Thinking in Pictures (Paperback)

Temple Grandin is renowned throughout the world as a designer of livestock holding equipment. Her unique empathy for animals has her to create systems which are humane and cruel free, setting the highest standards for the industry the treatment and handling of animals. She also happens to be autistic. Here, in Temple Grandin's own words, is the story what it is like to live with autism. Temple is among the few people who have broken through many the neurological impairments associated with autism. Throughout her life, she has developed unique coping strategies, including her famous "squeeze machine," modeled after seeing the calming effect squeeze chutes on cattle. She describes her pain isolation growing up "different" and her discovery visual symbols to interpret the "ways of the natives" "Thinking in Pictures also gives information from the frontlines of autism, including treatme medication, and diagnosis, as well as Temple's insight into genius, savants, sensory phenomena, etc. Ultimately, it is Temple's unique ability describe the way her visual mind works and how she first made the connection between her impairment and animal temperament that is the basis of extraordinary gift and phenomenal success.

"From the Hardcover edition.
 
Annotation:
In this firsthand account of autism, Temple Grandin--a woman whose gift for animal empathy led to her design a cruelty-free livestock holding pen, and whose observations of cattle led her to create a "squeeze machine" to offset some of the sensory disturbances she experiences--articulates what it is to live within the confines of her neurological condition. She shares her insights into genius, savants, sensory phenomena, and animal behavior.

Temple Grandin was born in Boston in 1947, and diagnosed with autism three years later. Against all medical advice, her parents refused to institutionalize their daughter, and instead hired a speech therapist to work closely with her. Once in school, she amazed observers with her level of speech and academic prowess. Eventually, she earned her PhD. in animal science from the University of Illinois. Soon after, she began working closely with the livestock industry to design more humane facilities and enclosures for the animals, with remarkable results. In 1996, Grandin was prominently featured in Oliver Sacks's popular book AN ANTHROPOLOGIST ON MARS, which began to bring her some celebrity. She has since become a bestselling author herself, with titles including THINKING IN PICTURES and ANIMALS IN TRANSLATION. Her books illuminate her daily struggles to fit into the non-autistic world and describe the communicative bonds that she shares with animals.