I had to use the different criteria to put the dachshunds in the dog category. I had to find other sensory-based features that dachshunds shared with dogs: barking, nose shape, smell. But when a dachshund came into the neighborhood, I could no longer sort dogs by size because it was smaller than the other animals I’d sorted as dogs.

Let’s take dogs versus cats: All the dogs in my neighborhood when I was 4 years old were large. Now let’s explain how I categorized things as a young child. So when I think about moral things, I see them as little video clips. As I’ve gotten older and loaded more and more pictures into my mental database, then I can search that database - sort of like Google for images. How does a thinker like yourself think about moral problems, which often begin as abstractions? I have to convert it to a picture with a specific example. You’ve written so much about being a visual thinker. Is it your understanding that the concern that certain parents have with vaccines is - No comment. In the past, you’ve expressed openness about people who felt skeptical about vaccines because of - No comment. I don’t have to worry about going to the hospital. That’s a subject where that’s pretty much all I’m going to say. Well, if it’s OK, I have another couple of questions about vaccines and autism, and you can choose if you’ll answer or not. “Where I can actually do stuff.”ĭuring the pandemic, there has been a lot of discussion about who’s vaccinated and who’s not, and historically, a fear of autism is one of the things that antivaxxers - I will make only one comment: I have two Pfizers and a booster and a flu shot. “I am interested in my practical projects,” Grandin says. Though she has been so influential on how we think and feel about autism and animal welfare, it’s the more tangible things that matter most to her. (“Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism,” published in 1995, is the classic.) Grandin, who is 74, also helped transform the meat industry through her design of more humane handling systems for livestock. The author, scientist and Colorado State University professor is as responsible as anyone for broadening our understanding of autism, through her tireless lecturing and the many books she has written on the subject. “Not going to do very well there - can’t multitask, cannot follow long strings of verbal instruction.” It’s a little humbling to hear what Grandin says she can’t do, considering how insubstantial it is compared with what she can do and has done. “Don’t put me on the McDonald’s takeout window,” Temple Grandin said over Zoom from her home in Fort Collins, Colo.

My life in pictures temple grandin