Last week on Thursday, February 27th, Temple Grandin came to my school and guest spoke. To this day she is known as one of the most successful people in the world who has autism. She is a college professor and has her Ph.D. She has made strides in the autism community and has really helped the way farm animals are treated, particularly cows. You can take a look at her TED talk below!

At the talk I was in the first row, so I could see her. Shortly before the talk started, Temple sat right next to me and started talking to me. I couldn’t believe it! We ended up talking for 10 minutes before she had to go on stage. She asked me about my cerebral palsy and how it affects me, and asked me about my learning disabilities. She asked me what my major was in school and what I wanted to do with it. She said to make sure to do something I like and am good at doing. I told her about my loves for country music and pubic relations and how I also want to write a book and do some motivational speaking. She said I definitely need to go into PR and she said that I’m a great speaker!

When she first started her talk, she actually started talking about the conversation her and I had! During her talk, she spoke a lot about how she grew up with autism and what some of her research has found.   After the talk, I was able to get my book signed and picture taken with her. Did I mention she has an Emmy award-winning movie made after her?! She is one of the most extraordinary women I’ve ever met!