Feature
The Florence Gibbs Momeyer Endowed Lecture, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and its Center on Race and Social Problems, was held on March 1, 2023, and featured renowned animal behaviorist and autism advocate Temple Grandin.
Grandin’s significant contributions to the field of animal behavior and tireless advocacy for neurodivergent thinkers such as herself are paradigm changing. As noted by Pitt Social Work Dean Betsy Farmer in her introduction, “A paradigm shift is a completely new way of thinking, and once you think about it, you can’t unthink it.”
On the autism spectrum and nonverbal until she was 4 years old, Grandin was originally deemed “brain damaged.” She has dedicated her career to using her unique skill set as a visual thinker with mechanical aptitude to improve conditions for animals in slaughterhouses and to promote awareness of diversity in thinking styles so that all students can benefit from public education.
“The first step is to realize that different ways of thinking exist,” she said. “When I was in my 20s, I thought everybody thought in pictures they way I did. It wasn’t until I was in my late 30s when I realized other people think in words. And it was a shock to me!”
Grandin emphasized that visual thinkers tend to be practical problem solvers. She noted, “School systems, which insist upon a graduation requirement of a totally abstract subject like algebra, are failing too many students. I can’t do algebra, and because of that, I couldn’t pursue a qualification in veterinary science today. Yet I am a professor of animal science.”
Grandin made a persuasive case and is a vibrant example of the fact that with the right support and encouragement, neurodivergent thinkers can make significant—even paradigm-shifting—contributions to society. The American school curriculum seems to have narrowed in recent years, and Grandin’s core argument was that this is a serious mistake that must be rectified.
The lecture was made possible through the generosity of Alan G. Momeyer (MSW ’72) and his brother, Richard W. Momeyer, who established the Florence Gibbs Momeyer Endowed Lecture and Program Fund in 2021 to honor their mother, a social worker who fought to ensure that all children received a free quality education as promised in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Alan Momeyer related how his mother was initially rebuffed by members of the state legislature, who told her, “We are not set up to educate special-needs children.” Momeyer noted drily that his mother’s response, which she argued all the way to the Supreme Court , was: “Then get set up for it.” Not only was Pennsylvania the first state to include special-needs children in public schools, but all 49 other states eventually followed
the example.