BUTLER TWP — A woman who experienced autism spectrum disorders as a child told an audience at Butler County Community College this week her story of personal triumph.

Temple Grandin, who has earned a doctorate, will be the subject of an upcoming HBO film.

She spoke Wednesday to 450 parents, teachers, and social workers who deal with children and adults like her at an event sponsored by the Community Health Connections. While she spoke about specific behaviors of autistics and prescription help, it was her life experiences members of the audience focused on during the question session.

When Grandin was 3 years old, she still wasn't speaking. Diagnosed with autism, she began therapies even when doctors suggested to her parents she be institutionalized. A nanny worked with her one-on-one, impressing her with manners, turn-taking skills, and social skills. Being rude and disorderly was not tolerated, she said.

The nanny also spoke slowly and carefully so that Grandin could pick up on the sounds of words. Until then, the fast speech of adults sounded garbled to her.

"I thought grown ups had a special language," Grandin said.

As Grandin continued through school and into the workplace, she was weird and even threw a book at a girl amid being teased and called a "tape recorder." She learned she had to sell her work, not her personality, she said. She started designing equipment for handling livestock and sending those drawings to companies.

"When they looked at my drawings, they took me seriously," she said.

To Wednesday's audience, she showed pictures of cattle equipment she's designed as well as the reproductions HBO made for its biopic of her life. Claire Danes will play Grandin in the movie that is expected to be released this year.