Book Review: "Thinking in Pictures (and other reports about my life with autism)" written by Temple Grandin

[Image Description: Temple Grandin on a book cover wearing a blue sweater, black pants, and white shoes with one small brown cow, small black cow, and a big brown cow in the background on a farm. Below the picture "THINKING IN PICTURES" is in navy blue text, "AND OTHER REPORTS FROM" is in black text, "MY LIFE WITH AUTISM" is in red text, and "TEMPLE GRANDIN WITH A FOREWORD BY OLIVER SACKS" is in navy blue text.]

    

Bibliography:

Grandin, T. (1995). Thinking in Pictures, and other reports from my life with autism. New York: Vintage Books.

    Temple Grandin is a notable female autistic self-advocate and the author of her autobiography called Thinking in Pictures, and other reports from life with autism. She has written many other books about her disability journey along with having "a Ph.D. in animal science from University of Illinois, and has designed one-third of all of the livestock-handling facilities in the United States, and many other countries. She is also an assistant professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University" and a motivational speaker at many autism advocacy conferences and resides in Fort Collins, CO (Grandin 2004). In the first chapter, Grandin explains that the title of her book is called Thinking in Pictures because of her visual perception of the world as an Autistic person. Autistic people/people with Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)/people on the autism spectrum are typically visual learners due to their literal thinking. She explains that her visual thinking has helped her to be successful in her career and that she would be lost without it. However, Grandin was originally diagnosed as "brain-damaged" at two years old (pg. 43, Grandin 2004). This was because back then, most doctors had never heard of autism. The doctors also told her parents to institutionalize her, but they resisted from doing so because they knew that that was not necessary and that they could help her improve in more positive ways instead. Grandin explains that there are many possible signs of Autism/ASD in the infant years, but individuals cannot be diagnosed with this disability until about eighteen months old or older. Some signs of autism/ASD in young children may include but not be limited to sensory differences (especially when it comes to touch and sound), speech-language difficulties, challenging behaviors, difficulty with eye contact, not responding to one's name being called, limited interests, and/or attentional difficulties. Other symptoms also may be "a preference for being alone," stimming, difficulty with social-emotional skills and play, and regression of developmental skills along with having comorbid disabilities. Grandin also recognizes that diagnosing autism/ASD is hard due to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) being changed so much; this book was also written back when the third edition was still being used and a lot has changed since then in regards to overall knowledge and resources for helping the disability community as a whole. In her autobiography, Temple Grandin explains autism, human, and animal thinking from her perspectives as a scientist and autistic person. She discusses what it is like for autistic people/people with autism/ASD/people on the autism spectrum when it comes to their visual perceptions, getting diagnosed, their difficulties, savant skills, treatments, her connection with animals, and her thoughts about religion.

    While every disability journey is different, I thought that Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures does a very successful job of accurately portraying autism. This is definitely a book that I would highly recommend reading. It is an autobiography so it is based off the real life of an autistic person. A couple years ago, I read another one of Grandin's books called The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger's and ever since, I felt like I really related to her personally. To reiterate, she explains that her visual thinking has helped her to be successful in her career and that she would be lost without it. She appears to show lots of disability pride in this way. In addition, back in the era of Temple Grandin's childhood, there were many other families of people in the disability community who were told by professionals that they should be institutionalized. Similarly, there are also many families of people in the disability community who are told by professionals that they will never be able to college or live independently in settings for people of all abilities. However, while this can true in some cases depending on ability privileges since everyone experiences disabilities differently, many individuals in the disability community continue to prove professionals who make these statements wrong. While being autistic is not an easy road, there are many positives that can come out of it as well such as improvement and even the savant skills that Grandin has as well (She is specifically a scientific savant).

    My knowledge from reading Thinking in Pictures written by Temple Grandin will impact my future work in the education field in many ways. I am an aspiring Special Education teacher with the desire to specifically work in Life Skills Support. On the job, I will probably be assigned to teach many autistic students/students with autism/ASD/students on the autism spectrum. For that matter, it is important for me to be aware of the many difficulties and strengths that these diverse learners experience in order to help them succeed in their education, grow developmentally, and be treated equally. In addition, it is important to embrace the diversity of students with this exceptionality along with focusing on their gifts and talents. This is for purposes of inclusion and proving that their disabilities do not define them.

[Image Description: "IF I COULD SNAP MY FINGERS AND NOT HAVE AUTISM, I WOULD NOT. AUTISM IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF WHO I AM + I WOULDN'T CHANGE THAT BECAUSE I LIKE THE WAY THAT I THINK. -TEMPLE GRANDIN" in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt as the background.]

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