The Autistic Brain: Understanding Autism and the Power of Neurodiversity from One Of The Most Accomplished And Well-Known Adults With Autism

Interesting and helpful detail. Found the idea of looking at the positives rather than negatives to be enlightening as too often it's only the negatives given which can be soul destroying. Also interesting to read the difference between the outer social reactions compared to the inner behavioural reaction taking place. Labelling everyone with autism again as if all one category seems a step backwards and it also sets that label instead of considering each person for their own merits.

This book is a delight from start to finish. It doesn't only mention all you need to know about autism but challenges preconceptions and the dangers of labeling but also gives sound advice about how to see the disorder in a positive light. Tenple Grandin is an inspiration to all of us whether autistic or not as she emphasizes the fact that we should look at the talents and abilities in a person and nurture them rather than insist on deficits. She also suggests that today's education system is too unilateral in that it favors the 'word-fact thinkers', leaving so many people feeling they don't fit into the mould. Her idea is that there are more than one way to think: in picture, in words and in patterns, which challenges IQ tests and the way we teach children in school and raise them at home. It's a thought-provoking read which was very well written and I will recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing more about the diversity of brains and their individual thinking processes. Fabulous read!

This book was a nice read but it was a difficult read at the same time. It is very informative and does explain the autistic brain very well however the way it was written was quite overwhelming for me. I suffer from visual stress so I find it very difficult to read on white paper and the text was very close together and there was a lot of writing on each page but there was also plenty of visuals in there to support proccessing. This book is good to read in chunks, its a nice book to add to my collection of books on autism

Temple Grandin has been a great role model for people n the autistic spectrum almost all her adult life, a fact celebrated in the recent movie about her entitled Temple. However in this book she explores, in her typical systematic and thorough way, what it is about the autistic brain that makes it so unique and special. And it seems that she has truly found the key... "Patterns" Temple asserts and backs this up with all kinds of evidence that the one thing all autistic brains excel at is noticing patterns. As Temple waxes lyrical on the importance of this strength and of helping the growing young person to develop this strength and then link it up with other ideas I found myself thinking here at last is a way to get this message aross to educators and others who spend so much time dismissing skills they cannot understand so of the millions of words written about autism over the years perhaps this is just the one word we need to shout from the rooftops. People with autistic spectrum disorders are BRILLIANT at spotting PATTERNS. So the only thing we parents and educators need to worry about is identifying what kind of patterns they are good at spotting and then developing this skill. Don't try to teach a fish to walk in other words. Celebrate it's ability to swim better than you could ever do and give it an ocean to swim in. (Not a tiny fishbowl) There are lots of other excellent and important messages in this book and I am promoting it to top of my list of books to recommend both to those new to ASD and those experienced in the field.

This is heavily science based (which I love) the only section that wasn't relevant to me was the school/university sections. Extremely well written. The book was recommended to me after my late diagnosis. Lots of history coupled with personal experiences.

Superb readable book - based on excellent update of really complex but fascinating research that Temple (and an autistic professor) puts in simple terms and analogies so we all get it. Her heartfelt but eyeopening stories from her own life make it uniquely real in a way that either professionals alone or autistic life stories rarely can - I can't recommend it enough. I must look up to see if she ever comes to talk in the UK. As a parent it makes me struggle with thinking what I could have replayed differently to give my darling son the best chances in life - but am accurately aware most of our last 17 years has just been a fight to get the right help and not rejection (from school and peers) - so so hard.I bless everyone ahead of me to have an easier path...thanks to research and books like this you may get there.

I was late-diagnosed with autism as an adult, I was eager to learn as much as possible about autism to better understand what was going on in my brain. This was one of the books I purchased. It brings interesting information about the physiology of the brain and comparisons between neurotypical and neurodivergent people. But I found it quite hard to read as the language is very advanced and not for the average person. There is no doubt that the author is lightening intelligent, I just had to give up on some chapters.

1e UK 27MAR2014 pp.vii+240 19mm An autistic expert in Autism identifies 3 types of brain capabilities in thinking and how these greatly differ in individuals. Although many with ASD are at a disability as many are high acievers aending up in academia. 1) word/fact thinkers 2) object visual thinkers 3) pattern visual thinkers children's chasses should be divided into these streams and taught to their strengths for all teaching venues; in the whole population. We can get ride of the "I'm not good at maths" trope. They were taught badlly. The appendix includes a questionaire to measure your Autistic-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to possibly eliminate your ASD tendency to be diagnosed as having ASD.

Thank you so much for spending a lifetime supporting animals and humans. Keep on rolling. Dylan

Excellent book with so many insights about autistic brain

Hi, I'm Giulia Zatti. I'm not an autistic person but I am an OCD sufferer. I read the book “The autistic brain” cause I'm really interested in psychology and how the mind and the brain work. I'm also interested in behaviors, and above all in the work of Temple Grandin! I found the book really enlightening!! My attention was captured in particular by the following quotes: “(...) I can medicate for the anxiety somewhat, but I can't make it go away. So as long as I have to live with it, I can at least do so secure in the knowledge that the threat isn't real. The feeling of the threat is real – and that's a huge difference.”. I found this quote so related to my anxious behavior. Then here's another quote: “(...) For some people, a label can become the thing that defines them. It can easily lead to what I call a handicapped mentality. When a person gets a diagnosis of Asperger's, for instance, he might start to think, What's the point? or I'll never hold down a job. His whole life starts to revolve around what he can't do instead of what he can do, or at least what he can try to improve.”. In fact there's a huge stigma about mental conditions. And here's a final quote: “(…) Extreme distress at small changes? That was me as a kid. Fixated interests? Boy, I had that. Hypersensitivity to sensory input? Let me tell you about the squeeze machine.”. As I wrote before, I found the book enlightening.. really a source of inspiration.. And the last chapter “From the Margins to the Mainstream”, where matters like Education and Employment are talked through, made me better understand the condition and gave me a kind of hope..! Giulia Zatti

I would rate this book as one of the best I have read about autism. Temple Grandin is amazing. The information is very comprehensive and relevant.

Brand New, great condition.