In the forward of *Thinking in Pictures,* renowned British neurologist, Oliver Sacks, describes Temple Grandin's work as "a deeply moving and fascinating book because it provides a bridge between our world and hers, and allows us a glimpse into a quite other sort of mind." (xviii) Grandin's writings offers readers a rare and luminously clear account of her internal world. Her mind seems to function in distinctly different ways than those of non-autistics, and these differences are both rewarding and debilitating.
However, this book is not just a personal autobiography, but aims to educate readers on key components of the entire spectrum of Autism. For that reason, Grandin devotes sections of her book to the mentality of livestock, diagnosing Autism, and biochemistry. By including these subjects along with personal …show more content…
Temple Grandin's thoughts are visual, and her mental concepts are stored in photographic images and videos. The order of concept formation begins with first hand experience. Material objects, straight forward actions such as jumping, and adverbs are very concrete, and Grandin stores all instances of the concept in a chronological, categorized mental catalogue. (12) However, unlike a non-autistic individual, Grandin never creates a generalized *prototype* of the overarching concept. In *Metaphors We Live By,* authors Lakoff and Johnson describe prototypes as:
> [Eleanor] Rosch uses [prototypes] in her theory of human categorization (1977). Her experiments indicate that people categorize objects, not in set-theoretical terms, but in terms of prototypes and family resemblances. For example, small flying singing birds, like sparrows, robins, etc., are prototypical birds. Chickens, ostriches, and penguins are birds but are not central members of the category—they are nonprototypical birds. (Lakoff
However, this book is not just a personal autobiography, but aims to educate readers on key components of the entire spectrum of Autism. For that reason, Grandin devotes sections of her book to the mentality of livestock, diagnosing Autism, and biochemistry. By including these subjects along with personal …show more content…
Temple Grandin's thoughts are visual, and her mental concepts are stored in photographic images and videos. The order of concept formation begins with first hand experience. Material objects, straight forward actions such as jumping, and adverbs are very concrete, and Grandin stores all instances of the concept in a chronological, categorized mental catalogue. (12) However, unlike a non-autistic individual, Grandin never creates a generalized *prototype* of the overarching concept. In *Metaphors We Live By,* authors Lakoff and Johnson describe prototypes as:
> [Eleanor] Rosch uses [prototypes] in her theory of human categorization (1977). Her experiments indicate that people categorize objects, not in set-theoretical terms, but in terms of prototypes and family resemblances. For example, small flying singing birds, like sparrows, robins, etc., are prototypical birds. Chickens, ostriches, and penguins are birds but are not central members of the category—they are nonprototypical birds. (Lakoff