On Sale Date: October 11, 2022
ISBN 9780593418369, 0593418360
Hardcover | 352 pages
A landmark book that reveals, celebrates, and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers
A quarter of a century after her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin—the “anthropologist on Mars,” as Oliver Sacks dubbed her—transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble IKEA furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.
With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the purest “object visualizers” like Grandin herself, with their intuitive knack for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined “visual spatial” thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing, and collaborating with visual thinkers. In a highly competitive world, this important book helps us see, we need every mind on boardLEADER OF THE PACK: In both professional and popular circles, Temple Grandin is the voice on visual thinking. Her memoir Thinking in Pictures broke ground on neurodiversity, transforming scientific investigation and public understanding. In this book she again leads the way, distilling cutting-edge research, reframing the conversation, and showing the path forward.
A BIG-TENT BOOK: This is a major book that, like Steve Silberman’s Neurotribes, Andrew Solomon’s Far from the Tree, and Susan Cain’s Quiet, has much to say not only to those who identify as visual thinkers—or will wonder if they are (as Grandin makes clear, it's a bigger and more diverse group than previously thought)—but to those who will better parent, teach, and work alongside them once aware of visual thinkers' special perspective and how to help make the most of it.
