Seeing in Beautiful, Precise Pictures

A "This I Believe" Essay

By: Temple Grandin, Jay Allison - editor, Dan Gediman - editor

Narrated by: Temple Grandin

Animal expert Temple Grandin describes the benefits of the concrete thinking that accompanies her autism, in "Seeing in Beautiful, Precise Pictures," her contribution to NPR’s This I Believe series.

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of the This I Believe anthology.

Autist Helps Kill Animals w/ Same Cognitive Style

Dismisses all the animal lives out of hand because "they'll eventually die anyway." Imagine using that justification for murder. Absurd argument. "Look, I made a murder weapon that lets me kill people painlessly." We'd label that person a sociopath and we would argue they are complicit. Her autism is no excuse for what she helps enable.