Temple Grandin





Understanding those with Autism
An analysis of some of Dr. Temple Grandin's work: “Thinking in Pictures” and “Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships”.

The purpose of the paper is to further my knowledge of autism and learn some new techniques that can help my autistic students. I chose this author (Dr. Temple Grandin) because she has autism, she has learned how to describe what having autism is like and offers valuable advice for working with individuals that fall under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

For seventeen years I have worked with people that have autism and feel like I have a fairly good understanding of their behaviors and need for routines. However, I don’t have a complete understanding of the visual thinking skills that people with autism have or their concrete literal ways of thinking. I don’t believe that autistics should have to become “normal” to live in this world with everyone else. I believe that people who are a part of an autistic persons life should do their best to be informed of how they think and how to help them become an accepted and productive member of their community.

In Thinking in Pictures the author describes her view of the world as being in pictures (visual thinking) like a video running in her head, she states “words are like a second language to me”. The two articles were similar in these two ideas of visual thinking and in the need for routine. The visual thinking uses pictures which run in order of first then each following step in sequence. This idea helps understand the unwritten rules need for routine. In my classroom I use board maker (a picture symbol dictionary) and also take pictures of my students involved in daily activities to help my students with autism with their daily routines. I knew this helped them understand what happens next but I didn’t fully comprehend that the pictures can be a literal translation of how they picture the world. One of my students continually draws pictures; I can see his translation of his world through his art. The author has a doctorate degree in animal science and she writes, “I credit my visualization abilities with helping me understand the animals I work with”. Temple works as an equipment designer for the livestock industry and her ability to visualize has helped her greatly in her career.

In “Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships Temple describes the rigidity in behavior and thinking among people with autism. They have a need for routines which can be explained also with visual thinking where the pictures need to be run in order. She describes how people with autism can learn the basic rules of social conversation such as say “please” and “thank you”. The problem is not learning the rules but understanding how to think flexibly. She states, “Children and adults with ASD have problems learning flexibility in applying rules to different people in different situations”. She goes on to explain, “They have difficulty understanding the concept that sometimes it is okay to break a rule”.

The two ideas of "Visual Thinking" and the "Need for Routine" in these two articles shared a similar idea of putting situations in order so that the person with autism can deal with day to day life.

This author has given me some great ideas and insight into the social aspects and visual thinking of people with autism. I will look for more of her writings to help further my knowledge in this subject.

Video of a TED Talk
Grandin, Temple (February 2010). Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds. 19 minute video. Retrieved 2/25/10 from http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds.html. Quoting from the Website:


 * Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.

Author
The initial version of this Wiki Page was developed by Misti Phelps.