Temple Grandin is a renowned innovator whose lifelong work and advocacy have shed light on the beauty and potential of every brain, regardless of neurological differences. Her insights into animal behavior, autism, and education have had a profound impact on many industries and have opened doors for countless individuals who may have otherwise gone unrecognized. Her new book applies to 40% of our population: people whose creative minds are going unsupported. Listen in and see if you may be one of those folks.
00:00
Preview
50:23
Intro & Welcome
03:51
People Think in Different Ways

Brains can either be more cognitive / thinking or social / emotional

Autism diagnoses range from someone like Einstein who couldn’t speak till age 3 to someone who is epileptic and can’t dress themselves but they’re all labelled autistic—this affects the perception of autistic people and their ability to contribute to society

Autistic minds can be seen as visual thinkers

Standard requirements such as algebra may inadvertently screen visual thinkers out as object visualizers may not be able to do abstract math 

Abstract math may not be as important in disciplines such as designing mechanical equipment


06:15 
Education

Education seems to favour one way of thinking and not nurture the others

Some people think in words (verbally) some think in patterns and are visual spatial such as mathematicians, some are object visualizers and think in pictures, and some people are a mixture 

The education system is being taken over by verbal thinkers and this affects the opportunities for other types of minds

Temple is an extreme object visualizer as are many of her peers who build equipment

Draconian alpha requirements in education will screen out visual thinkers

Because different minds have complimentary skills, pairing different minds on work teams will create better outcomes


08:40 
Autistic Success

Steve Jobs may have been mildly autistic and it shows in the simplicity of the user experience in the iPhone’s design

Algebra requirements in education in some states work against visual minds and can negatively affect industrial design

Some of the best and most successful equipment inventors & manufacturers did not graduate college or high school

College graduates who are not visual thinkers may miss important details in design and need the input of different minds

Mathematicians calculate risk but visual thinkers can see risk
15:07
Cattle Industry

Visual thinkers have the ability to ‘snap pictures’ and ‘take video clips’ in their mind and this helps them make sense of complicated systems such as factory floors, beef plants and cattle farms

Visual thinkers also notice what might seem to be minor details that other minds may miss


16:55 
Break
18:42
Dr. Grandin

PhD in animal science 

First research she did was looking at what cattle are seeing. If you think verbally you won't think about what cattle are seeing. 

Looked at providing pigs with things to enrich their environment. Pigs prefer soft objects that they can destroy—this has been replicated in may pig farming

When Temple looked at cattle she started by identifying what the cattle would see. Verbal thinkers wouldn’t take this approach

Good handling of animals leads to better quality meat so designing systems that are best for animals matters
27:08
Autism in Society

How did society get to the point of screening out visual thinkers?

This may have been inadvertent as verbal & logical thinkers may not have known that visual thinkers existed

This has led to several manufacturing and design jobs moving to countries such as Holland & Dubai

“Special ed” kids are not allowed to take shop in some schools which further screens them out from opportunities

Several clever engineers grew up without access to tools because of this

Shop might be the best class for them to take as car mechanics are one of the best ways to get kids off of video games 

Temple did not speak until she was 3-4 years o