Animal Expert Discusses Child Autism

Animal behaviorist Temple Grandin, who designed more than one-third of all livestock-handling facilities in the U.S., explained the connection between cows and autism to a packed audience last night in Science Center A.

Grandin, who is professor of animal behavior at Colorado State University, said she attributes her success to her autism.

"I don't think in language; I think in pictures--like a videotape in your head," she said.

According to Grandin, this kind of "sensory thinking," used by many autistic people, is similar to that of cows and other animals. Using this method of thinking, she said, allows her to build better facilities.

For example, she said a Harvard psychologist showed her an experiment in which he asked people to imagine words like "dog," and then words like "impossible."

"Even for something like 'impossible,' I get a picture in my head," said Grandin. She said she imagined herself trying to jump on top of William James Hall from the sidewalk.

Grandin says she is similar to animals in other ways.

"I sort of have the nervous system of a prey species animal," she said. "I know what it's like to have a vigilant nervous system."

Grandin said her sensory gifts also help her in engineering. She can design and modify complex objects, such as feedlots, in her head--a skill shared by many autistic people.

Grandin also spoke about autism in childhood development, calling for improvements in the way autistic children are nurtured.

Grandin said that "squeeze machines"--large devices that surround a person with gentle pressure--can help reduce anxiety in autistic children so that they can enjoy human contact. Grandin invented the first such machine as a teenager.

"We need to work on desensitizing autistic kids so they can be held," she said.

She added that autistic children should be encouraged to develop their special talents, rather than to learn "language thinking" like non-autistic children do.

"There is starting to be evidence that language may mask art talent." Grandin said. "We need to be building up on these talents. We give too much attention to deficits [in autistic children] and not enough to talents."

Grandin also described the ways in which her emotional life resembles that of animals.

"You know how a dog can be very angry one minute and the next minute it's wagging its tail? That's how my emotions are," Grandin said. "I've made my life intellectually complex, but not emotionally complex."

Jennifer C. Kuhn '01, a cognitive neuroscience concentrator who introduced the speaker, said that Grandin's experiences are significant because she turned a weakness into a strength.

"She capitalizes on her disability by

using her unusual skills," Kuhn said. "Temple Grandin is at the forefront of understanding autistic thought."

Grandin said that her autism has not harmed her career, but that she has encountered sexism along the way.

As an example, she cited a time when, as an undergraduate at Franklin Pierce University, she spoke with former Harvard Professor of Psychology B. F. Skinner in William James Hall.

"I went up to his office. He starts touching my leg. I said, 'You may look at them, but you may not touch them,'" she said.

Members of the audience--which included many psychologists and parents of autistic children--said they appreciated Grandin's personal account of autism.

"It was fun to hear someone else's life," said audience member Kenneth A. Woodin, who is also autistic. "I hope someday I'm that good."

"I really enjoyed hearing her," said Kyla L. Christenson-Szalanski '03. "It was a different kind of experience to hear about it from someone who actually had autism herself."

The speech was sponsored by Encouraging Mankind to Perceive Others With Equal Respect (EMPOWER), The Harvard Foundation, the Ann Radcliffe Trust, and the Radcliffe Union of Students.