Drawing Autism

By Temple Grandin

CBSD/PRESALES: PLEASE CHECK BISAC & SHELVING ENTRIES TO SEE IF THEY SEEM RIGHT.

Temple Grandin (author of the Introduction) is a famous, best-selling author and is considered the most accomplished adult with autism in the world.

Book features over 150 works of original art (all printed full-color)

Autism is very common in today's society, and increasingly diagnosed at different levels.

The original hardcover edition from Mark Batty Publishers is completely sold out.

Autism treatment centers and other medical institutions will be a great market for this book.

Autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in every 1 of 88 children: With the exact cause of autism still a debatable subject, it is a truly international phenomenon, knowing no racial, ethnic, or social barriers; there is no shortage of media interest in ASD.

Behavior analysis is the only scientifically proven successful treatment: While this is not a clinical book about treatment, the author’s extensive experience using behavior analysis working in early intervention treatment helps expand the dialogue around the book; in the United States, the federal government recognizes only behavior analysts as healthcare providers in terms of ASD.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Mar 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781617752087

Temple Grandin

TEMPLE GRANDIN is one of the world’s most accomplished and well-known adults with autism. She is a professor at Colorado State University and the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including The Autistic Brain, which have sold more than a million copies. Named one of Time's most influential people in 2010, the HBO movie based on her life, starring Claire Danes, received seven Emmy Awards.

Reviews for Drawing Autism

[signrock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was received as an Early Reviewer Copy.The images in this book are a reminder of the vast and beautiful people who live within the diagnosis of autism. Like the images on the pages, each of us is unique and full of promise. It is a reminder of what amazing things can be accomplished when we are given the opportunity to achieve.

[jayde1599_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Jill Mullin has collected artwork from across the globe, created by people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Temple Grandin begins the book with a forward. Mullin asked each contributor a series of questions to go along with their piece. Questions included: "How old were you when you became interested in art?" and "What inspires you to create art?" Artists either answered the questions themselves, or a guardian provided answers for them. The book is divided up into sections that compile the pieces into themes.Thoughts: The artwork creates a sense of wonder, joy, angst, and a slush of other emotions. All of the work is fabulous in their own way, especially how it fit into the theme of the chapter. I really enjoyed reading the responses that the artist added to the pieces.A couple of questions popped up when I was reading/viewing this book:-Who is the target audience? I am a special education teacher whose focus is on students with ASD, so the book appealed to me greatly.-Is their any market for this book outside of people familiar with ASD? - I hope so because others can learn a great deal from reading the responses from the artists.-Why was the type so small?! - Hopefully this can be fixed!-How did Mullin gather contributors? Some of the artists are familiar/famous in art circles, but how did she get others to contribute?I found this a fascinating book! Highly recommended!

[bookaddict45 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Forget everything you thought you knew about Autism. Drawing Autism provides some of the most brilliant pieces of art I have ever seen. Some of the pieces of art will make you smile, other pieces will touch your heart, and still other pieces will leave you breathless and in awe. Drawing Autism knocks down many of the misconceptions, and stereotypes prevalent about Autism. Furthermore, the book reveals that the Autistic mind is filled with creative genius regardless of where an individual may fall under the Autism spectrum. The artwork presented in Drawing Autism articulates visually so profoundly what some of the hopes, dreams, fears, frustrations, interests, and hobbies were of the artists featured. I just found this book to be so inspiring and refreshing.

[jenn.s · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating and filled with the most amazing creations. I love this book and share it with everyone I know. My son spent hours looking over this book even after we shared the experience together. Lovely and certainly something to cherish. I received a copy through LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.

[dreplogle_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as part of Library Thing's Early Reviewers Free Giveaway, and I thank them greatfully for this glimpse.This is an absolutely stunning collection of art. Stunning not in the way of incredibly beautiful or popular representation, but in the way it hits one in the gut. Viewing the artworks and reading the artists' response to questions is just such a revealing truth. Perhaps they see more clearly. I actually underlined comments as I progressed through the book. There is nothing pretentious about this book, it just is - and it's wonderful, in the truest sense of the word.

