International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, and we thought we would celebrate by giving a shout-out to the multitalented and brilliant Temple Grandin.

Temple Grandin is known around the world for a variety of reasons. She is a best-selling author and a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She has made many contributions to the livestock industry, designing new systems and equipment which have improved animal welfare and been widely adopted.

She is also on the autistic spectrum, and has done a huge amount of work to spread awareness about autism, and the steps that can be taken to support children and young people with autism to achieve their full potential. She is a passionate advocate of early intervention, as she, herself, did not speak until she was three and a half years old. Despite this, and with the help of speech and language therapists and other professionals, she grew to be one of the most prominent public voices for people with autism.

She has spoken often about the fact that her autism has, in her view, helped her to excel in the pursuits she has chosen in life, and given her a different perspective. In her words, ‘If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.’ She is a strong supporter of helping children and young people with autism to pursue and develop the skills and interests that are most engaging to them, and believes that it is in doing this that we can best aid them in leading fulfilling and satisfied lives.

Here at Branch Out Together, we strive to give the children and young people we support the space and resources to grow and develop into the best version of themselves that they can. As Temple says, ‘the world needs all types of minds’.