By Katelyn McTagueThere is an older work, an autobiography written in 1996 by Temple Grandin, that to this day is an excellent resource. Temple Grandin was born in the late 1940s and was diagnosed later in life with autism. Despite difficulties with her perception and understanding of the world, Grandin was able to make it through college, earn a Ph.D. and revolutionized the slaughterhouse industry. She has written several books about her life and what it is like to be autistic. She explains the way in which she sees the world and the obstacles she has to overcome to live in the “normal” world. One of her personal narratives is Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports From My Life With Autism. She explains with great depth, eloquence and clarity the struggles she has had to face to live in this world with autism. Reading her true first-hand account gave me much more insight into the thinking processes autistic people. Grandin understands the ways in which she is different and how to communicate these differences in a manner that non-autistic people will be able to comprehend. She explains that her thought process is primarily visual. Words and verbal language are foreign to her, and must be translated into a visual medium to fit her style of thinking. Grandin’s book was like a guidebook for learning about autism and learning more about my brother.
Grandin was the first child in her family, and she presented her mother with a series of unfathomable problems. She would shy away from physical contact, threw tantrums, and loved being left alone in her crib or carriage. Grandin showed signs of classic autism by the time she was two. She had, “no speech, poor eye contact, the appearance of deafness, no interest in people and was constantly staring off into space” (43). Autism was almost entirely unheard of, so young Temple Grandin was diagnosed as “brain-damaged.” Her mother was very concerned and worked hard to get her daughter all the help she needed, even though there were hardly any programs offered that would be of any help to autistic children. Grandin’s mother found the best teachers and schools that would work with her daughter. She refused to place her daughter in an institution during a time when this was the only course of actions suggested by the specialists. Grandin had to learn to control her behavior, while her mother and teachers had to learn to read the signs. Noise and too much sensory stimulation were too difficult for Temple to tolerate. Over the years Temple came to realized she was different and developed a series of coping mechanisms to help her function in society.
Grandin, like most autistic individuals, found personal relationships difficult. In order to help her understand human interaction she used visualization and personal experience. While at college she was washing bay windows as one of her jobs. In order to wash these particular windows she had to crawl through a sliding door and ease along the window. One day she became trapped between the panes of glass and had to ease the doors carefully to prevent the glass from shattering. While she was trapped it was impossible to communicate through the glass. Grandin explained, “begin autistic is like being trapped like this. The windows symbolized my feelings of disconnection from other people and helped me cope with the isolation” (36). She used the imagery to help make sense of the senseless.
This autobiography covers an array of topics, all of which are informative and interesting. Along with her own personal story, Grandin covers the different classifications along the autistic spectrum, possible reasons and causes for autism, and how it is treated. I would recommend this book to everyone from those who want to start learning about autism, to those who are already well versed on the subject. Temple Grandin is an inspiration and a real positive influence in the world of autism.
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