Customer Reviews
Fascinating Book - Very Accessible 
2008-03-28
Dr. Grandin lectures on animal husbandry as well as autism. I've seen her speak in person. She's a very interesting individual. Her way of speaking comes through in the book. She writes very well for the layman.
She covers her career, her interests, and her autism. If you are interested in animal husbandry, interesting women, autism, then this is a good book. If you have autistic kids and feel really under it, its very reassuring to see how this one autistic person has done very well for herself, thanks to early intervention by her parents as well as determination and intelligence on her part.
I also like her personally, because I have had mixed feelings about being an omnivore and am glad she's out there making the experience of animals in our food production a lot less harrowing.
Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures 2008-03-06
Excellent book and tool for those dealing with adult Asperger's. Until reading this book, there was no pragmatic connection with my brother, 53 years old, who has been isolated from family all his life due to his inability to see cause and effect. Visiting with psychologists in his early years did nothing to help parents understand his lack of emotional ties or connectivity to anything. He was labeled as very intelligent in certain fields (science, telecommunications, automotive knowledge)but had no common sense and kept repeating same mistakes over and over.
He was incarcerated for 17 years for sexual abuse of a female girlfriend and we could not understand how he failed to get parole or help while in prison while some of those serving time for far worse crimes, including murder, were paroled after only half the time. We now know that sensory problems and being able to "go with the flow" in the prison system kept him incarcerated to serve his entire sentence.
Luckily, family was able to run across articles about Asperger's and did research on it concluding that so many adults such as my brother had not been identified with this symptom. We are much more successful with dealing with him after reading Temple Grandin's book and have pegged her thinking to be very similar to my brother's--he also thinks in pictures but could not describe it and frequently did not know what we were talking about since he was unable to feel emotions as related by Ms. Grandin. He has read her book also and is reading it a second time. It has given the family insight into our brother's condition for the first time in 53 years and we are so very thankful for this book.
A remarkable title. 2008-03-01
A friend recommendeded this book for me. I hesitated for a while before buying it - but once picked up I can't put it down. The book brings me to scope of thinkings that is beyond my imagination. I can't wait to recommend this book to my friends even before I have finished it for the first time. I've now re-read this for two to three times, and each time my mind was further enlightened. Sometimes I give away books after reading but this will be a copy I will keep and read over and over again.
Fascinating 2008-01-23
Fascinating insight into the autistic mind and the different ways of being human. Also provides insights into how more "normal" minds work by contrast. Highly recommended.
Very Good Book! 2008-01-14
Temple Grandin's book is amazing! I can barely wrap my mind around some of the things she says, but I really learned a lot about autism. I highly recommend this book to everyone - not just someone researching autism - but everyone. Our whole book group loved it.
Excellent Autism Book 2007-10-19
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.
In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in
Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.
Temple Grandin is an inspiration 
2007-06-08
Temple Grandin's "Thinking in Pictures", is a must read for anyone who is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her book is well written and provides a lot of insight into what life is like for a young adult on the spectrum. This has been especially helpful for my husband and I as our first Aspie (we have four) is heading off to college and the "real" world. Definitely worth the money.
Amazing 2007-05-21
Read this and Autism is more understandable (though still a mystery for those who do not have Autism) It also helps one to know better how to work with and interact with anyone having Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Aside from learning more about Autism, you will enjoy the writing and the stories used by the author.
More Conceptual than She Thinks 2007-03-28
This book provides fascinating, intelligent, entertaining insights into the autistic mind.
Grandin is actually very conceptual, as the ability to use language requires, but appropriate concepts and contexts are difficult for her to define, seemingly due to a sensory system that leads to focusing on details rather than a broader scope. She and psychologists in general simply think she is largely non-conceptual due to their inadequate understanding of concepts, language, etc.
Actually, we all think in pictures; however, most of us use generalized, essentialized pictures most of the time for efficiency.
A grasp of how concepts are formed and organized, and how they are the essence of language, will help greatly. Best and easy to read for effective general psychology is "The Psychology of Self-Esteem," by Branden. Self-esteem is acquired from experience, not by choosing it. Emotions result from thoughts, not vice versa. The best and easy to read for the nature of concepts and language is "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology," by Rand, and then for a comparison with other theories and how they go wrong "Evidence of the Senses," by Kelly.
must read 2007-03-08
gives insight and hope for parents of kids with autism. also realization of what kids with aspergers can accomplish. this woman has a phd!!!
