Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University assistant professor of animal science who studies the humane handling of agricultural animals, will give a Cornell University Lecture Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in room 146, Morrison Hall. The lecture is titled, "Autism and Animal Behavior: How They Come Together."

Grandin, the author of the American Meat Institute's guide to humane animal handling, recently was hired as lead consultant for McDonald's new animal welfare program. Other fast food companies, such as Burger King and Wendy's, have followed McDonald's lead in making the handling and slaughter of animals for their meat products more humane. In all, she has designed about one-third of all new livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also has worked closely with Muslim and Jewish communities to improve religious slaughter.

In pursuing her career, Grandin has had to overcome autism. In addition to publishing her animal science research, she recently has written Thinking In Pictures , a book in which she describes her experiences with autism, reviews the latest medical research and explains how she breached autism's boundaries to function in the outside world.

Grandin was a subject in the book Anthropologist on Mars by neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks, the Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell. In a June 2001 paper she described her personal experiences, "My hearing is like having a sound amplifier set on maximum loudness. My ears are like a microphone that picks up and amplifies sound. … I discovered that I could shut out painful sounds by engaging in rhythmic, stereotypical autistic behavior. Sometimes I'd tune out."

Cornell professor of food science Joe Regenstein says, "Her work covers animal science, food science, veterinary medicine and religion… but the fact that she has accomplished all of this while being autistic, makes [her work] even more of an achievement."