43 pages • 1 hour read
Temple GrandinThinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Thinking in Pictures: Autism and Visual Thought”
Temple Grandin’s thinking process differs from those who process though through language, and is representative of many others with autism: As a visual thinker, images guide her thought processing—a difference unknown to her until adulthood. Her visual thinking skills often make verbal expression difficult, but these visual talents come to play an important role in her career as a livestock equipment designer. While designing, Grandin’s mental images aren’t limited to vague concepts. Instead, they include vivid details and an ability to see her designs from multiple perspectives. Visual thinking also allows Grandin to predict problems prior to the actual creation of the design:
When I do an equipment simulation in my imagination or work on an engineering problem, it is like seeing it on a videotape in my mind. I can view it from any angle, placing myself above or below the equipment and rotating it at the same time. I don’t need a fancy graphics program that can produce three-dimensional design simulations. I can do it better and faster in my head (5).
Grandin refers to a video library of images, a dynamic capacity for mental storage that grows as she encounters new information. One application Grandin uses to illustrate her use of a visual library involves the development of a cattle dip vat system, which she effectively creates through extensive research and three-dimensional mental images. Her success is also due to her motivation to view the system from the viewpoint of the cattle, including their sensory experience.
As Grandin describes her thinking patterns, she touches on other differences as well. “Unlike those of most people, my thoughts move from videolike, specific images to generalization and concepts” (12). Although others with autism also think visually, she points out that this generalization is not a one-size-fits-all descriptor: “[…] not all people with autism are highly visual thinkers, nor do they all process information this way” (12).
Grandin highlights how difficult understanding the meaning of words is without a visual representation. “The easiest words for an autistic child to learn are nouns, because they directly relate to pictures” (13-14). Words like “a” and “an” present difficulties because of a lack of a corresponding picture to indicate the meaning. Attaching pictures also serves an important role in understanding abstract concepts. “I thought of peace as a dove, an Indian peace pipe, or TV newsreel footage of the signing of a peace agreement” (17). Grandin expands this process to help her navigate the social world and life transitions. Life changes present stress, and to maneuver in her younger years, Grandin uses a symbolic system of doors she walks through as movement to the next stage. “In order to deal with a major change such as leaving high school, I needed a way to rehearse it, acting out each phase in my life by walking through an actual door, window, or gate” (18). Symbols and associations are constant issues for those with autism. Grandin speaks to her own process of free association that can lead to straying off topic, as well as how personal meanings and associations can at times seem unrelated to someone without autism. “Many people are totally baffled by autistic symbols, but to an autistic person they may provide the only tangible reality or understanding of the world” (21).
Knowledge about how the brain works can help people understand the various autistic thinking patterns. Grandin outlines research findings, including the different neurological systems of visual and verbal thinking, the connection between mental practice and development of motor skills, and differences in the frontal cortex, to show the importance of complex thinking and executive functioning. She explains that:
In normal brains, “computer cables” from all parts of the brain converge on the frontal cortex. The frontal cortex integrates information from thinking, emotional, and sensory parts of the brain. The degree of difficulty forming concepts is probably related to the number and type of “computer cables” that are not hooked up (29-30).
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Great Continuum: Diagnosing Autism”
Autism exists on a spectrum, with both shared symptoms and those that create a distinction between types and levels of severity. Grandin, like others with autism, received an inaccurate diagnosis (brain damage) because doctors at the time weren’t aware of autism’s symptoms. Autism typically makes an appearance prior to the age of three with symptoms such as: “abnormal speech, lack of eye contact, frequent temper tantrums, oversensitivity to touch, the appearance of deafness, a preference for being alone, rocking or other rhythmic stereotypic behavior, aloofness, and lack of social contact with parents and siblings” (35).
By age three, Grandin suffered from speech impediments that often resulted in frustration and tantrums. “I could understand what people said to me, but I could not get my words out” (33-34).
A neurological disorder without a definitive test, autism diagnosis relies on behavioral reports, observations, and insights. Other diagnoses share similarities with autism, including pervasive development disorder, disintegrative disorder, Kanner’s syndrome, and a high-functioning form of autism: Asperger’s. Controversy exists about how to categorize these diagnoses, including a debate over whether they are distinct disorders or a single disorder that exists on a continuum.
The autism spectrum ranges from high-functioning individuals with mild oversensitivity to low-functioning individuals who experience severe disruption in sensory processing, or “sensory jumbling” (42). That’s why attention to sensory overload is critical to supporting children with autism. Intervention that occurs earlier rather than later in development is ideal. But treatment need not be intensive: “[E]ffective, educational programs do have to be done every day, but they usually do not require heroic amounts of effort.” (46).
Since autism is a neurological disorder, the focus on brain differences, such as the cerebellum and limbic system, help explain many contributing factors. Genetics also appear to be a strong contributor. Although absolute certainty of the cause or causes of autism does not exist, speculation involves exposure to environmental toxins like mercury, chemicals, and viruses.
Grandin again presents updated research related to the biological underpinnings of autism. This time, she discusses the multi-gene rather than single gene contributor to autism, brain overgrowth, and developmental timing of toxin exposure: “New research supports the idea that genetics susceptibility interacts with environmental insults” (57).
Chapters 1-2 Analysis
Visual thinking is a prominent theme throughout the memoir. Detailed visual thinking serves an important function in Grandin’s career, both working directly with livestock and designing livestock equipment. Those without her capacity for visual thought would likely create less ideal designs, showing that autism operates not only in deficits, but also in aptitudes. Through Grandin’s insights, she expands the view on what it means to not only think but think creatively, underscoring how the dominance of language and verbal thought should allow space for visual thought:
Another indicator of visual thinking as the primary method of processing information is the remarkable ability many autistic people exhibit in solving jigsaw puzzles, finding their way around a city, or memorizing enormous amounts of information at a glance (10).
Autism typically conjures negative associations: No one wishes it on themselves or their child. Grandin, however, challenges the one-size-fits-all perception of autism. The Chapter 2 title refers to a continuum, and the text highlights the diversity within autism. Changes in diagnostic criteria, and ongoing adjustments to societal views of “normal,” influence the current discourse surrounding autism. What is known and believed about autism will continue to evolve, as will the conversation about possible contributors to the development of autism and its treatment options.
The network and process of making associations and symbols, a commonality among many with autism, is an important concept in the discourse surrounding autism. The associations may not appear logical to someone on the outside looking in, but this misunderstanding does not mean that these associations lack purpose or pattern. This thought pattern offers necessary insight into autism. For Grandin, the more she shares about her mental processing, the fewer misunderstandings about autism persist.
Connecting with animals, in particular cattle, represents another theme in Grandin’s life story. Empathy for animals guides her work. She integrates her knowledge of animals and a genuine desire to see every part of a design from the animal’s perspective. This thinking pattern applies well not only with animals, but also offers a template to understanding a person with autism. Reciprocity of understanding serves Grandin in her work with cattle and people, and suggests a beneficial route for communication between those without autism and those on the autism spectrum.
