Everything Temple Grandin learns and does is
linked to her visual intelligence. Growing up, this strength allowed her to learn more
challenging and abstract concepts.
Associational thinking is what helped
Grandin visualize and understand new words. Each word was associated with a picture in her mind.
For example, the verb jumping is associated with her memory of jumping hurdles during school
field day. Associational thinking could also sometimes lead to what she calls inappropriate
images, such as the adverb quickly, which makes her think of Nestles Quik. As she learned and
practiced, Temple Grandin put together more and more associations that built meaning into words
and phrases.
Abstract concepts also had to be turned into pictures. Grandin
describes learning the Lords Prayer and assigning a specific visual image to each part. Her
example is the power and the glory, which in her mind is represented by an electrical tower
and a rainbow. Amusingly, the thou art in heaven line is visualized as God sitting above the
clouds, painting on an easelmaking literal art! These kinds of concrete images, each associated
with an abstract phrase or concept, allow Grandin to understand these complex ideas in a way
that works for her brain.
Verbal thinking is not one of Grandins strengths,
as she says. However, some individuals with Aspergers syndrome or autism do respond to verbal
categories. In fact, Temple Grandin uses categories to sort verbal information, such as jokes,
into funny/hit or not funny/miss categories. A verbal thinker would also respond not to
detailed information or scientific evidence, but to clear categories for items. She gives the
example of a patient being told, The pink pill is making you sick, so try the blue pill. Two
clear categories"makes me sick" and "has not yet been tested"can then be put
into place.
No comments:
Post a Comment