[squeakychu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The quality of the artwork of those ASD individuals whose work is included in this book is amazing. It is so varied and beautiful. If only everyone could appreciate all facets of each individual despite handicaps or differences, what a better world we would have. Kudos to the author and to Temple Grandin for putting together this collection and explaining it to us so clearly. My favorite drawing was "Vogels" (Birds) by David Barth. This was a picture, featured on the cover as well, of about 400 different birds drawn in ink and colored pencils. I loved it because I'm now trying to draw birds with colored pencil. This picture, done by the artist at the age of 10, is a hundred times better than what I can do at age 66. :)Another artist whose drawings I really loved were those of Shawn Belanger. He did colorful drawings of people in city scenes in ink and marker.A picture called "Winter Trees" done in oil by Esther j. Brokaw was simply lovely. Eleni Michael's "Picture #007" of flowers is amazing as well. It was nice to put aside people's differences in these pages and simply focus on the incredible talent of the included artists. My only issue with this book was the font in which it was printed. Its light color and small size was terribly difficult for my aging eyes to see well, although I forced myself to read the entire book because I wanted to fully appreciate the artwork.

[livelylady · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a mother of a speech-language pathologist specializing in working with autistic children and the grandmother of a grandson with Asperger's Syndrome I could not wait for this book. However I found the set-up difficult to enjoy. While the artwork is beautiful, the interviews with the artists were in tiny print. There was room for a larger bolder print. It was hard to fully appreciate this while putting glasses on and off. So I chose to enjoy the artwork!!!! Beautiful!

[carolee888 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved Drawing with Autism by Jill Mullin. What drew me to it was my brother who is several autistic drew wonderful pictures of trains as a child. He is very detailed minded and loves colors. So without even opening the book I knew that I was in for a treat.Opening this book, I was delighted to find Temple Grandin wrote the first opening essay. She describes herself as visually oriented. She struggled with algebra but excelled at geometry just like me. Now I think I know why I am always excited to hear her speak. I have never been told that I am autistic but something deep within identifies with her. She pointed out that her mother encouraged her artistic projects and that is what was really important the nurturing, without that people stop trying. I remember being proud of a picture that I made in first grade. When the teacher picked it and showed it to the entire class and then tore it down bit by bit. I could feel myself rapidly sinking into a hole. The author points out that each of the artists in this book, no matter where they were on the autistic spectrum was nurtured and that was the difference. They were encouraged to do more, they were encouraged to do what they liked in art. I think that is the magic ingredient. The author want to feature artists with autism instead of the unusual mathematic or scientific areas.The chapters are arranged by themes, repetition, another world etc. The book includes everything from cartoons to luminescent pictures of trees in snow to happy figures dancing with a happy dog. One of my favorite is the one with almost 400 birds. All the artists have been nurtured in whatever mode of art that they chose. I love this book!There is only one negative that I have and that is the incredibly small print in this book. I had to use a magnifying glass to read it. Other than that it is the pictures that shine in this wonderful book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves art.I received this book as a win from the Library Thing but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review.

