Exploring Temple Grandin's Brain

The world's most famous person with autism uses her unusual cognitive abilities to reduce animal suffering

By Kat McGowan
Mar 13, 2013 12:00 AMOct 24, 2019 7:30 PM
temple-grandin
Temple Grandin, professor at Colorado State University and autistic savant, used her unusual abilities to improve the tools of livestock farming. Rosalie Winard

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Animal scientist Temple Grandin has an extraordinary mind. Probably the world’s most famous person with autism, she designed widely used livestock handling systems to reduce animal suffering. She is not just autistic but an autistic savant, meaning that she has unusual cognitive abilities, such as a photographic memory and excellent spatial skills. She “thinks in pictures,” she says, helping her understand what animals perceive.

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