The Lived Experience of Thinking in Pictures in Self-Declared Autistic Adults

Background: Thinking in pictures is a distinct cognitive style characterized by the dominant use of visual thinking. Temple Grandin’s autobiographical account is the best-known description of visual thinking but there are few first-person accounts of this inner experience. The aim of this article was to gain further insight into the lived experience of a “thinking in pictures” cognitive style among autistic individuals. Methods: We collected posts from the Wrong Planet forum containing descriptions of visual thinking by self-declared autistic individuals. We then conducted a content analysis to identifying recurring themes. To guide this analysis, we created a codebook based on the themes found in Temple Grandin’s description, as well as themes that emerged directly from the posts themselves. Results: We identified three key themes related to the experience of thinking in pictures among self-declared autistic individuals. The first theme, termed “Phenomenological Characteristics,” described the main aspects of this type of thinking such as vivid imagery, photographic memory, and image manipulation. The second theme, called “Cognitive Functioning,” explored the cognitive processes related to the ability to think in pictures, including concrete and associative thinking, and how this relates to language. The third theme, termed “Verbal Communication Issues,” highlighted the difficulties faced by autistic individuals who think in pictures when it comes to oral communication, primarily because they must translate their mental images into words. Conclusions: These results allow us to better characterize this particular cognitive style, and also to better understand its involvement in learning situations and social interactions. The findings are discussed in light of studies on visual processing in autism and the relationship with the language dimension.