SuitabookTemple Grandin
Sy Montgomery
- Reading
- Read alongside the photographs and drawings, pausing to explain unfamiliar ideas about autism, animal welfare and factory farming.
- Themes
- Autism and identity: Temple’s diagnosis, communication, sensory experience and visual thinking are presented as important parts of her life and work. The book presents autism as involving real obstacles while also foregrounding Grandin’s view that it contributes something valuable to her life.
- Support and opportunity: Temple’s mother, teachers, schools and other people are described as influencing whether her abilities were recognised and developed. Supportive relationships and educational opportunities are treated as significant contributors to her development and achievements.
- Animal welfare and food production: Temple’s scientific career includes designing livestock facilities intended to reduce fear and suffering, alongside discussion of ranching and slaughterhouse practices. The book clearly supports humane treatment of livestock, while its wider treatment of food production and competing views is less clear.
- Worth knowing
- The book also discusses autism, communication, sensory experience and institutionalisation, so a parent may wish to preview those sections.