Temple Grandin speaks at FFA Convention: ‘We need people who think differently’

INDIANAPOLIS — Keynote speaker Temple Grandin kicked off the fourth General Session of the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo.

Grandin shared how important it is to listen to people who think in unique ways.

“We need the skills of people who think differently,” she said. “Autistic people are good at details. Being a visual thinker helped me in my animal behavior work, because some of the very first work I ever did was to get down into the chute to see what the cattle were seeing.”

Visual Thinking

Grandin is a visual thinker.

“Everything I think about is like a little picture on your phone,” she explained. “The kinds of things that object visualizers are super good at is inventing mechanical equipment, art, photography, working with animals and the highly skilled trades.

“We’re terrible at higher math. But us non-mathematicians can work along with the mathematicians. We have complementary skills.”

Mathematical Thinking

Mathematical thinkers are special visualizers who think in patterns.

“These people are good at computer programming, engineering, chemistry, physics, music, mathematics and data analytics,” Grandin said.

“We need these kinds of minds, too. I’m very concerned that in some schools, little math kids are not getting developed.”

Verbal Thinking

Lastly, there are verbal thinkers who think in words.

“They’re good at writing, sales and marketing, finance, psychology, law and teaching,” Grandin said.

“We need people who think differently. We need all of these skills.”