Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism

Temple Grandin is the author of Thinking in Pictures. She is a livestock equipment designer, animal scientist, autism lecturer, and author. According to the spectrum of autism, Grandin falls within the parameters of high-functioning autism: Her life with autism is host to both struggles and exceptionality. A visual thinker, she changes words into pictures for both meaning and memory:

Being autistic, I don’t naturally assimilate information that most people take for granted. Instead, I store information in my head as if it were on a CD-ROM disc. When I recall something I have learned, I replay the video in my imagination. The videos in my memory are always specific; for example, I remember handling cattle at the veterinary chute at Producer’s Feedlot or McElhaney Cattle Company (8-9).

Grandin’s innate ability for visual thinking benefits her career, including her ability to draw detailed designs and imagine them in complex form. She is an animal welfare advocate, and holds to this value even when working with slaughter facilities. Grandin pursues science and intellect, but is not void of emotion or social relationships, though they are naturally different from the experiences of people without autism. Her physical stature and appearance have changed greatly from better understanding herself.