked what it was like being unable to communicate and she recounts a memory. " I remember not wanting to wear a hat. So I screamed and threw it on the floor of the car, and mother said, "Put it back on." So I screamed and chucked it out the window." Reflecting on this, Grandin says that "Not being able to communicate is a tremendous frustration."
Later, Grandin credits her speech therapist as "the most important professional in my life...Because she got me talking. She started working on me when I was 2 and a half years old, and then when I was 3, my mother hired a nanny who spent hours doing lots of little kids' turn-taking games. I can remember, after lunch, I had a rest period when I could revert to autism, and I would pick the fuzz off the rug and eat it, and dribble sand through my hands -- I can remember just getting hypnotized doing this. If I had been allowed to do that all day, I wouldn't be here now."
In an interview Temple was asked what it was like being unable to communicate and she recounts a memory. " I remember not wanting to wear a hat. So I screamed and threw it on the floor of the car, and mother said, "Put it back on." So I screamed and chucked it out the window." Reflecting on this, Grandin says that "Not being able to communicate is a tremendous frustration."
Later, Grandin credits her speech therapist as "the most important professional in my life...Because she got me talking. She started working on me when I was 2 and a half years old, and then when I was 3, my mother hired a nanny who spent hours doing lots of little kids' turn-taking games. I can remember, after lunch, I had a rest period when I could revert to autism, and I would pick the fuzz off the rug and eat it, and dribble sand through my hands -- I can remember just getting hypnotized doing this. If I had been allowed to do that all day, I wouldn't be here now."