Learning About Autism example essay topic

7/1/2005 LBS 300 Autism Before completing the assignment of reading "Thinking in Pictures", by Temple Grandin, I did not have much knowledge about autism. My only understanding was autism was some sort of neurological disorder that is seen similar to mentally handicapped individuals to someone with little understanding, like myself. I am very thankful to have been given an assignment like this one that gives me more knowledge of something I should already have in my line of work (though I am sure that was the whole purpose of the assignment, to educate the ignorant). I now have a better understanding of the cause, learning process and functioning of different levels of this defect. It was very interesting to learn that those who suffer from autism see the world very different from those who do not have autism. Their over sensitivity to sight and sound must be very difficult for them to deal with and does give good reasoning to their sudden outbursts as children.

The over sensitivity to touch also, how frustrating to the parents of these children! This could be a sign of a child not feeling well or having some other type of medical illness so it is understandable how autism was commonly misdiagnosed in the early stages of learning about this medical problem. In other classes, I have learned about people learning by different senses, such as visual learners, auditory learners and the "hands-on" learners but the way Temple Grandin describes the way those with autism learn is almost unimaginable. To have a "video library" and associate by words spoken to visual pictures to understand their meaning. It seems like such a long process. Is that a reason why people with autism have such a hard time with communication?

Or is it because they truly do not understand what was just said to them or maybe they cannot process the words they are wanting to communicate, like they cannot get their words to come out of their mouth. It is very interesting and I would like to learn more about their thinking process. Temple Grandin's occupation as designing cattle equipment is a job that is complimentary to her autism. Her ability to "see" the design and visually construct and test the equipment before having it built gives her a huge advantage over the competition. Her error rate must be next to nothing. Of course her process of inventing equipment or improving a piece of machinery that has already been made may be easier due to the way she completes the scientific method.

1. Observation: When improving a piece of equipment, Grandin can put herself in the place of a cow (I know this sounds crazy). She has some similar characteristics of cattle such as her visual and auditory perception of her surroundings. She is able to hear the same high-pitched sounds that scare the cattle as well as able to figure out that the dark and light contrasts of shade and sun spook the cattle when moving through a chute. 2. Invention or Theory: Grandin then can make an exact picture of the new improved piece of equipment she plans on having built.

She can see every aspect of this machine from every angle, flipping it around in her mind. This is so detailed that she can see every screw and nut that is required to hold the pieces together. 3. Make Predictions: Well, how will the cattle react now?

4. Experiment: Grandin can now walk the cattle through the equipment to test her theory. She does not need to physically construct a demo. This is amazing to me. Grandin's autism is a definite advantage to her in her line of work. I have really enjoyed reading and learning about autism.

My knowledge has greatly been increased on this topic (thank God)!