It's not a definition of autism. She has autism and is trying to explain her own thought processes, etc. Maybe you're similar, but she doesn't translate words into pictures as a way to work through things. She HAS to do this, just as people translate foreign words into their native language. Words are a foreign language to her. She sees this as an advantage she has over others in certain respects. We all do this to various degrees, as she explains (personally I have no problem rotating objects in three dimensions in my head, even if I only saw one side...based on assumptions of what it might be like of course), but she understands concepts only as pictures...the words don't help her.Billy's Little Trip wrote:That is interesting, Roy. I just read an excerpt from the book, and she talks about how she translates words into images in her head. Doesn't everyone? I always do that. Maybe I'm autistic and just didn't know it. One of my specialties in my business is trouble shooting and solving problems on complicated systems because I can visualize and design entire systems in my head and think of every possible scenario of what can go wrong. I also write my music from mental images and movie clips. Kind of a reverse approach. This should be in the book section to continue this conversation. Interesting indeed.roymond wrote:OK, not exactly what's being discussed, but related and a curious book I'm reading: Thinking in Pictures. Even if you have nothing to do with the effects of autism, it's an amazing study of how people think and process information.erik wrote:Information that promotes greater understanding of how people think is the most useful information there is.
My son is on the autism spectrum and we see tremendous similarities between him and the author and examples she states. He started drawing 3-point perspectives (head on, top down, profile) when he was 5, designing castles and submarines. I showed him how to do it once, and he picked it up immediately. He also makes associations in really curious ways, similar to an example she states: "planes fly high because I'm not scared of them". There are people who think this way, both who can't break out of them to stay focused, and those who can catch themselves.
Yeah, interesting stuff. Great book so far.