Standing on the corner, across the street from my home is a remarkable stop sign protruding out of a cement sidewalk. What makes it remarkable is the tree has beaten all the odds by taking root and growing up through the inch-wide metal post and blossoming fully out of the hole at the top. Not only is it alive, it continues to grow larger. Year after year, its roots delve deeper under the cement to gather nutrients and water from the earth beneath. It seems the tree has no plans to stop flourishing.

“I am a visual thinker, not a language-based thinker. My mind is like Google Images.” Who am I? If you guessed a person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or ASD, you would be right. More specifically, this quote is from Dr. Temple Grandin, a self-advocate, diagnosed with autism as a child. She is now a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. An expert on animal behavior, Dr. Grandin, designed more humane livestock handling facilities, which are utilized around the world today.