Thinking In Pictures: and Other Reports from My Life with Autism Review
I saw Temple Grandin speak about a year ago, and I was so impressed that I decided to read some of her books, this being the first.
Temple Grandin is autistic. She is also a brilliant animal scientist who has designed a third of all the livestock handling facilities in the U.S. Highly visual, Grandin is able to design facilities in her mind, turning them in all perspectives like a high-speed CAD machine, and then draw the blueprints in one go. Her objective in building these facilities is to make animal slaughter more humane, with less fear and stress for the animals being handled.
This book, Thinking in Pictures, is her second, barring a livestock handling book and hundreds of animal science articles. The book moves back and forth in an associative style, typical of how Grandin describes her style of thinking, between a memoir of her life as an autistic person, her work as an animal scientist, and a scientific look at autism.
I found all three aspects of the book interesting. Although I have read a number of books about autism, I found Grandin's book unique because she is able to look at her own symptoms and behaviors with the eye of a scientist. Rather than just relate her experiences, she is able to analyse them and relate them to the scientific data. In addition, although unusual, her writing style is clear and engaging. I would recommend the book for anyone interested in autism or the life of an unusual animal scientist.
Thinking In Pictures: and Other Reports from My Life with Autism Overview
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism because she is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us. In this unprecedented book, Grandin writes from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person. She tells us how she managed to breach the boundaries of autism to function in the outside world. What emerges is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who gracefully bridges the gulf between her condition and our own while shedding light on our common identity.
"There are innumerable astounding facets to this remarkable book...Displaying uncanny powers of observation...[Temple Grandin] charts the differences between her life and the lives of those who think in words."--Philadelphia Inquirer
Thinking In Pictures: and Other Reports from My Life with Autism Specifications
Oliver Sacks calls Temple Grandin's first book--and the first picture of autism from the inside--"quite extraordinary, unprecedented and, in a way, unthinkable." Sacks told part of her story in his An Anthropologist on Mars, and in Thinking in Pictures Grandin returns to tell her life history with great depth, insight, and feeling. Grandin told Sacks, "I don't want my thoughts to die with me. I want to have done something ... I want to know that my life has meaning ... I'm talking about things at the very core of my existence." Grandin's clear exposition of what it is like to "think in pictures" is immensely mind-broadening and basically destroys a whole school of philosophy (the one that declares language necessary for thought). Grandin, who feels she can "see through a cow's eyes," is an influential designer of slaughterhouses and livestock restraint systems. She has great insight into human-animal relations. It would be mere justice if Thinking in Pictures transforms the study of religious feeling, too.
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Customer Reviews
Amazing! - Maria Fillmore - Michigan
This woman is absolutely amazing! Her writing has a little different rythm to it at times due to her autism, but her intelligence, breadth of knowledge, and ability to express herself and describe some of the experiences of autism change your whole understanding of the disorder, and brain organization in general. I would highly recommend anything she has written, and am excited that HBO has made a movie about her!
Temple's best book - Leisa A. Hammett - MidSouth
This is my favorite book by Temple. It's a must read for any "parent" and anyone wanting to understand autism. Temple is the defining voice of autism. True, she may not represent all forms, but she speaks to all of them through her journey of being diagnosed severe and then her progression to a high-functioning adult. It is her dual gifted-ness that distinguishes her and allows her to explain in personal, specific and in user-friendly scientific details the machinations of the enigmatic autistic brain.(Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.) She is simply one of the most fascinating individuals, and how she has used autism to share and explain her world is extraordinary. This book and hearing her speak early on in my personal parental autism journey were essential beacons that greatly aided how I chose to maneuver this tricky path. Read it!
Highly Recommend! - Melissa M. Speer - Rocklin, CA USA
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in autism. Whether you have a child with autism, work with people with autism, or are just interested in autism, this book has a very unique perspective on the disease as well as the person inside.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 09, 2010 13:57:10
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