A Thorn in My Pocket

I don’t have a child with Autism but I understand what it’s like to be misunderstood because of a learning disability that they didn’t care about helping me, just passing me to rid themselves of my presence. It took me many years to teach myself to read, when I did you couldn’t stop me from reading everything I could get my hands on. Your both inspirations & I enjoyed reading about your lives. You have a great Mom Temple. Mrs Eustacia Cutler you are a self made Masterpiece. God Bless all of you and your family for the things you did so your daughter could live in this crazy world with all of us. We see you Temple !! You make a difference and that is something not all of us can do. And certainly your mother made a big difference too! WONDERFUL BOOK PEOPLE

Temple Grandin's mother tells the story that fills in the details that were necessarily left out of the movie: "Temple Grandin." I loved the movie; am enthralled with Temple's story and success; so gratified that Eustacia was finally vindicated for her selfless goal for Temple to be all that she could be, and she is awesome! Last semester we showed the video to our 5th graders as an amazing testimony to perseverance, both of Temple and her mother. I love that it affirms that the world needs people with autism to make it a better place.

I thought it was very intriguing. I have been very interested in how Mrs. Grandin raised Temple, but she did have someone to help her watch the children too. Some of the book is about her own outlet and how she coped, and I would have preferred to have read less of that and more on how she made a difference in Temple's life and vice versa.She did say some things that I thought were of great value and admire her for not just dumping Temple in an institution. We owe a lot to her and to her daughter Temple.

This is a very useful book by a mother an autistic child describing her experience and all the troubles she encountered trying to be sure her daughter, Temple Grandin, got the proper education. Temple went to college and graduate school for a PhD in animal science. Temple has written has written many books on what it is like to be autistic. Her mother's story is very moving and informative. She also describes the difficulties her husband had accepting the autism and his daughter. The author goes on describing her own life in singing and drama and ultimately in lecturing about autism.

Recently, I had the great honor of two public conversations with Temple Grandin—one focused primarily on her own visual thinking. In this moving history of a family, Temple’s mother shows herself to be a master of translating visual imagery into words. Her childhood memory of exploring an abandoned house; her description of a mental institution she visited while producing a documentary; her account of the chaotic antics of her bird, cat, and dog. And all the stories inform us of what it it means to have a life and what it means to be human.

I love autobiographical stories and I love the movie “Temple Grandin”. Having two young children with autism, I was intrigued to hear her mom’s perspective on raising a child with autism. While most of her story is interesting and fascinating, I would have to agree with what her ex-husband said about her: she seems to be overly concerned with trying to impress people with her intelligence. Yes, she’s a smart woman; yes, she’s educated; yes, she loves the fine arts, etc. but it gets to be a little annoying at times. She sometimes seems like a typical “rich snob” looking down her nose at other people. Hopefully she’s not like that in real life. I’m not too particularly fond of people who care too much about what others think of them. I usually keep all the books I’ve read in case I want to read them again or pass them on to a loved one who might enjoy it, but this one I donated to the library.

What a great book this is. She gives every detail of her journey and it really validated my feeling that I thought "only have" and the frustration and tears I thought "only I had" and the hope she brings and her very encouraging words. Absolutley love reading this book. It's very hard to put it down. Thanks Mrs. Grandin, for the gift of your journey you shared with us. It means the world to me. Now I don't feel alone anymore. Hugs to you my dear, Stacy Gall

I loved this book. Reading the perspective of a parent of such a wildly successful person with ASD was inspiring and so very informative. I read this book on vacation and am considering it an option for my graduate students who need to understand the experience of parents of a child with ASD. There is some extra information on the siblings that was not as interesting..but this too, could provide nice points for discussion. well done.

Written in an intimate narrative style, this book doesn't offer solutions but hope & community. It helped me to look for more solutions with my own child who has been cleared for autism but has many of the same challenges as if she had it. We have so many more resources available now than when this story took place, but we are still challenged. I recommend this book to any parent who feels like they are lost in the sea of diagnoses, who wants a heartfelt down-to-earth. "Fiction-feel" book to balance out all the self-help practice-heavy (necessary) reading they are already doing as an encouragement to keep at it -- even if every child can't have Temple's ending.

very well written, leaves a lot of questions but only because I related so much to the marriage stuff I wanted to ask how the hell the divorce went. But she is from a very very wealthy family and so I can't actually relate that much. Still I think books like this are under written.

An amazing book by an amazing woman. Ms Cutler tells us about all the trials she had to face with her oldest daughter, how she found out that there was something weird about her. She tells us thruthfully how unkind people around Temple sometimes were, and how they preferred to look away, rather than help her. It is a book that gives hope to people in despair because someone in their family acts strange, and is diagnosed with autism or Asperger. I would recommend it to teachers, too.

Must read for all parents of autistic children.

If you are interested in autism, this is a must-read for you. Here Temple Grandin's mother talks about what Temple's childhood was like and what helped Temple come out of her autism to a certain degree and make her the person she is today.