The Bellwether, April 1, 2023

mechanical work, art design, and problem-solving; then there are the mathematicians who often become computer programmers, chemists, and physicists; and lately the word thinkers or verbal people who become writers, editors, teachers, and pursue other careers that use highly-verbal skills. Explaining this to educators and business leaders, she hopes, will change the way that different thinkers are educated and the way the work world sees them. During Autism Awareness Month in 2023, Grandin hopes that individuals and employers will be inspired by the success of the thriving mom-and-pop shops that were started to provide employment for family members, and community members, with autism and other special needs.

everything you told us to do and my son has a great job, a family, and recently bought a house. Thank you so much! That makes my day. “I’m 75 years old; 10 years past retirement, so I am not out in the factories and construction sites like I was in the 80s and 90s. This is what my job is now." Another highlight of Dr. Grandin’s life was having her story turned into a 2010 five-time Emmy-Award- winning HBO movie starring Claire Danes. Dr. Grandin was extremely involved in the project and gave it a favorable review for accuracy, especially when it came the visual thinking and her projects — something extremely important to all aspects of her life’s work. The fact that the movie still resonates with viewers more than a dozen years later is another example of Dr. Grandin’s extraordinary reach and further proof that one person can continue to make her mark on the world.

What was her contribution to the HBO film? “I made sure that the cattle and the machinery I designed for the cattle were shown accurately, and what I really loved was that it accurately showed my visual thinking. I loved the fact that they built replicas of my projects from my original drawings,” she recalled. “My mother, my science teacher, Mr. Carlock, and my college roommate, Ann, were also shown accurately.” Her latest bestselling book, Visual Thinking : The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions, (Riverhead Books), reveals, celebrates, and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers, who share many common traits with Dr. Grandin. She highlights the fact that there are three major types of thinkers: Visual thinkers like Temple Grandin, who see the world in pictures, but are often bad at Algebra but great at

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