Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism

“I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures.”

Grandin introduces her story with an explanation of her thinking pattern. She processes ideas in visual images rather than language, to understand concepts. Grandin’s visual memory includes details, and she refers to this VCR tape for memory retrieval. Words without concrete pictures, such as the word “an,” create more difficulties in understanding.

“People throughout the world are on a continuum of visualization skills ranging from next to none, to seeing vague generalized pictures, to seeing semi-specific pictures, to seeing, as in my case, in very specific pictures.”

Although similarities exist regarding thinking patterns for those with autism, not everyone with autism thinks identically. People with and without autism think along a spectrum, with varying degrees of visualization. Grandin’s thinking represents a strong capacity for visual thinking.

“It appears that at one end of the spectrum, autism is primarily a cognitive disorder, and at the other end, it is primarily a sensory processing disorder.” 

Cognition refers to mental activities, such as thinking. Grandin’s struggle with abstract thought is an example of a cognitive difficulty. Sensory processing involves what happens when the body experiences sensory information, such as sight and sound, and how the brain processes that information. An example of a sensory processing difficulty for Grandin is her sensitivity to high-pitch sounds.