Review of 'Thinking in the pictures and other reports from my life with autism' by Temple Grandin: Vintage Books, 1995 ISBN 0 679 77289 8

Abstract

For many people, including clinicians and the general public, autism is a bewildering disorder. To those with autism themselves, it is perhaps even more confusing. Imagine living in a world where most people use a form of language that you do not understand. Temple Grandin is on such person. She is able to explain to us in her autobiography 'Thinking in Pictures' just how she manages not only to live in such a world, but how she has learned ways to understand it in order to become a successful, productive and less confused person. An 'inside view' of autism is something that was once not believed to be possible. Grandin helps us to stop automatically connecting the word "autism" with images of severely affected non-verbal autistic children. She assists us to recognise thole people with autism who are higher functioning, yet not necessarily savants (geniuses in certain areas) and also reminds us to be aware of those who can pass a 'theory of mind' test but still have autism. She lets us into their inner world, a world where visual images govern as opposed to a world where verbal words dominate.