Well-known author Temple Grandin visits Meridian Mall's autism museum
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MERIDIAN TWP. – It’s not every day a well-known author, who has a statue on a university campus and who’s had a movie made about her, visits Meridian Mall.
But on Friday, Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin, 74, who is the subject of the 2010 TV biopic “Temple Grandin” and has autism, visited the mall and Xavier DeGroat’s autism history museum.
As she looked around the museum, taking in the “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” inspired sensory activity area and an autism history timeline, she said one of the most important things is the photos of celebrities who have autism on the wall, people such as Anthony Hopkins, Greta Thunberg and Elon Musk.
It shows people who are on the autism spectrum can do great things.
“I want to see the kids that are different get out there and be successful,” she said.
Grandin was visiting the mall as a speaker for a museum dinner/gala. The event included a Launch trampoline park sensory-friendly time, a book signing and a VIP meet and greet.
While Grandin is in the Lansing area she also planned to speak about animal welfare at a sold-out Potter Park Zoo event on Saturday.
Grandin has written dozens of scientific papers on animal behavior and welfare and has written books such as “Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism” and “The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum.”
She’s a longtime professor of animal science and is the first woman to have a sculpture of her likeness on Colorado State's campus.
DeGroat, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as a child and who opened the museum earlier this year to raise awareness for autism, said it was “astonishing” to have Grandin visit the museum.
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"I want you to be aware that you being here today will help our foundation grow enormously and will help make an impact in our community,” DeGroat told Grandin during the visit.
Grandin said a modern problem is that when a child is diagnosed with autism, the parents will get locked onto the label and think the child won’t do anything.
But this isn’t true. The kids just need to have early intervention, be exposed to things and learn what they like, what they don’t like and what they can do to be successful, she said.
She referenced Stephen Hawking, who said people should concentrate on things their disability doesn’t prevent them from doing well.
“There's too much emphasis on the deficit and not enough emphasis on what the person can do,” she said.
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Author Temple Grandin visits Meridian Mall’s autism history museum
