"Thinking in Pictures" by Temple Grandin is about a woman who has used her differences to look at life, in a more creative interesting way. Autism is a disorder that affects 2 out of 1,000 people nationwide and can be diagnosed before the age of 3. As i began reading this story, i realized how much in common she has with my brother. My brother's never really been professionally diagnosed by a psychiatrist or anything, but I've pretty much raised him and diagnosed him myself as so have other people that I've spoken too and introduced him too. They have a way of thinking in which i wish i could evolve. They both think in pictures and design anything that comes to mind. Temple constructs things graphically as my brothers draws it all out in his portfolios. Before they perform any of their talents, they use their imagination and test run any kind of idea in their own imagination.
Towards the middle of this story, Temple writes about Abstract Thought. She states how autistic people have a problem coping with change. I liked hearing about what was going though her mind when graduating high school and entering college but at the same time, i think about my brother. i read ow she was bullied a lot in school and i begin to hope that, that doesn't happen to brother. I see how they already have much in common and i hope that he can learn how to cope with his differences better than she did. And if not, i hope that i in some way can help him realize that he's just as good as everyone around him, and that he's perfectly normal the way he is.
Listening to someone who has a specific kind of disorder and how they've learned to cope with it, really makes me see how someone out there, can be battling something that we would have never thought. We these days, have become so greedy and never think that maybe someone out there isn't like us. That maybe someone has a different way of thinking, an even better one. And that from us all excepting one another equally, we can learn new things, and appreciate everyone's differences and ideas that get brought to the table.
I agree with you because I also think that people these days have become greedy. We don't think too much of others around us that may be suffering from diseases such as autism. I too hope that your brother will be able to cope with his differences.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your personal connection here. I agree with you that one thing that makes Temple Grandin so interesting and impressive is the idea that her autism is in many ways a gift. As you said, "That maybe someone has a different way of thinking, an even better one." I think Temple Grandin really exemplifies that idea. I saw her speak a number of years ago and she was really incredible - sharing a whole new way to look at the world -that has, in many ways, some real advantages.
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