HBO movie about Temple Grandin

[LoveHistory]

Hi everybody. I don't get HBO so if anybody has it and watches this, could you please let me know what you think of it?

It airs this Saturday night. Claire Danes stars in it.

Temple Grandin is an internationally known animal expert, author, and high-functioning autistic. She invented the concept of the squeeze machine used for calming autistic sensory anxiety.

[parthianbow]

Wow - I'd love to see that! She's an amazing woman, who thanks to her autism, has been able to design changes in animals' environments so that they are less stressed by what's going on around them. For example, more than 70% of the chutes and races leading into slaughterhouses for cattle in the USA are now built according to her design. Cattle just walk calmly into them, instead of being terrified by the older ones. It's quite extraordinary that someone with a 'medical' condition can have such a beneficial effect on animal welfare.

[LoveHistory]

The autistic brain is wired differently, and reacts similarly to the way an animal's brain would. She can see things that most humans miss but animals will pick up on.

I've read Thinking in Pictures, one of the books the movie is based on and Animals in Translation. I'm planning to buy a bunch more of her books for my boys, though I'm the one who'll be reading them.

[MLE]

As long as we're at it, let's hear it for corporate responsibility. The reason Temple Grandin's humane designs are now used so widely is that McDonald's will not buy any meat unless it was processed in a slaughterhouse approved by Grandin. (Since corporations are always made to be the bad guy, I thought I'd throw in this example of how they can also effect social change.)

[parthianbow]

Well, I never thought I'd say it, but good for McDonald's on that one!

[Madeleine]

Am I right though in assuming that it's not the case for abattoirs outside the US?

[parthianbow]

You are, Madeleine. To my knowledge, Grandin's design is rare outside the US, which is a great shame. No doubt the main reason it's so prevalent in the US is thanks to McD's, which is remarkable (and scary that they have so much influence) in itself. Yet, as I read in an article the other day, more than 80% of the USA's meat comes from just 5 producers. Euuugghhhh.

We're going off thread now, and into animal welfare issues. On that note, I would say as a veterinarian that although I think it's a shame that Grandin's chutes aren't used in Europe, the welfare issues surrounding the production of pork, fish, and particularly chicken are of more concern than those of beef (and lamb). Cattle and sheep have a pretty good life, living outdoors for much of the time, until they are slaughtered. On the other hand, most pigs, fish and chickens/hens have an awful existence right up until the moment of death. It's a bizarre and typical manifestation of today's mixed up society that people are eating more and more fish and chicken because they're 'healthy', thereby adding to the enormous welfare problems in the industries concerned.

But of course as long as most people can buy 2 grossly deformed 'chickens' for £5 in the supermarket, they don't care. (In the USA, it's mostly breast meat that's sold, so people don't even see the meat as coming from a live creature once.) It doesn't matter that these creatures, which have been reared in as little as 49 days from the egg, can barely walk by the time they're ready to kill, or that they never see day light, or that they suffer huge rates of disease due to the stocking density they're kept in...it's all just about cheap food :mad::mad::mad:
There endeth the lesson.

[MLE]

The reason for that, Parthianbow, is that raising cattle and sheep (at least here in the US) are what I call 'lifestyle industries' -- not that different from raising horses or llamas. By that I mean they really aren't profitable from the ground up; people who already have the land resources do it because they are willing to make less than minimum wage working their tails off, and usually that of their families, for the lifestyle of working the land. It also usually requires income from another job on the part of at least one family member, unless there has been an inheritance or other cash influx to cover the equipment /land /stock.

Chickens, fish farming, and pigs, on the other hand, can actually be profitable from the ground up, but only if every possible measure is taken to cut costs. And I might point out that there is no 'lifestyle' associated with intensively raised pork or poultry. It's just hard, nasty work, and a lot of risk.

[parthianbow]

Hi MLE. Thanks for your reply, which I'm not sure I understand. What are you getting at, exactly?
You state 'The reason for that' - what exactly?
The reason that 80% of the meat in the USA comes from only 5 producers?
(By producers I meant slaughterhouse companies, not ranchers/farmers.)

That wasn't a criticism of ranchers. I know exactly how hard it is to make a living as a beef or sheep farmer - I worked in large animal practice for over 5 years in Ireland.

[Leyland]

I watched the docudrama last night and was amazed by this production. I thought the style used to represent Temple's visual thinking and mental designing/problem solving was outstanding. This is the meat of her story and I'm glad so much of the script was devoted to it. There is some drama regarding her family and the way she was bullied and laughed at by school mates and stock yard workers, but these incidents supported what this brilliant thinker was able to accomplish given her limitations due to autism.

Definitely worth at least one viewing, but I'm sure I'll watch it again. I'm not much of Claire Danes fan at all, but wow! She is superb and this is so different from anything I've seen her take on.

[LoveHistory]

Hi MLE. Thanks for your reply, which I'm not sure I understand. What are you getting at, exactly?
You state 'The reason for that' - what exactly?
The reason that 80% of the meat in the USA comes from only 5 producers?
(By producers I meant slaughterhouse companies, not ranchers/farmers.)

