Visual Thinking

One

What Is Visual Thinking?

When I was born in 1947, the medical profession had not started applying an autism diagnosis to children like me. I was exhibiting most of the behaviors now fully associated with autism, including lack of eye contact, temper tantrums, lack of social contact, sensitivity to touch, and the appearance of deafness. Chief among my symptoms was late speech, which led the neurologist who examined me when I was two and a half years old to conclude that I was "brain damaged." I've since learned that a good deal of my behavior at the time (tantrums, stuttering sounds, screaming, and biting) was connected to the frustration I experienced due to my inability to talk. I was fortunate that a lot of early speech therapy eventually helped me gain speech, but I still had no idea that not everyone thought like me, or that the world could be roughly divided into two kinds of thinkers: people who think in pictures and patterns (more on the difference later), and people who think in words.

Word-based thinking is sequential and linear. People who are primarily verbal thinkers tend to comprehend things in order, which is why they often do well in school, where learning is mostly structured sequentially. They are good at understanding general concepts and have a good sense of time, though not necessarily a good sense of direction. Verbal thinkers are the kids with perfectly organized binders and the adults whose computer desktops have neat rows of folders for every project. Verbal thinkers are good at explaining the steps they take to arrive at an answer or to make a decision. Verbal thinkers talk to themselves silently, also known as self-talk, to organize their world. Verbal thinkers easily dash off emails, make presentations. They talk early and often.

By default, verbal people tend to be the ones who dominate conversations, and are hyper-organized and social. It makes sense that they are drawn to and tend to succeed in the kind of

Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Animals in Translation, Animals Make Us Human, The Autistic Brain, and Thinking in Pictures, which became an HBO movie starring Claire Danes. Dr. Grandin has been a pioneer in improving the welfare of farm animals as well as an outspoken advocate for the autism community. She resides in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Praise for Visual Thinking:

Ms. Grandin has. . . written an indictment of America for its witting or unwitting dismissal of those hidden gifts. . . . Ms. Grandin crafts a strong depiction of visual thinking, assembling personal history, historical anecdotes, scientific studies and societal trends. At stake is more than manufacturing, but a vivid recognition of the full breadth of human ingenuity. Wall Street Journal

All of us could benefit from realizin that we need different kinds of minds to solve society's biggest problems. Hopefully this book will inspire readers to look at the world in different ways so that we might better recognize the many assets each of us brings to the table. Science

Drawing on cutting-edge research, the history of science, recent discoveries in creativity and innovation, and her own lived experience, Grandin has created a powerful and provocative testament to the diverse coalition of minds we'll need to face the mounting challenges of the twenty-first century. Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

Those who believe that human intelligence rests on language are in for a sophisticated lesson from Temple Grandin, who better than anyone knows all the other ways of grasping the world. An absolute eye-opener. Frans de Waal, author of Mama s Last Hug and Different

Temple Grandin has concocted a delicious dish of provocative ideas and new research, served in clear, logical, fluid prose. What I love most about her work is her seamless fusion of scientific detachment and passionate empathy. Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

If you want to understand how a self- described 'visual thinker' apprehends, understands, and explains the world, Temple Grandin's fine book is for you. Howard Gardner, author of Multiple Intelligences and Frames of Mind

Praise for Temple Grandin: