«Return to News ListingDr. Temple Grandin Visits NMCTR!
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Photo Credit: Will Funston
June 19, 2019 –
Dr. Temple Grandin did not talk until she was three and a half years old. She was fortunate to get early speech therapy. Her teachers also taught her how to wait and take turns when playing board games. She was mainstreamed into a normal kindergarten at age five. Dr. Grandin became a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior. Today, she is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She also has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare. She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) and a BBC Special – “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow”. She has also appeared on National TV shows such as Larry King Live, 20/20, Sixty Minutes, Fox and Friends, and she has a 2010 TED talk. Articles about Dr. Grandin have appeared in Time Magazine, New York Times, Discover Magazine, Forbes and USA Today. HBO made an Emmy Award winning movie about her life and she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016. When she was young, she was considered weird and teased and bullied in high school. The only place she had friends was activities where there was a shared interest such as horses, electronics, or model rockets.
On June 6th, 2019, Dr. Temple Grandin visited NMCTR during a therapeutic riding lesson in the indoor arena at Hipico Santa Fe. The therapeutic riding lesson started with warmups and explanation of the lessons objectives. Dr. Grandin sat on the bleachers with all of NMCTR’s friends and family, answering questions and even inquired about letting the riders in the lesson be more independent. Dr. Grandin continued to express her view that the society needs to “stretch our children”, let them learn and stop sheltering them. After the lesson was completed, Dr. Grandin offered to have a Q&A. There were many good questions and Dr. Grandin continued to express her view that all children need to opportunity to get outside, use their hands, find their desired skilled trait. She encourages the society to get wood shop, art, and such classes back into the schools. How? Dr. Grandin suggested to start with one school at a time and when you succeed, write about it. The entire community needs to know about the benefits of children learning and pursing skilled traits. After the Q&A, Dr. Grandin signed books and took time for pictures.
NMCTR sends a special thank you to Dr. Temple Grandin for taking time out her day to visit the therapeutic riding center, encouraging our riders to succeed, and answers questions from our friends and family. NMCTR would also like to thank the Friends of the Santa Fe Library for hosting Dr. Temple Grandin and arranging her visit to NMCTR.
