Just finished watching this movie and I will admit, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to, or not.

I’m always very sensative about watching shows or movies that talk about or portray autistic people, because I’m not sure if they will set right with me or not.  I think it’s because of Autism being such a wide spectrum disorder and one person’s autism is not like another’s.   It’s one unique challenge that is so wide and varied in it’s outward appearance.

That being said… I really liked the movie!  I thought it was very well done, very sensative to Temple and her biography, yet still entertaining and not focused ONLY on her uniqueness, but rather on her whole life story, which I find very encouraging, especially in light of my own daughter and her difficult struggle ahead.

Biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who overcame the limitations imposed on her by her condition to become an expert in the field of animal husbandry. She developed an interest in cattle early in life while spending time at her Aunt and Uncle’s ranch. She did not speak until age four and had difficulty right through high school, mostly in dealing with people. Her mother was very supportive as were some of her teachers. She is noted for creating her ‘hug box’, widely recognized today as a way of relieving stress and her humane design for the treatment of cattle in processing plants, even winning an award from PETA. Today, she is a professor at Colorado State University.

I’m happy that Maggie is not quite as affected as Temple was or is, but yet many of the outward tendenacies that she has in the show, Maggie has had to deal with.   The spinning, or doing “stimming” situations such as rocking or tapping, even clicking a pen, that was something that Maggie did very much as a child, but she is less prone to do that as much now.  At least publicly.  I would love to see if the squeeze machine would feel good for her, I think I would like to feel it as well!  (But I love hugs, still, it would be nice to have hugs when YOU want them instead of always waiting around for others! )

I’m currently reading two of her books…   one about Autism called  “Thinking in Pictures” and the other about animals called  “Animals make us Human”.   Already, the animal book has made me rethink some things about dogs and cats that I would have debated were God’s truth, and now I feel less sure about defending them!  That is how powerfully Grandin write about animals.  Very remarkable.

I would like to think that homeschooling helped to save Maggie from a lot more distress at the social and physical overstimulation of a loud noisy school, peer pressure and bullying as well as a educational program that really was not very challenging.  It has allowed her a chance to grow into herself, to learn to deal with the challenges at hand and to be held safely in a loving and encouraging environment.  Maybe she was sheltered a bit, but I think in the end, I would have rather had that, then to have her revert back further into herself, and to not have the time to mature and accept things and learn methods and routines to overcome them.  It’s a good thing… and this movie is a great experience as well!   Check it out sometime!!!