That wasn't a criticism of ranchers. I know exactly how hard it is to make a living as a beef or sheep farmer - I worked in large animal practice for over 5 years in Ireland.

That would be the reason why the beef and sheep industries aren't creating the same horrible conditions that the chicken, pig, etc industries are.

I raised pigs once, but mine were happy pigs who played in mud and ate fresh grass and listened to singing. We didn't confine them and despite never using farrowing crates we rarely lost a piglet.

I'm not as much into chickens, they aren't as friendly, but I was raised to believe that fresh air and sunshine are essential for animals. It's not just a quality of life issue either. Stressed animals do not put on weight well.

Cheaper isn't always better.

P.S. I wanted to argue the point of American's not thinking that poultry breasts come from animals, but then I remembered the story of the man who called his son's school to complain after a field trip to a dairy farm. He was upset because they told his son that milk comes from cows when everyone knows it comes from the grocery store. :o

[LoveHistory]

Thanks for the review Leyland. I'm not a huge Claire Danes fan either, but I think she may have really tapped into her talent this time. I have Thinking in Pictures, and I'm thinking of getting the other book this was based on (as well as pretty much everything Temple Grandin has written about autism).

I spent the last week trying to find someone to record it for me. Don't know if I succeeded.

[nona]

I watched it also and agree it was very good and helped people see what it is like to live with autism, I have a nephew whos aspbergers (sp?) and he has showed me who's new to it how it can challenge any person. he has a special teacher, special doctor, special everything really, he can't just go to the denist/doctor, he has to have a 'calmer' before they can even get him ready. He will only drink out of purple cups with lids, only eat chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes, occasionally pizza but cheese only! and watches nothing but Walt Disney or Pixar movies.

Granted he's far worse then Temple but it still let a person see how it can be.

[LoveHistory]

My Aspie is a picky eater as well. We're working on gradually broadening his food horizons.

[nona]

When Ronnie and I were dating he told me about Joel, autisc nephew, and I guess it never sank in till I met him. He is sweet and kind in a very child like way always wanting me to rub his hands and feet but I never understood the food dislikes and likesuntill his teacher once told me it was a texture thing, each food had it's own texture and degree of tempature to it in Joels mind so he stayed away from the rough hot things. It makes sense when I think about it. He's fifteen and still as picky as ever, with his medication they have to watch what he eats though.

[parthianbow]

It's taking this off thread, so I'm opening a new one called 'Food, Inc.'

[nona]

Sorry. My husband didn't watch Temple with me but it watched it yesterday afternoon and he really liked it too. He couldn't hardly believe Claire Danes was playing Temple but said she did a great job.

[LoveHistory]

I found someone who managed to tape it for me. Watched it over the last two days. I thought it was amazing.

After we finished it last night my husband said "wouldn't it be great if Temple Grandin could meet our kids?" He figures she could probably tell us which sensory things we're missing.

[fljustice]

I realize this thread is a couple of months old, but I just joined the group and ran across it. Hope nobody minds my adding my two cents worth.

We have an Aspie daughter who went to a special school and is now a first year in college - living away from home. When Ms. Danes was studying for the role of Temple Grandin, her movement coach asked a friend of ours (who also has an Aspie daughter) if she could visit with the girls. It was a delightful brunch and I think Claire got an eye and earful. Every now and then when we were watching the show, a movement or tone of voice would cause one of us to squeal, "She's channeling J.!" The girls also got acknowledged in the credits - more thrilling for my news producer hubby than for our daughter.

Temple Grandin is a remarkable woman and a true hero in the Autistic community. Her mother is going to talk at my daughter's old HS in June. If anyone is in the New York City area and wants details, let me know.

LoveHistory - my daughter grew out of her picky eating phase with a lot of work from us. Thank the gods for the blender! She didn't like "food in her food" so all soups, stews, and salads got pureed. Eventually she got used to textures and is now an adventurous eater. I used to joke that you knew she was a true New York kid because when someone asked her what her favorite food was, instead of the standard pizza or hamburger she would say "Thai!" She also wore her underwear and socks inside out because the seams irritated her. Sensory issues do get better.

Good luck with your kids!

[LoveHistory]

Thanks Faith. Some days it really is an uphill battle. We're the only people we know with three kids on the spectrum. Their NT little sister is a ray of sunshine for everybody. The boys just love her!

[LoveHistory]

Temple Grandin was nominated for a staggering 15 Emmys. Including nominations for Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, Catherine O'Hara, and David Strathairn.

[fljustice]

Temple Grandin was nominated for a staggering 15 Emmys.

Well deserved! We went to hear her mother speak - a remarkable woman. Temple's dad doesn't show up in the film other than to be referred to as "a busy man." There's a reason - he evidently was pretty monstrous, wanted to have Temple institutionalized and, at one point, almost succeeded in getting his wife put away. Something that was more common back then when a woman could be committed on the say so of her husband and a psychiatrist.:mad: