Temple Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 29, 1947. She graduated with a doctorate in animal science from Arizona State University and the University of Illinois. She now teaches at Colorado State University.
She used her experiences with sensory issues to create systems to counter stress in humans and farm animals. One of these systems was the squeeze machine. The squeeze machine is a device meant to administer pressure evenly throughout the human body. It was based on cattle chutes that Grandin saw at her aunt’s farm.
She also wrote five books, four of them about autism advocacy and one about animal science. She was the first to document a first-person perspective on autism. Grandin´s work with autism advocacy has changed how the disorder is seen, from an incurable curse to a difference in brain structure. She has had several pieces of media made about her.
