Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Michael Bishoff
Chesapeake College
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER2
Abstract
This paper explores Autism Spectrum Disorders and how Autism is portrayed in the film Temple
Grandin. In the film, Temple is autistic and her inability to effectively understand and express
emotions and her abnormal behaviors impacts her life in a multitude of ways. Her ability to
visualize and remember things in great detail plays a significant role in her success. The
assumption that autistic people are not as intelligent and cannot be self-sufficient is shown in the
film and this paper provides evidence that disagrees with that assumption.
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER3
Explanation of Issues
Autism Spectrum Disorders are a group of five complex brain-based disorders. The five
Autism Spectrum Disorders are; Pervasive Developmental Delay - Not Otherwise Specified
Disorder. The Centers for Disease Control describes ASDs as: "developmental disabilities that
cause substantial impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of
unusual behaviors and interests. Many people with ASDs also have unusual ways of learning,
paying attention, and reacting to different sensations. The thinking and learning abilities of
people with ASDs can varyfrom gifted to severely challenged. An ASD begins before the age
of 3 and lasts throughout a person's life". While scientists arent positive as to what causes
ASDs, a lot of research points to it being a genetic based condition. (Foundation, 2014)
Children affected by ASDs are likely to each have a unique pattern of behavior, which
may make it difficult to determine the severity of the disorder. Some behaviors that may be
associated with ASDs are; failing to respond to their name, resisting to being held, preferring to
play alone, delayed or lack of speech, speaking with an abnormal tone, not able to express
emotions and unaware of others feelings, performing repetitive behaviors, following specific
routines, and having odd food preferences like eating only foods with a specific texture (Autism
Spectrum Disorder, 2014). In the film Temple Grandin, viewers see several of these symptoms
in Temple. For example, when Temple was young, she wouldnt speak at all and wouldnt
respond when her mother called her name. Throughout most of the film she also doesnt liked to
be touched or hugged, and would pull away quickly. She spoke in an abnormal tone and at first
had trouble understanding her own and other peoples emotions. Temple also showed repetitive
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER4
behaviors, like spinning around in circles and being held by her squeeze machine. She had an
odd preference for foods, only eating smooth viscous foods like Jell-O and yogurt. Overall, the
film portrayed Temple with a lot of the behaviors associated with ASD.
Evidence
Temples behavior impacted her life in many ways. Her trouble expressing and
understanding emotions, abnormal tone, and repetitive behaviors caused her to receive a lot of
negative attention which led people to not taking her seriously. The first school she attended was
a good example of this because people would often laugh and make fun of her and her professor
didnt take her research on the effects of people being in her squeeze machine seriously. Later
when Temple started to do work and research at a slaughterhouse, the owner treated her as if she
was unintelligent and refused to allow her to do research on the cows there.
Temple was also very good at memorizing and visualizing things, but lacked the ability
to understand abstract ideas. In the film, this is portrayed in a few ways. Temple usually did
poorly in classes focused on abstract ideas, like algebra and foreign languages, while she
excelled at things like building stuff and recreating an illusion that created a distorted
perspective. Another example is that Temple could recall specific instances of a word, like when
someone in the film mentioned shoes she visualized all of the shoes she had seen rather than a
generic pair. Her ability to visualize things impacted her life in a positive way, and gave her a
perspective that no one else shared. She was able to visualize what the cows saw, which helped
her make a design for slaughter houses in which the cows would behave calmly and were easier
to guide.
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER5
Assumptions
Near the end of the film, Temple and her mother attends an autism convention. A lot of
the audience asks questions about autism in which the speaker cannot answer. Temple decides to
stand up and talk about autism, which leads someone to asking if she had an autistic child. When
she answers no, most people start to disregard what she said and do not think that she is autistic.
When she announces that she is autistic, people start to ask her a lot of questions and how she
was cured. This part of the film shows that the audience generally assumes that autistic people
Temple Grandin in both the film and real life shows that this assumption isnt true.
Research shows that 46% of all children diagnosed with ASDs are average to above average in
regards to intellectual ability (Centers for Disease Control, 2014). It has also been argued that IQ
tests arent representative of a child diagnosed with ASD intelligence. Some of these children
may struggle with IQ tests if they are non-verbal or do not respond well to pen and paper tests.
For example, non-verbal children who scored low on the verbal portion of IQ tests may score
average or above average on spatial intelligence tests (Rudacille, 2011). Looking throughout
history, there have also been famous successful people who are thought to have had ASD. Some
of these are; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Lewis Carroll, and
Students Position
After watching the film Temple Grandin, my perception on ASD has changed
significantly. Previously, I had never thought about the way autistic people think. Watching the
film gave me insight on the perspective of autistic people who excel at visualizing. Seeing how
Temple was able to memorize the smallest, most unimportant details with extreme clarity made
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER6
me realize that while autistic people may lack skills in certain areas, they may excel in other
areas. The film also showed me how people with ASDs may be treated by others. Throughout the
film, I witnessed how people looked down upon Temple and disregarded her ideas. While Ive
always known that people will pick on those they perceive as weak, it was disheartening to see
Temple as a target for abuse and bullying just because she was a little different. The film has
changed my outlook on ASDs, and helped me understand life through their perspective.
Temples autism may be a disorder, but that doesnt mean nothing good came from it.
Being autistic has helped Temple excel at visualizing things. The way she was able to notice and
memorize the smallest details gave her a perspective that no one else around her shared. This
allowed her to succeed by visualizing what the cows saw when going through different areas,
like the chains, clothes, and people. Being able to understand what they saw allowed her to
design a system which was more humane and made the cows move willingly. She was then
recognized for her design, and many places actually implemented it. The actual Temple Grandin
has written several books, and often gives public speeches about Autism. She is an example that
while people with ASD may think differently, they are not unintelligent and can accomplish
amazing things.
TEMPLE GRANDIN AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER7
References
Armstrong, J. (n.d.). 5 Famous Autistic People Throughout History. Retrieved from Autism
people-throughout-history-3543522
Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2014, June 03). Retrieved from Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-
disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20021148
Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2014, March 24). Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and
Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism
Rudacille, D. (2011, January 6). IQ scores not a good measure of function in autism. Retrieved