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Northeast Iowa | I thought Claire actually didn't sound as out there as you did. Here is the transcript from the discussion where she and Dave talked about Dr. Grandin's autism:
"She also did this incredible thing where, um, a lot of autistic people have sensory problems, and they have a hard time being . . . with human contact. That's kind of stressful, but they need the deep touch. So she noticed when she spent summers at her aunt's ranch that cattle would go into something called a 'squeeze chute' when they would get vaccinated, and it looked like a torture device, but actually it calmed them. So she created her own little squeeze chute for herself and actually a lot of autistic people use it now."
To me, it seemed like Claire gave her first impression of a squeeze chute, but then explained how it actually helped the animals and Temple, so I'm not ready to lump her in with outright opponents of animal agriculture. Let's face it, if you had no farm background and saw a steer put in a squeeze chute, your first impression may match Claire's. At least she had the good sense to learn about it and explain it during her interview.
I've been to a couple of meetings with Dr. Grandin and have always enjoyed hearing her thoughts on animal handling and facility design. She seems really intense, but when we got her to the hotel bar after one meeting in the 1990's, she loosened up a little bit and would joke around somewhat. We're not talking lamp-shade-wearing-life-of-the-party here, but she was more relaxed than what you normally see when she's in front of a meeting. She said she preferred to come to meetings the day of the meeting and go back the same day, because she didn't like hotel rooms. There were too many outside noises and inconsistencies to throw off her normal routine for good sleep. That's when she mentioned how she liked the feeling of being in a squeeze chute and wished she could figure out a way to make a small portable one to take to hotels with her for meetings with overnight stays. Its calming effect was that valuable to her. She didn't think she could talk a bellhop into helping her get a full-sized squeeze chute into her room!
I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. It's on HBO on February 6th, I believe, so there won't be box office numbers to judge its success.
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Claire Danes plays Temple Grandin in movie......
