The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum | Dr. Temple Grandin | Talks at Google
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Published 2014-01-18
When Temple Grandin was born in 1947, autism had only just been named. Today it is more prevalent than ever, with one in 88 children diagnosed on the spectrum. And our thinking about it has undergone a transformation in her lifetime: Autism studies have moved from the realm of psychology to neurology and genetics, and there is far more hope today than ever before thanks to groundbreaking new research into causes and treatments. Now Temple Grandin reports from the forefront of autism science, bringing her singular perspective to a thrilling journey into the heart of the autism revolution.
Weaving her own experience with remarkable new discoveries, Grandin introduces the neuroimaging advances and genetic research that link brain science to behavior, even sharing her own brain scan to show us which anomalies might explain common symptoms. We meet the scientists and self-advocates who are exploring innovative theories of what causes autism and how we can diagnose and best treat it. Grandin also highlights long-ignored sensory problems and the transformative effects we can have by treating autism symptom by symptom, rather than with an umbrella diagnosis. Most exciting, she argues that raising and educating kids on the spectrum isn't just a matter of focusing on their weaknesses; in the science that reveals their long-overlooked strengths she shows us new ways to foster their unique contributions.
From the "aspies" in Silicon Valley to the five-year-old without language, Grandin understands the true meaning of the word spectrum. The Autistic Brain is essential reading from the most respected and beloved voices in the field.
All Comments (21)
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I have autism and oh my lord. This lady is the most incredible person that I’ve ever seen. It’s inspiring to know that she doesn’t care about the stigma. :))
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I have dyslexia, I wasn't diagnosed with this until I was 50. I knew something was wrong, but I consider myself just stupid when it came to reading. English was very hard for me, I just eek through. In all my other classes, I made excellent grades. Not all dyslexia people see words jumping. My dyslexia works like this. I must break the words down into components. Syllables, but my retention rate is 97 %. I'm a visual learner. In 1993, I went through a battery of tests. The psychologist who did the testing was amazed at my ability to overcome my dyslexia. I scored very high in intelligence. Algebra was totally confusing to me, I could get the answer quickly in my head, but showing on papers didn't make sense. Later in life, I became a professional pilot, instructor pilot, and examiner. Teased all my life as a big dumb kid. Don't sell people with dyslexia short. We are far smarter than you think
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Love it. " Treat a problem at its source rather than treating the symptom" Brilliant woman. A gift to humanity.
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I am an autistic schizophrenic with depression. I am not a victim, I am a survivor. Until age 53 I had no idea I am autistic, for years I thought I was cursed for something I had done in a former life, and to make it worse I was encouraged to believe this by relatives who claimed to be spiritualists. My father was violent, so was my mother's boyfriend, along with years of bullying in both primary and secondary schools. I cannot work, I have no friends and I have no relationship by choice, too much grief and heartache. But the key thing is: I have no addictions to drugs, alcohol or even cigarettes. I live in my own space and I am happy. Best wishes to all my fellow autistics, and schizophrenics, and depressives. Never give up, you are much stronger than you think.
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The fact that this video only has 235,000 views is not only tragic, but a testament to society's shrinking attention span.
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Work life is very tough for people like us. Especially when you are "shy" (quiet), and bad at selling yourself. And in my country, all the companies are the same - people are just people to them. The sickness of today's time, everyone is expected to be the same.
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Dr. Grandin, I stumbled across your TedTalk a few years ago. You were talking about cattle shoots. I saw what I was missing all these years. She is just like you!!. My 39 year old daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit without hyper activity in second grade. When I heard you I saw my daughter. I called her and told her to go back and get diagnosed. She was diagnosed with autism. Aspergers. Thank you for sharing your story and rewriting my daugher's story.
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I loved the movie. It gave me such an insight on how to raise my autistic daughter. She was diagnosed at age 4 with a score of 18 on the aspberger syndrome. Because of Dr. Grand in I didn't allow her to. Just rock back and forth in the corner just stemming all day. I make her help with little things. I try to keep her constructively busy
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I began to think "what is this even about" because she was sort of all over the place, then I realised I didn't really care about that cause everything she said was really interesting
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I’m pretty sure I’m autistic, but I’m not sure I’ll pursue a diagnosis. I can totally relate to the things temple says. She’s a really smart woman. I love how she talks about how we need diversity of thought, problem solving, etc.
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I was diagnosed at age 55, and I cried tears of joy, realizing that I wasn't broken, I was just different. I'm what used to be called Asperger's. Early verbal skills and a voracious reader. So socially inept I scheduled a needed tonsillectomy to coincide with my senior prom so I would have an excuse for not going. My daughter is also on the spectrum but opposite Dr Grandin in that she has aphantasia and can't visualize. Yet she somehow picked up on my love for electronics and now builds high end ribbon mics. Dr Grandin is an absolute gift to the world. In this video she made me realize I need to work on my resume. It's too historical and conversational. For those on the spectrum, embrace your uniqueness. I've spent 40 years as a programmer and I am now writing a book on the subject. My autism is my superpower.
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I will never forget that I met this incredible woman, God bless Temple Grandin!
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'If you wanna kids to doing interesting stuff your gonna have to SHOW 'EM interesting stuff' - Dr. Temple Grandin
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towards the end where she said she went into depression for six months over a failed design of hers. this hit home hard. Its good to know I'm not the only one who takes my own failures to heart and to the depths that my failures eat at me. Bravo Dr. Grandin!
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She blows me away every time!
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So funny. I'm 32 years old and I get in to situations in professional settings where internally I sound just like what she's saying here.. "You just don't DO things like that, because you look like an 8 year old!" I think we've all felt that way about our coworkers at one point or another!
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To be different in a common social society, is hard..... The difficulty comes at first from simply wanting and even wishing to be like everyone else. Then after how ever long it takes, you begin the hard individual and very personal inner journey towards... Acceptance . Then hopefully you emerge comprehending, who and what... You... Are.... Then you know,.... Life begins
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Temple is one of the most significant figures in animal ethics and ethology. Get to know her work if you dont already.
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there was a day when I asked myself the question "is it possible that others think another way than I do and could it be possible that I train my mind to think different?" - After a few sleepless nights I got into this topic... Now I know it isn't possible that another person thinks the same way I do so I currently think of how people can accurately express what they think exactly while not totally getting out of context for others.
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I love this, we need ALL types of brains for our society
