do autistics think in pictures? how do you think?

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There are famous claims like that of Temple Grandin that say autistics think in pictures. So I wanted to know how is it you think! I know it may be hard to explain but try... And also how does your way of thinking impact on your autistic traits, executive disfunction, focus and sensry processing differences? And how does it make you different from other people?

note: there is a difference of thinking in pictures and videos, pictures is not a general concept of words but lots of images stored of that word like google image and you have to translate words to images. thinking in videos is, well, self explanatory, and I think everyone can do it but some with better quality videos than others.

I was always very curious on what other people were thinking and how they do it, probably because of lack of ToM. I mainly think in a mixture of an imaginary conversation and realistic videos (also weird things like senses and intuition which are much harder to describe). But based on the conversations I had with other people on the subject the part that other people think is weirdest about how I think is the way I store it. Hmm I read a metaphor in an asperger evaluation and I liked it, it is as if there was a sack of thoughts with 6 or so simultaneously and I choose one to think, then the others stay in the stand by. Then I finish to ponder or imagine this topic over and pick another thought, or I may switch to another and go back. The feelings that go along with the thoughts are like that too.
That is why for instance if I am going back home, and I think "I have to buy milk", this is a thought that is restored in the "sack". Then I pick another one, for instance "how to apply strategic game theory to my book?" (for instance I read something about strategic game choice theory in the morning and stored the thought in the sack), then I think it over while I walk home. Then I get home and start having dinner and finish dinner and then the thought is finished. Then I go pick another one and see "I have to buy milk" and get like that: "Oh I forgot the milk!"
Based on what other people told me they are not like that and don't focus on one thought at a time, for instance, they may be thinking "what am I going to watch today?" and "I have to buy milk" at the same time, so they don't forget the milk.
Also my emotions are like the thoughts. I pick a thought and the emotion come along, then I pick another one and the emotion is on stand by, That is why for instance if something happens that mess with my emotions I may keep in on stand by digesting it and only have the reaction days later.
Also when I see a list of nouns I don't understand it right away, like: "be careful with the vending machines, dogs, stairs and the gap", for me it means nothing unless I read them one by one and visualize them . Also with adjectives, like "he was a kind, lively, honest, but hot-headed man" I don't know what it means unless I read word by word slowly and visualize each one.

Last edited by linatet on 18 Apr 2014, 8:04 am, edited 5 times in total.

Sometimes, I think in terms of imaginary conversations. I've been known to recall things as if on a video, trying to "picture things" in my mind. I'm nowhere near Temple Grandin, though, as far as visual memory is concerned (alas!)

To me, however one conveys one's genius, if it is conveyed and it is useful, who cares HOW it is conveyed?

Some autistics do. Some don't.

I think in terms of associations, a big web of concepts all connected together and partly defined by what they're connected to.

I think in pictures and other sensory things. When I try to think in words my thoughts just fall apart.

but how does this kind of thinking work? can you explain it better? can you give some examples? and do you think like that all the time or is there some variations?
also, can you think more than one thing at a time? how is my sack way of thinking connects to yours? how do your way of thinking impact your executive function and focus?

you think in pictures like Temple Grandin stated and as decribed in my intoductory post?
also based on your posts you actually seem to be very skilled on verbal arguments

But do you think in pictures or videos? It is actually different. I added a description in the introductory post.
For instance Grandin thinks in pictures, not in videos; and I think in videos, not pictures.

When I think visually, I tend to think in a dynamic, progressive video, rather than a static photograph.

My tendency is to think in words which I've read, though. I have more trouble with auditory processing.

No, not exactly like Temple Grandin. Texture, sound, smell, vision, even taste. Predominantly visual, though.

Like if I think of a horse I think of what the horse looks like, sounds like, smells like, and feels like. Lots of thoughts have flavor associations.



I don't understand the relevance. I am better at visual-spatial than I am at verbal, but in formal tests I score very high on both. My verbal communication (as in spoken) is a mess, though - my speech is routinely described as either circuitous or tangential which are labels for formal thought disorder, which is often associated with schizophrenia (as a positive symptom) and with autism (as a form of communication impairment). I am at my best when I communicate in writing.



Temple Grandin used to think in videos, though. Not so much anymore. At least this is what she's said.

Temple Grandin actually talks about three types of thnkers:

Pattern
Picture
Verbal

Pattern thinkers are usually very good at music and math

Visual thinkers are excellent builders and Drawers

Verbal thinkers are great at writting and literature

I think like that too. And my videos may be quite long, like 2 hours on a car trip watching a movie in my mind.
are you a creative person? because I am very creative and I think it has to do with my way of visualizing things and the videos.


interesting, I am like that too. I remember not spoken words or rythms but visual things, written words. If you want me to learn something give me a book, not a lecture. (But many times depending on the subject of the lecture I may be able to convert it to videos, like history classes)

Indeed, although there are more than three kinds of thinkers, as has been discussed many times here.

I wish I hadn't lost the links to earlier threads that went over this.

that's weird because I am very good at maths but not music (I suck at rythm). also what is pattern thinking? if it means systematizing then yes, I am a systematizer, but you can be a verbal systematizer, visual systematizer etc how would be this way of thinking in patterns?

what would be the types of thinking? this is sooooo interesting!

Sorry, I'm new to this, what does it mean to think in pictures?

Does it mean for example when someone says a word, you see a picture? And if it's a word you don't understand you see your own interpretation of that picture? If someone is teaching you something, you see images, and find it easier to learn when something can be visualised?

If that's the case, then yes. This is me. I can only learn really from example, and from video courses, as opposed to books. But once I understand something significantly from being shown by example, then I can understand the book much better and it's easier to learn from.

This is the first time I've ever heard the term "thinking in pictures". But I was attracted to the title because I always imagine things in pictures as opposed to words. Imagining words would confuse the hell out of me and I'd never understand anything.