Temple Grandin Discusses Hands-On Learning at the ETC
On Oct. 12, 2026, Temple Grandin visited Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to deliver a talk titled “Great Minds Are Not the Same.”
The event opened with remarks from John Balash, the ETC’s director of outreach, extension and engagement. Balash introduced BASEPLATE, the brick-based playful learning ecosystem sponsoring the event, and showed off an early prototype of the LEGO Temple Grandin model his team is developing. All attendees received a version of the set because, as Balash said, “here at the Entertainment Technology Center, we love to playtest.”
Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, founder and director of Play Included, a BASEPLATE organizational partner, joined virtually to introduce Grandin. She spoke about the impact Grandin’s work had on her career as a clinical psychologist specializing in play-based therapies: “It’s a full circle moment, because Temple Grandin’s book about thinking in pictures was my inspiration for being interested in autism.”
During her talk, Grandin urged educators and families to recognize and support different ways of thinking. “The first step is you have to realize that people think differently,” Grandin said.
Visual thinkers, Grandin said, tend to be detail-oriented and interested in understanding how things work and identifying potential risks. She recommended that educators recognize these strengths and provide students with opportunities to explore them with hands-on activities like building with LEGO bricks, emphasizing that these experiences should serve as a starting point for developing practical skills. “LEGOs need to be the launch pad for tools,” she said.
In the discussion that followed, Grandin responded to questions from parents and educators about communication, sensory needs and supporting children’s interests. She encouraged them to build on each child’s interests to help develop skills and explore potential careers.
“I like simple metrics,” she said. “Where’s a kid 10 years after high school? I want them out there in a job they love and having a good life.”
