TEMPLE GRANDIN is one of the world's most accomplished and well-known adults with autism. She is a professor at Colorado State University and the author of several best-selling books, which have sold more than a million copies. The HBO movie based on her life, starring Claire Danes, received seven Emmy Awards.RICHARD PANEK is the prize-winning author of The 4% Universe and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Science Writing.
"[Grandin's] most insightful work to date...The Autistic Brain is something anyone could benefit from reading, and I recommend it to anyone with a personal or professional connection to autism or neurological difference."--John Elder Robison, author of Look Me in the Eye "In The Autistic Brain, Grandin explains what she's learned in recent years about her brain and the brains of others with autism." -- USA Today "Grandin has reached a stunning level of sophistication about herself and the science of autism. Her observations will assist not only fellow autistics and families with affected members, but also researchers and physicians seeking to better understand the condition." -- Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books "Her visual circuitry extends well beyond where neurotypicals' circuitry stops. Grandin is wired for long-term visual memory. She is sure that one day, autism will be explained by neurobiology. Her new book, The Autistic Brain, outlines that quest." -- Los Angeles Times "Grandin has helped us understand autism not just as a phenomenon, but as a different but coherent mode of existence that otherwise confounds us...She excels at finding concrete examples that reveal the perceptual and social limitations of autistic and "neurotypical" people alike." -- The New York Times "Autism is a spectrum, and Temple is on one edge. Living on this edge has allowed her to be an extraordinary source of inspiration for autistic children, their parents--and all people." --Time "The Autistic Brain can both enlighten readers with little exposure to autism and offer hope and compassion to those who live with the condition." --Scientific American "The right brain has created the right book for right now." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "An iconic example of someone who puts her strengths, and even her limitations, to good use." -- KQED, San Francisco "Temple Grandin has yet again been of enormous service to the millions of autistic individuals worldwide, to anyone labeled with a disability, and to the rest of us curious about the brain and the intricacies of human experience." -- New York Journal of Books "The Autistic Brain is an engaging look at life within the spectrum. It's also an honest one." -- HealthCare Book Reviews "A tremendous gift, not just to patients and their families, but also to teachers, mentors, friends, and everyone who is interested in understanding how our brains make us who we are...This is a book everyone should read." -- Dr. Ginger Campbell, Brain Science Podcast "Highly recommended for anyone who knows or works with people on the spectrum." -- Library Journal (Starred Review) "Grandin's particular skill is her remarkable ability to make sense of autistics' experiences, enabling readers to see 'the world through an autistic person's jumble of neuron misfires, ' and she offers hope that one day, autism will be considered not according to some diagnostic manual, but to the individual." -- Publishers Weekly "An important and ultimately optimistic work." --Booklist "An illuminating look at how neuroscience opens a window into the mind." --Kirkus
The latest by Grandin (animal science, Colorado State Univ.; Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism) describes what she considers the "third phase" of research and understanding of autism. She explains how 21st-century brain-imaging technology allows researchers to see differences in the wiring and structures of the brains of people with autism. Brain imaging and mapping coupled with advanced technology in DNA sequencing can then be used to learn how each individual autistic person's traits look from a biological perspective. However, Grandin stresses how important it is for autism research to focus not only on negative traits but also on an autistic person's strengths; this can help develop that individual's skills and identify jobs and activities in which he or she can excel. VERDICT Grandin's subject matter is quite technical, but the writing is clear and understandable even for nonscientific readers. She effectively makes her case that people with autism have individual differences, and that those who work with them should focus on these differences rather than consider their charges as part of a group with like symptoms. This work is highly recommended for anyone who knows or works with people on the spectrum.-Terry Lamperski, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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