Books

Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from My Life With Autism
By Temple Grandin (November 1996)

(From the back cover) In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.

Emergence: Labeled Autistic
By Temple Grandin (September 1996)

(From the back cover) She longed for affection but feared human contact. Unable to experience reality as other children could, Temple Grandin was quick to anger, easily overstimulated, and isolated. Facing ceaseless waves of terrifying nerve attacks, she was a child heading into a dayk abyss of autism. But within her lonely world, Temple's creativity, intelligence, and yearning for emergence refused to die.

Now Temple tells the story of that emergence, of how she went from a fear-gripped, autistic childhood to become a successful professional, a world leader in her field. An astonishing true story, a chronicle of perseverance, courage, and the loving wisdom of a few adults who saw in Temple what others couldn't, Emergence will give new hope and insight into the tragedy of autism and the vast potential of the human spirit.

Let Me Hear Your Voice : A Family's Triumph over Autism
Catherine Maurice (August 1994)

(Book description) She was a beautiful doelike child, with an intense, graceful fragility. In her first year, she picked up words, smiled and laughed, and learned to walk. But then Anne-Marie began to turn inward. And when her little girl lost some of the words she had acquired, cried inconsolably, and showed no interest in anyone around her, Catherine Maurice took her to doctors who gave her a devastating diagnosis: autism.

In their desperate struggle to save their daughter, the Maurices plunged into a medical nightmare of false hopes, "miracle cures," and infuriating suggestions that Anne-Marie's autism was somehow their fault. Finally, Anne-Marie was saved by an intensive behavioral therapy.

Let Me Hear Your Voice is a mother's illuminating account of how one family triumphed over autism. It is an absolutely unforgettable book, as beautifully written as it is informative.