This movie is based on an actual person with autism, Temple Grandin (Claire Danes). She is able to see patterns others do not see, while at the same time having issues with over sensory stimulation. She has a geometric mind, and sees thinks in pictures. She would visit her aunt (Catherine O'Hara) and uncle in summer who had a cattle farm. She watched them serving the cows and noticed they would calm down when in the lock. She used this treatment on herself and found it worked when she was riled up. Her mother (Julia Ormond) through the years was very good with her, even when the said she should be institutionalized. She finally gets her into a boarding school where they had horses. She found a mentor in Dr. Carlock (David Strathairn). She graduates and attend college. Her first years if hard. She develops a device to do the same service as the cattle stall. However the school does not accept it, including her roommate. The school throws it out and will not let her have the device. However the next year she returns her roommate is blind, Alice (Melissa Farman). Together they support each other. Alice sees the world through sound, and Grandin through images. She has no issues with the device, and Grandin does research on the device to prove that it is helpful. She graduates and gives a speech at graduation. After graduation she works with animals, particularly cattle. She can tell by their moos how they are doing. She notices they walk in circles. She develops devices for the cattle for doing the dip where cows walk through water to get medicine for tics and such. She becomes a correspondent for a cattle grower's magazine. She is now a professor in Colorado.
Temple Grandin is a very interesting character.
