The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed

Awesome book!
I’ve been avoiding Temple Grandin’s books for years, all because of the title of her book, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism. With that book, I thought, “All autistic people can’t think in pictures. Autistic people have to be like regular people, and be divided into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic people.” Plus, I thought, “Even though I’m extremely visual, I couldn’t hold a picture in my brain if my life depended on it. I’m not like those artists who can see pictures of what they draw before they draw it.” But, I bought the book anyway, because so many people seem to have liked Temple’s books.And then, in the introduction, page 3, Temple had written this: “When I wrote Thinking in Pictures in 1995, I mistakenly thought that everybody on the autism spectrum was a photorealistic visual thinker like me. When I started interviewing other people about how they recalled information, I realized I was wrong.”Wow. Temple became my hero for life, and she did it by page 3. Not only did she completely address my every issue that I ever had with her writing, but she explained it in a way that I totally understood where she was coming from when she guessed that all autistic people think in pictures over a decade ago. And, later in the book, she gives an explanation for someone who thinks visually like me, but who can’t hold a picture in their head. It’s “pattern thinker,” and I really like that term, because it really describes me. And it takes a lot of courage to say, “I was wrong.” Most people can’t even utter those three words, so it gave me a lot of respect for Temple Grandin. I still think that eventually Temple will find some autistic kinesthetic thinkers, too, but that’s not in this book.And, this book is awesome. Temple is obsessed about finding out what about her brain and her personality differs from other people. She has offered herself up to many brain scans, and she’s read thousands of technical articles about autism as research. Because of this unique combination, this book provides a unique take on autism that you won’t find anywhere else, and it also explains boring, overly critical university research on autism in a friendly and uplifting way.I liked how this book recommends that we match autistic kids’ abilities with activities. A lot of autistic kids are really underutilized in their strengths. Here’s one way the book expresses it: “I’ve seen these cases–kids who are considered to have severe behavior problems at school until you give them math lessons that meet them where their brains are. Then their behavior normalizes, and they become productive and engaged–maybe even model students.”It gives a lot of techniques that I’ve never heard of too. One was blinking fast, so that you get a bunch of pictures in your head, instead of a steady stream of information. That can help with sensitivities. Another was wearing different shades of glasses, using different colored lights, or setting the background on your computer screen to different colors, until you find the colors or the shades that best complement your brain.This is the first book that I’ve read from Temple, but it definitely won’t be my last. I loved this book, and heartily recommend it to everyone.Pros:+A great first read on autism, or even a great twentieth book+Takes antiseptic, critical research on autism and presents it in a non-depressing way+A great narrative about Temple GRandin’s life+Has good information on what you can try to help with autism sensitiviesCons:-Like all books currently on autism, this is probably incomplete

Practical, Science- and Experience-Based Insight
This book discusses some fascinating developments in understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder from a neurological / biological standpoint (while at the same time stressing that there’s a lot more research needed). Some parts early in are bogged down with statistics and hard to take in, but I loved that Grandin explored the science of autism / autistic traits, which I think is key to understanding and accepting behavior from a biological standpoint instead of seeing it a someone’s “fault.”Using her own experience and scientific research, Grandin also offers lots of practical insights on how different people think, as well as how people with autism can not only be accommodated (autism as a disorder / disability with certain deficits) but also be appreciated (autism as the capability for unique and useful thinking approaches).A good read for people who wish to start understanding autism.

è o testemunho de uma pessoa lúcida, competente e que lutou c/ o problema de dentro dele. Perfeito. Muito Bom

This is a great read from front to back. This is the book for you if you’re at all interested in the subject of autism. My favourite thing about this book is that it is firmly planted in the latest science: all of Grandin’s claims and examples are well-documented with the sources listed in the back. (After you finish the book, you can spend time going through some of the sources too!) It contains very balanced and logical content and does an amazing job of revealing the course of future of study in this field. Clearly, Grandin and her co-writer Richard Panek have done their research and put a lot of effort into organizing it into something incredibly comprehensive for the average reader.Instead of focusing on the specific bounds of diagnostic labels, Grandin looks to a future where autistic children and adults are instead assessed, helped, and encouraged based on their specific strengths and weaknesses. She foresees a future where autism, as well as other neurological conditions, is diagnosed biologically through brain imaging technology which will provide better understanding of individual brains. The book contains interesting anecdotes, personal examples, and even visual representations of some of the subject matter. Best of all, it provides information about different types of thinking that applies to all humans – not just to autistics. If you hadn’t already considered that even “neurotypical” people experience and process the world in vastly different ways, this book will illustrate how.I would recommend “The Autistic Brain” to everyone I know. Without being overly sensational, it presents autism in a more positive light by describing how the autistic brain works and the wide range of specialized skills a person with autism may have. It would be a great introduction for parents or teachers thinking about the educational and occupational future of both their autistic and non-autistic children.This was by far the best book I’ve read in the past year.

J’adore son ton direct, la critique des étiquettes psychopathologiques et le côté scientifique de son approche. Trois canaux de perception : visuel, auditif et visuel structuré qui est différent du kinesthesique. Sa description du cerveau est sommaire mais suffisante. Je vous le conseille vivement.