[waltzmn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When this book showed up for LibraryThing Early Reviewers, I hesitated. After all, I find much visual art incomprehensible.But I'm autistic. Maybe, I thought, this will make sense. So I signed up for it.I should have gone with my original feeling. Which is, in a way, the whole problem. Art is fundamentally a matter of communication, and one of the characteristics of autism is communications difficulties. As the book's introduction notes, some autistics are good at art. Others -- I'm one of them -- just don't get it at all. (An important reminder that autistics aren't at all alike; each has a pattern of strengths and weaknesses, and those patterns can be very different.) For an autistic person's artwork to reach me, it has to cross two bridges: One from the other person to the wider world, and one from the wider world to me. For most people, there will be only one bridge to cross. It may be easier. For ordinary readers, this may be just the book to help you understand some autistics.One thing the book does is talk to all the artists, asking why they create art and what the individual images are intended to mean. This will obviously help explain -- I only wish the conversations had been longer. For example, on page 44 there is a drawing of a werewolf by Wout Devolder. Devolder explained that he drew it to express his feelings after a niece and nephew died in a fire. But what has a werewolf to do with a fire? Perhaps that's the whole point of the book.The organization seems... very much targeted at the world outside autism. Autistics like to classify things, and I can think of many ways to classify this art. All works by a particular artist might be placed together. Or art created in the same medium (paint, pencil, whatever). Or art drawn in the same general time period, or by artists of the same age. Or, perhaps, by realism -- drawings of actual objects might be separated from unreal things, and abstract drawings from more concrete. None of these principles is used. Rather, the organization is based on aspects of the autistic experience, such as repetitive tasks or social complications. This may well help explain autism. But the result seems, frankly, a hodgepodge.No doubt that is because I have only two criteria for gauging art: whether it is an accurate depiction of whatever it depicts, and whether that is something worth depicting. (Go ahead, say it: I am asking artwork to be like photographs. I told you I didn't understand art....) The work found here ranges widely in that regard. The art of Jessica Park, of buildings drawn using smaller geometric components, strikes me as beautiful and brilliant. The work of Esther J. Brokaw is also quite well done although it lacks that geometric precision. Shawn Belanger works in a clear, distinctive style, but I don't understand it. Some of the others... just look like scribbles.I am forced to conclude that this book is not for me. But the idea is both interesting and worthwhile. If you are an artistic thinker, and want to see how a very different sort of person sees, and draws, the world, this book may be for you.

[mykl8s · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a visual treat - and more. Jill Mullin has put together a great collection of artworks, explanations, personal stories, and inspirations. I did miss seeing some sculpture. There must be some ASD artists who go beyond flat paintings and collage into three dimensions. A bit more about autism might have helped me understand some of the works. I scanned/read/viewed the book three times, first skipping through the book without reading, then viewing while reading captions and noting what the original size of each work is, then finally viewing from front to back while reading the commentary and artist bios. Each pass through the book was satisfying. The artists answers to Mullin's standard set of questions were maybe the most interesting part of the work. The final page of text, by Emily L. Williams, explains as well as anything I have read anywhere, why and how a person creates art.

[ellienyc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

[book:Drawing Autism|17675209] is a collection of art created by people who are on the autism spectrum. For some of the artists, art is the only way of communicating their experiences as a person with autism. But whether the art is highly sophisticated, emotionally powerful, playful, technically amazing or naive, the cumulative experience of this book is astonishing. There is an introduction by Temple Grandin describing how drawing became her entry into what became her very successful career and the book is then divided into themes. Each chapter consists primarily of art-paintings, collages, drawings, mosaics, a wild and exciting diversity of media and subjects, accompanied by a small amount of text written by the artist.[author:Jill Mullin|3136774] has done a wonderful job of selecting the art. Each piece is beautifully reproduced and the companion text is taken from a questionnaire filled out by the artist. In some cases, the answer was dictated to someone who wrote it down and in a few cases, the artist is non-verbal and a caregiver has answered. The text is often fascinating and complements the work but it is the work that amazes. I couldn't put the book down. I am not an artist so I cannot critique the work technically but the emotional power was undeniable and the range of art breathtaking.I am both a teacher of students with autism and the mother of a son who is on the spectrum and perhaps that contributed to the impact of the work. But I believe that the power of the art would be there anyway. Through art, through the use of color, pattern, drawing, subject matter, these peoples have created a powerful communication about their lives and the gift of creativity. Through art, some without any other voice, speak more clearly than many of us with words. There are expressions of grief and longing, self-definitions, sharing of joy and playfulness, that reach far beyond the page. This is a book I will continue to treasure and return to again and again.I won this book from LibraryThing, and I feel so lucky! The only critique I have is that the type is so small. I hope Jill Mulin continues to bring us these "voices" of people on the spectrum and that the work receives the audience it deserves. This book is the power of art to bring people together in all our difference and does so by creating a wonderful, exciting space to share who we are and enjoy our humanity. I haven't stopped recommending it since I read it and plan on continuing to do so. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy this experience. I would like to thank Jill Mulin and everyone who participated in this project for bringing it to the rest of us.