Thinking in Pictures is Temple Grandin’s autobiography that also includes insights into autism. Ms. Grandin is a “world-famous animal scientist and autism self-advocate” and “the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world” (homepage). She has a Ph.D in Animal Science, and “one third of the cattle and hogs in the United States are handled in equipment [she has] designed” (p.3).
Throughout Thinking in Pictures, a common theme is Ms. Grandin linking autistic behavior, especially her own, with animal behavior. For example, both autistic children and wild animals tend to calm down when exposed to a firm but gentle touch. Ms. Grandin credits her ability to see from a “cow’s eye view” and design handling implements to her hypersensitive senses and visual thinking. While certain chapters were more interesting than others, I enjoyed this book, especially the few chapters at the start and end that introduced and tied concepts together.
Early in the book, Ms. Grandin describes her visual thinking. “I think in pictures,” she says. “Words are like a second language to me. I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. . . . Spatial words such as ‘over’ and ‘under’ had no meaning for me until I had a visual image to fix them in my memory” (from chapter 1). She talks about a video library in her head that she can playback, with new “videos” constantly being added. Her invention process for equipment involves skimming her video library and combining elements to form her invention, rotating the equipment in her mind as it runs and examining it from every angle as it operates.
DBRL, MERLIN, Amazon (new, expanded and updated edition)
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