"My Story"

Gather around for a story about Temple Grandin. This list, drawn from an excerpt from the autobiography co-written with Catherine Johnson "Animals in Translation," focuses on how horses at a boarding school for "gifted children with emotional problems" led to the lifelong love of animals.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 6 Unit 2's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Walk Two Moons, The Little Mermaid, …And Although the Little Mermaid Sacrificed Everything…, He Might Have Liked Me Better with My Tail, Travels with Charley, Saying Farewell to a Faithful Pal, Dogs Make Us Human, My Story, Temple Grandin
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. epiphany
    an inspiration or divine manifestation
    People who aren't autistic always ask me about the moment I realized I could understand the way animals think. They think I must have had an epiphany.
  2. advantage
    the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
    And it wasn't until I was in my forties that I finally realized I had one big advantage over the feedlot owners who were hiring me to manage their animals: being autistic.
  3. autism
    a condition involving social and communication difficulties
    Autism made school and social life hard, but it made animals easy.
  4. amplify
    increase in size, volume or significance
    Plus there were only a few conversations I like to have, so that amplified the effect.
  5. privilege
    a special advantage or benefit not enjoyed by all
    The school had a stable and horses for the kids to ride, and the teachers took away horseback riding privileges if I smacked somebody.
  6. aggression
    a feeling of hostility that arouses thoughts of attack
    I'd cry, and that would take away the aggression.
  7. bridle
    headgear for a horse
    She would rear, and constantly jump around and prance; you had to hold her back with the bridle or she'd bolt to the barn.
  8. stanchion
    any vertical post or rod used as a support
    Beauty had been kept locked in a dairy stanchion all day long.
  9. savant
    a learned person
    I was never mean to the horses at the school (the other kids were sometimes), but I wasn't any horse-whispering autistic savant, either.
  10. dedicated
    devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose
    I was dedicated to keeping the barn clean, making sure the horses were groomed.
Created on Wed Aug 13 15:01:42 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Aug 13 16:22:04 EDT 2014)

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