Thinking in pictures.

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Has anyone ever discussed thinking in pictures with their child? After hearing that mentioned during an interview about Temple Grandin (I don't have HBO so I didn't get to see her show yet), I asked my son if he thought in pictures, he said yes, didn't I?

Since I seem to think in voices, not pictures, I asked him to explain it. Wow, very interesting. There is no way I could put it in writing to explain it since I don't understand it yet.

But one question keeps coming to my mind, how much work do they go through just to get through a conversation?

This is something I am going to do a lot more reading on if I can find the material that explains it.

I do want to thank the person that started the thread about recommended books for parents, there are quite a few I'm going to go research.

I just wanted to know if anyone else's child has mentioned thinking this way to them?

In my own case, and rather than being troublesome, it is more like having "visual captioning" accompanying a narration.

Thank you leejosepho, that was very helpful. My son told me during one part of the conversation I was having with him about thinking, that he was seeing a notebook with words on it.

He was probably trying to find the words to explain to me what you put in your reply.

I think this is one of the reasons why picture boards and other visualizations works great for the people thinking in pictures. And it looks like a lot of people with autisme do think in pictures. I never saw statistics about it. Maybe we should run a poll on this site.

This is often why Aspies can have difficulty with written tests and the like.

We think in pictures, ideas, whole things. Not the words/

Speaking from the child point of view, I have also thought in pictures throughout my life and never imagined thinking in voices ... until recently. Picture-thinking is still dominant, and visual representation helps tremendously. My therapist has always used visual examples to help me understand concepts usually only explained in words; she's always very good at this kind of symbolism. I think you should look into this kind of explanation if it will help your child understand things better.

I said I have never imagined thinking in voices "until recently." Currently, I believe I think closer to what leejosepho said: visuals with a narration. I just developed the "narration" part a few years ago, in high school. I think it is still developing, because it's still hard for me to think in words, but maybe it will happen to your boy too. Can he draw well? I grew up with drawing, so that may have influenced my way of thinking; or at least it helps me communicate my ideas.

I haven't seen what Temple Grandin talked about in the interview but I still recommend looking up new communication methods to help your boy comprehend ideas using pictures and extended visual descriptions. Those are my words for it, but there is probably an actual term for it because, as I recall, my therapist is great at putting difficult things into such easy visual concepts -- even when she just uses words! Also, she is normally a child therapist so I think you'll have a good chance at finding this kind of information.

No, my son doesn't draw. Says that art is his worst subject in school. Seems to have inherited the "non-artist" gene from me, I can not draw either.

I know that is hard for me, but I wonder if it is harder on someone that thinks in pictures not to be able to put those pictures down on paper. To know you can "see" it, but when the hand hits the paper, it doesn't look anything like what you "see" in your mind?

I again want to thank you all for giving me such good insight into this. I love learning.

My son one day, out of the blue, said to me, "since I think in pictures ..." I had never told him about Temple Gradin's book, and my response was along of the lines of, "that's interesting, did you know there is a book called 'Thinking in Pictures' by a famous autistic woman?" Somehow he had picked up that it wasn't the way his friends thought, but he hadn't realized it was part of his AS.

I, too, would be interested in hearing more from adults on how this affects their thinking. It's hard to figure out what it means because neither side can get in the other's head. My thoughts tend to be running conversations that sometimes have illustrations; kind of depends on what I'm thinking about.

i think in both pictures and words, yet not full sentences. my mental imagery also has music, touch, tastes, smells, and sounds in it. the only difference between that sort of thinking and pure visual thought is that my visual imagery does not have much detail because my visual memory is not always good unless i am really familiar with something. sometimes i will create symbols instead of photographic pictures in my mind. think of the "smart art" shapes from microsoft word.

I think this is good example of how Temple Grandin makes assumptions about other ASDs based mostly on her own experiences. Yes some ASDs think in pictures, however what that means varies. It also doesn't mean NTs don't think in pictures. it is quite a usual ability. Language is a clue "imagine", "visualise", "see", etc, etc. If they don't apply to you they you are rare indeed.

It is only when you don't have a qualitative representation of you thoughts at all, can you realise that when people talk about the way they "think” they are talking about the representation of that thought (how that thought is played back qualitatively if you like), and also they are not talking about basic capacities such as the capacity to form image but something of a higher level abstraction. For instance if someone says they think in words, words can be represented as a series of sounds, or as symbols that make up an image.

Chimpanzees are very visual, their visual recall of objects is actually slightly better than humans on average. Such is life in the forest. We have evolved to use visual skill in thoughts, so it is natural that this would be adapted to more abstract things. However other primary forms of thinking may be used and the actual representation of through may not be apparent at all. "Blind thought". Of course this is very difficult to explain what that means. It is like the philosophical example my friend told me about the girl that grows up entirely in a black and white room. How do you explain what red is? It is very difficult for me to explain the way I think, I’m not sure myself. Just like I can understand how something can be “in my head” whilst at the same time interacting with something in the actual world, whilst not viewed side by side, happening at the same time, as if in the same space, but not. How people don’t crash their car every time they have a thought.

So if I homeschool, do you have any recommendations for books/learning materials, etc...to help my child?

PS - the other day I asked him how many white stripes the American Flag had...he closed his eyes and said "one, two, three, four, five, six...six mama" hehe

That can be frustrating, but it can also be a worthy challenge. Beginning with nothing more complex than a 3-D cube (a simple box), try introducing him to some very basic mechanical drawing. I am now retiring from work as an industrial fabricator who has even designed a lot of stuff, and the ability to make what I "see" become reality all began in a 7th-grade industrial arts class I nearly failed. That grouchy old teacher who used to give assignments then sit down and pick his nose *did* manage to get me going on at least some basic illustration. And interestingly, at least for me, it was nothing more than a very simple "match the pictures" mechanical aptitude test I took when I went into the Navy that inspired me to begin to believe I might some day actually be able to fix or even make something!

Think small, and let him grow at his own pace.

Now you understand why we don't care for all that much conversation.

I have a question for you, though: what does it mean to think in words? I mean, if you're approaching a toll station, do you have to think the words, "gee the line on the right is long and getting in it will mean I have to wait a while, while the toll booth on the left is empty so I could use it and save some time", or can you just see the empty booth and drive to it without thinking any words? Is this why we often see a long line at one booth while another one is empty, because by the time they think the words, it's too late to switch lines?


Good luck. I hope there's something out there for you, but for obvious reasons, most books tend to be written by people who think in words.

I can't answer for motherofson, but I can answer for me. As I near the area, the words are, "Which line is short? Can I get there?"

Yes, sometimes I play the situation out in a mental narration (and even add out-loud directions) of my own. The tools and their uses are varied here.

Thanks! So you actually think the words?

That just seems so strange to me. To me, it seems like I can see all the information anyway, so words would just get in the way and slow things down. I guess it's different for you? It just seems hard for me to get my head around.

Are the words a narration, like leejosepho describes, or are they actually part of your decision making process?