The story of Temple Grandin is in large part one about living with, accepting, and appreciating differences. It was not long after she was born that her family members and doctors realized that she was not developing as expected, which eventually led to her being diagnosed with autism. At the time, autism was considered a severely debilitating disorder, and people with autism were treated as so abnormal that they either needed to be treated and adjusted or institutionalized if treatment did not work. Though she encountered these perspectives, Grandin was also fortunate to have people around her who supported her, appreciated her differences, and encouraged her to thrive.

The elementary school Grandin attended was small and supportive, full of people who were aware that Grandin’s autism caused her to have special needs. For the most part, her classmates and teacher understood what made Grandin different, and did not discriminate against her because of it. In fact, Grandin made friends and classmates found that “[b]ecause she was so creative, she was fun to be with. It was easy to overlook her oddities when you were busy working on one of Temple’s cool projects” (32). The encouragement of Grandin’s creativity set a pattern that helped fuel her later success.