Tonight Dr. Temple Grandin spoke on autism there. Originally scheduled for the comparatively tiny Lehr dining room, the lecture was to Pucille Gym because of, I assume, overwhelming demand. It’s not many lecturers there that have a currently running HBO feature film made about them. Add in, it looks like a surefire Emmy for Claire Danes, who plays Grandin in the film, you’ve got an event that would nearly max out capacity at Pucillo Gym.

To say Dr. Grandin is a high functioning autistic person is to describe me as a high functioning primate. She’s brilliant. She’s an entertaining and informative speaker. Much funnier than I expected. She was very engaged with the audience. One of the hurdles I had to jump tonight was not distracting her while she spoke. At the beginning she asked if everyone could stay seated as much as possible as it’s distracting for her to have people moving around in her field of vision. Frankly, I think it would be distracting for anyone, obviously, moreso for her. Needless to say, I picked the wrong night to be covered in a red polo shirt. I was like an enormous “look at me target”. I only used flash for a few shots as that was extremely difficult for her. I tested that out before she even started speaking and ditched the flash. Sad, as the gym was darkened somewhat.

So I spent the evening lurking around corner and hiding behind things. In fact, the only shots of her face on were taken from the very back of the gym with me hiding behind the bleachers or people standing. Most of the shots are from behind her and above her.

A wonderful lecture. It’s a privilege to get shoot people such as Dr. Grandin.

Here is the entire gallery. Here are a few samples.