Temple Grandin

A trailblazer in autism advocacy and a world-renowned animal behaviorist, Temple Grandin shares her insights on embracing and learning differences, and how animal behavior can help us solve human problems.

Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare. Her life story was made into the Emmy-winning HBO movie Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes. 

As a child, Temple was labeled as having brain damage due to her different mental development and special needs. Her mother worked to create a safe and encouraging space for her daughter, along with teachers and special needs experts. Grandin’s mother concluded that her daughter was autistic, although she was not formally diagnosed until well into adulthood. Today, via books, speeches, and her website, Grandin helps the world better understand autism. 

When Temple was in high school, she spent time at an aunt’s cattle ranch and forged what would be a lifetime connection with bovines. The experience inspired her to create the “hug box,” also referred to as a squeeze box, that has become instrumental in helping people with autism as a stress-relieving device. She was inspired by how cattle were calmed down in a squeeze chute using pressure. For decades, Temple has worked to make livestock handling more humane, implementing welfare animal programs for businesses such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Whole Foods. 

Books & Movies

Interested in placing an order for books or videos by this speaker for your event? Please contact us for more information or to process your order.

Order