Essay on Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin: A Detailed Analysis of Autistic Life

Introduction

Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin is a state of the art literature that gives accounts on the life experience of Temple Grandin having autism. In her autistic life, the book provides a detailed analysis of how her life was and the way she used to visualize life aspects from her thinking up to the way she enrolled in her career building and designing makeshifts for cattle retainments. The book also gives information on how a diagnosis gets made for different conditions associated with autism and specialized treatment for each particular situation. Thinking in Pictures is an informative artwork and is essential in providing information about individuals living with autism.

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What I learned From the Book and What was Important from the Book

Thinking in Pictures provides very comprehensive information regarding the life experiences and overall wellbeing of autistic individuals. I learned that people with autism have very distinct and different ways of how they visualize various aspects of life. They have exceptional thinking skills that distinguish them from the average ordinary people with no unique personality traits. Their ability to have visual thinking skills enables them to be unique from average people with verbal thinking skills. As Grandin (2014) states, they have special visual skills and poor verbal skills. Although they have poor verbal skills, their distinct visual skills help the autistic individuals to understand different aspects of life better than other people through visualization of their thoughts.

Autism is a condition associated with brain development. As such, the brain development of individuals with autism vary and categorizes them into high functioning and low functioning individuals (Grandin, 2014). The overall growth of individuals in each category varies depending on how exposed they are to ordinary life. Their adaptability with systems that favor normal development also has an impact on how they grow and develop their personality.

Since autism is a medical condition, its diagnosis requires dedicated efforts and time because it starts from childhood. I have been able to learn that it is essential for parents to assess the development of their children keenly. Different traits exhibited by autistic children necessitates early diagnosis and assessment regarding the overall development of individuals with the condition. According to Grandin (2014), autistic symptoms occur as children develop, and they also vary as per gender. For instance, young children with autism tend to be resistive to affection from their mother, primarily when being held. Others grow up and have no sign of speech development, and they also cannot maintain eye contact and other very vivid symptoms.

Diagnosis for autistic children is very crucial to help them grow and develop without any intimidation. After a successful diagnosis, experts can incorporate special treatment techniques that aim to improve the traits of people with the condition. Treatment procedures help them to develop their emotional consciousness and their overall association with their environment, which is very necessary for them to improve their personality and talents.

The development of autistic individuals helps them connect with the ordinary aspects of life, and they can develop relationships and find a tract with their interests in life. Specific treatment techniques also help them handle their emotional issues. They should also get allowed to participate in programs that give them a chance to relate to other people like getting enrolled in schools, which can mold their spatial skills. And as Grandin states, autistic individuals are intellectually talented despite the considerations in their abnormalities. It is, therefore, crucial to supporting children with autism to develop their talents and personality which determines their overall growth and development

What was Challenging about The Book and Why

Despite having extensive explanation and analysis of experiences and conditions associated with autism, the book has some setbacks regarding some of its ideological development. Some aspects contradict themselves, and the report fails to meet the moral justification of what is in the book. It has a great organization of thoughts and ideas but lacks logic in some aspects and contrasts the ideas presented in other discussions in the book.

In examples, Grandin presents how well autistics are in visual thinking, and they can organize their thoughts visually while connecting factors affecting them. However, she later depicts how autistics have poor memory capacity. It cannot be logical that well organized visual ideas can lack a well-organized memory and poor representation of information retrieved. Despite the conditions of autism and lack of reception to feel and touch, individuals having autism seem to crave getting touched and put under physical pressure to satisfy their pleasure, which lacks logic.

What I Agree about the Book

The book has an impressive organization of ideas and presents good explanations regarding experiences about autism. I concur with Grandin about measures put in place to diagnose autistics and treatment techniques used suitable for helping children with autism to cope up with their conditions. The procedures help develop autistics morally, physically, and psychologically without undermining their potential as unique beings despite their abnormality in brain development. It is also agreeable that autistics exhibit a high degree of intellect; however, their exceptional visual thinking skills. Their intellectual capacity also enables them to have special abilities which other average people can lack. Their skills are vital factors necessary for their development.

What I Disagree with the Book

Because of her first-hand experience with having autism, Grandin gives extensive illustrations regarding the situations she experienced being autistic. However, she only gives her accounts based on her high functioning category experiences. All the development she undergoes is because she is a high functioning autistic and does not have reports regarding the experience of low functioning autism individuals. Although both categories have autistic conditions, their development rate and autism vary entirely and on different levels. Grandin, therefore, does not put into consideration the impact on the development of low functioning autistics who often have severe symptoms of the condition. She excludes the experiences of those individuals who might have a worse effect on autism in their life.

I also disagree with her opinion about how the average ordinary people handle and connect with animals and other people. Her advice might only rely on assumptions based on the minimal experience she has with other people. It does not inclusively contain other people's experiences on how different people connect with animals. It is also not possible for Grandin to compare human emotions with those of animals.

How the Book Relates to Materials and My Experience from the Course

As a literature work, the books offer comprehensive knowledge about the topic explained in detail. Through analyzed descriptions and ideological representation of ideas, it meets the average requirement of English literature work. It relates to materials I have read by having organized and well-structured topics on how brain development conditions affect the overall development of individuals. It also presents the necessary measures that people can use to handle cases regarding brain development to help those affected live an ordinary life. Furthermore, the experiences the author has relates to personal experiences with autistic individuals, although through observations and caregiving to the autistics I have met.

Personal Reactions, Emotions, and Experiences Related to Reading the Book

Personally, I find the book 'Thinking in Pictures' to be an informative art and provides crucial aspects of experiences by autistic people according to what they go through during their development cycle. It offers necessary actions that need implementation on how to handle people with autism and how to be knowledgeable about their emotions and relationships. Furthermore, the experience depicted by Grandin while taking care of animals shows essential traits that should get benchmarked by average ordinary people without any brain conditions. Despite her condition, Grandin also emphasizes the vital need for religion and holistic beliefs.

Moreover, I appreciate the book's diversified thoughts and ideas while presenting the facts about autism. Although Grandin has a condition related with poor verbal thinking as she states, she presents her ideas and knowledge in a very unique manner. I also think that Grandin's artwork promotes hard work and diligence regardless of what situation or medical history someone has. In spite of her autistic nature, she finds her interests in animal care and handling. She uses her unique visual thinking skills to design makeshifts used to handle cattle in ranges and other veterinary institution.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Temple Grandin's 'Thinking in pictures' is a scholarly art, she uses to give her experience with autism. She offers crucial knowledge about autism and presents information necessary for other people to emulate while relating with autistic individuals. She also exhibits fundamental factors required for the development of autistics. Grandin's exemplary personality depicts the need for people to understand the entire nature of autism. The society ought to formulate measures with an aim of supporting autistics and enable them to grow and be of importance to the community.

Reference

Grandin, T. (2014). Thinking in pictures. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.