I watched the movie “Temple Grandin” last night (the famous high functioning autistic woman) and have been reading about her since she was raised to prominence by Oliver Sacks in his book “An Anthropologist on Mars”.

Her claim is that she cannot think in words, only in pictures and, while most of us, to some degree, think in pictures (or at least are conscious of it) she claims to think exclusively in pictures – which is why she can understand animal minds so easily.

This concept (thinking in pictures) is fundamental to Tony Buzan’s ideas of mind mapping. He claims that all great original thinkers thought in pictures (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci) and to demonstrate its potential he has used his mind mapping techniques on troubled underachieving children who, after 6 months, manifested improvements up to 5 times greater than what would have been expected.

Grandin claims that word thinking masks or disengages the primary instinct of picture (or sensory) thinking such that our thoughts are largely restricted to what words allow us to think.

Maybe our obsession with language skills blinds us (pun intended) to the brain’s primary motivation – sensory based thinking - to the point that (as Grandin claims) we devalue education in art.

Here she is on TED

Annie Anthrax wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 11:15am:

Sorry to hear about your daughter. Grandin herself does stress that she is not cured of her autism and its near certain that autistic people will never be socially integrated (not in the neuro-typical sense). That's the brute fact of the disorder. However, as Grandin reiterates over and over, that does not mean the autistic person cannot be happy and live a fulfilled life... As Grandin's mother insisted and fought family and doctors to prove... "Temple is different not less"... And that is how Grandin has lived her life.

I don't see any reason to think that Temple Grandin is unhappy... On the contrary, she seems positively enlivened, passionate and animated in her quest for animal rights and the advancement of autistic people. How many neuro-typical people do you know who wouldn't achieve even a fraction of what Grandin has done... Who have to live with a feeling of emptiness even with all the "benefits" of "normal" social integration.

You're a classy dude, Imperium.

No thanks. You make me sick to my stomach as it is.

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 1:19pm:

Actually that's exactly where I first read the term. I have a close family member who has Asperger's.

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 1:56pm:

No one seems to mind admitting it these days... whether they have the disorder or not, I'm guessing... It's cool to count the likes of Einstein and Mozart as "brothers".

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 2:10pm:

Sure... But if you want to achieve something that requires attention to detail and a lot of time, it sure helps to have a naturally extraordinarily focussed mind... There are countless thousands more incredibly intelligent people without Asperger's who do bugger all with their lives...

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 2:10pm:

Yep... Or collecting strange objects... Like matchboxes or (as an Asperger on the radio the other day admitted) empty underarm spray canisters.

Interestingly, Grandin herself pours scorn on computer gaming for exactly the reason you're alluding to. It wastes or distracts a potentially gifted mind from doing something significant with his innate capacity to focus.

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 2:30pm:

Wouldn't dream of it

aikmann4 wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 2:30pm:

That's the great surprise in life... When the one with the average IQ who becomes motivated to achieve something and doesn't let go finds he exceeds his own expectations.

When the need is great...

"Possunt, quia posse videntur" - they can because they think they can