Greene County News Report
BEAVERCREEK — Nationally acclaimed author and speaker Dr. Temple Grandin will speak about her experience with autism 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 at Beavercreek High School Alumni Auditorium, 2660 Dayton-Xenia Road.
The free event is sponsored by Beavercreek City Schools in conjunction with communication class. It is open to the public – no ticket necessary. Books will be available for sale and signing after the event.
Dr. Grandin didn’t talk until she was 3 1/2 years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping and humming. In 1950, she was diagnosed with autism and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. She tells her story of “groping her way from the far side of darkness” in her book Emergence: Labeled Autistic, a book which stunned the world because, until its publication, most professionals and parents assumed that an autism diagnosis was virtually a death sentence to achievement or productivity in life.
Dr. Grandin has become a prominent author and speaker on the subject of autism because “This dictum has meant sad and sorry lives for many children diagnosed, as I was in early life, as autistic. To these people, it is incomprehensible that the characteristics of autism can be modified and controlled. However, I feel strongly that I am living proof that they can.”
Even though she was considered “weird” in her young school years, she eventually found a mentor, who recognized her interests and abilities. Dr. Grandin later developed her talents into a successful career as a livestock-handling equipment designer, one of very few in the world. She has now designed the facilities in which half the cattle are handled in the United States, consulting for firms such as Burger King, McDonald’s, Swift, and others.
Temple Grandin Ph.D., is now the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. Her life, with all its challenges and successes has been brought to the screen. She has been featured on National Public Radio and major television programs.
Dr. Grandin presently works as a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She also speaks around the world on both autism and cattle handling. Her current bestselling book on autism is The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger’s.
Doors open at 6 p.m. at the high school.
