Essay On Temple Grandin's Thinking In Pictures: My Life With Autism

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Autism, like any other psychological disorder or mental health issue, has a stigma attached to it. This stigma is one that is hard to escape for anyone with a mental health diagnosis and what is even worse, is that it acts as a leash; tying that person down to their disease. Often, the stigma attached to mental health issues even makes it so that when diagnosed, an individual may never be comfortable telling others about their disease out of fear that they will be treated differently. The reality however, is that not all people with mental health issues are “lost causes”. Many of them are able to go on to live very productive, successful and uninterrupted lives. One such person that defies the stereotypes and stigmas attached to mental health issues is Temple Grandin whose experience living with autism is laid out in her book titled, Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism. In her life as an equipment designer for the livestock industry, Grandin ensures that she points out from the get go how her diagnosis of Autism has not only not been a hindrance but has actually aided in her success (re-word). …show more content…

She accomplishes this incredible difficult task by showing all of the success that she has found in her personal as well as professional life. As the reader makes their way through each line of text in each paragraph, the sentiment becomes more and more evident; autism is not a death sentence. Grandin proves that through hard work, creativity and much resilience, many people with autism can learn to compensate and in fact thrive while doing so. She truly squashes the ideas that media as portrayed as the effects of autism and through a transformative process, allows the reader to see the real person and people behind