Posted by By: Heather Fleck
Dr. Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University in animal behavior, came to Coe on September 23, 2021 to give a talk titled, “The World Needs All Minds.” Dr. Grandin is also an autism advocate in addition to being a animal behavior professor at Colorado State University and she travels around the world giving presentations on the topics she is passionate and knowledgeable about.
Dr. Sara Farrell welcomed everyone to the talk with Dr. Grandin and told everyone that her presentation is the first of two Marquis series events this semester, the second being in November. More information can be found online. Dr. Randy Christensen then had the pleasure of introducing Dr. Temple Grandin to the audience after spending the day with her.
Dr. Grandin began asking us about Elon Musk and talking about Autism which segways nicely into her presentation that she gave in Sinclair. Growing up Dr. Grandin shared with us that she had all sorts of different jobs – from sewing to cleaning horse stalls to roofing and working in a research lab – she dipped her toes into a lot of different things. She really found her interest in working with animals when she worked on her aunt’s ranch when she was up close and personal with the animals. She emphasised finding back door jobs and getting a job early because that is where you learn a lot, by doing things hands on.
A little bit later on in her presentation she gave some important tips for working with different minds: never overload working memory, provide a pilot’s checklist with multiple steps, and stretch them slightly outside their comfort zone. She went into a little more detail about each of these as she gave examples, many from her own life and own experiences over the years.
Dr. Grandin’s presentation overall was spectacular and the Coe community was very thankful to have her on campus. We were fortunate enough to have book signings prior to her talk as well as after her talk and many Kohawks and those that attended were able to meet Dr. Grandin in person.