Critical thinking, movie Temple Grandin - Assignment Example

How Nature and Nurture Collaborated for Temple Grandin Each person becomes a product of what he has been born with and what he experiences from his life. The interplay of “nature and nurture” should be a good blend in order for the individual to develop into a well-adjusted person who can be productive to society and influence others positively. Most people have been fortunate enough to be born with good genes, good health, free from any ailments or disabilities. This is what nature has blessed them with.

How they will be nurtured by their family and society in general will greatly affect how they will develop. Would they remain healthy and develop a positive personality if people around them provide them with all their needs as young children? What if they were neglected and left to their own devices while growing up? Would they develop differently than those who were well-cared for even if their natural abilities are the same? How about if they were born with less than ideal natural gifts, such as those born with disabilities?

Will provision of all their needs suffice to compensate for such disabilities and still produce positive outcomes for the individual? How about if they were just left as they are, with no interventions to support them? One example of an individual whose “nurture” compensated for what “nature” gave her is Temple Grandin. She was naturally born with severe Autism manifesting all the full blown symptoms of the disorder. She did not speak until she was four years old, did not relate to others and just kept on rocking herself repeatedly.

When she was brought to the doctor, she was recommended to be institutionalized as a child. At that time, Autism was not clearly understood and doctors had limited options to deal with it. It seemed unusual for her to have such a condition because she had good genes from very smart and educated parents. It is but logical for her to inherit such genes which she later on manifested when she overcame the challenges of autism. The movie also showed how her mind worked, that she thought in pictures and can see much detail.

It was something she did not share with most people but it was how nature designed her brain. She was also very sensitive to sound that she gets easily overwhelmed with very loud noises or when people speak at the same time. Her mother could not accept that Temple is not normal and needed to be institutionalized. She did everything she knew to support her daughter in bringing her out of her tough shell. This was “nurture” in action. At a very young age, Temple was provided with early intervention via speech therapy so that she learns to talk.

She was not treated as a fragile child with a disability, instead, she needed to work hard to fight against the limitations of her condition. Every summer, she was sent to her aunt’s ranch to care for animals. This is where she found her passion, which was caring for animals and studying animal behavior. It is this interest in animals that made her pursue higher studies, as she earned her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in university, becoming an expert in and advocate of animals. She was able to design equipment and facilities for cattle and devised a way for them to be treated more humanely.

Her mother was a formidable ally who never gave up on her. She was responsible for augmenting with “nurture” what “nature” failed to provide for Temple. Believing that her child is not a hopeless imbecile, she struggled to source people to help her with the provision of early intervention for Temple and eventually mainstreamed her in a regular school. In her inspirational speech, Temple honoured her efforts by recounting how her mother pushed her to be her best. “I am different… but not less!

” is a statement Temple made, which expresses what other people with disabilities may feel. Her mother’s loving support made it possible for her to reach for her dreams and optimize the talents she was gifted with…something that nature surprised everyone with because it was deeply imbedded in Temple, which only surfaced with the nurturance Temple received.