Autistic Quotes

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  The thing about being autistic is that you gradually get less and less autistic, because you keep learning, you keep learning how to behave. It's like being in a play; I'm always in a play.

  Temple Grandin

  Play, Keep Learning, Behave

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• I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal-so we can't know for sure what your 'normal' is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.

  Naoki Higashida

  Inspiring, Long, Autism

  Naoki Higashida (2013). “The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism: one boy's voice from the silence of autism”, Hachette UK

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• I know of nobody who is purely autistic, or purely neurotypical. Even God has some autistic moments, which is why the planets spin.

  Jerry Newport

  Autism, Aspergers, Moments

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• I think that autistic brains tend to be specialized brains. Autistic people tend to be less social. It takes a ton of processor space in the brain to have all the social circuits.

  Temple Grandin

  Thinking, Space, People

  "A Conversation with Temple Grandin". "Talk of the Nation Science Friday" with Ira Flatow, www.npr.org. January 20, 20064.

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• What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.

  Temple Grandin

  People, Autism, Caves

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• I am much less autistic now, compared to when I was young. I remember some behaviors like picking carpet fuzz and watching spinning plates for hours. I didn't want to be touched. I couldn't shut out background noise. I didn't talk until I was about 4 years old. I screamed. I hummed. But as I grew up, I improved.

  Temple Grandin

  Years, Spinning Plates, Background Noise

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• I sometimes think I might be autistic because I like to know - I need to know - my beginnings and my ends. I don't have to be in control of it, but I need to know what's going on.

  Clay Aiken

  Thinking, Needs, Might

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• Autism's a very big spectrum. At one end of the spectrum, Einstein would probably be labeled autistic, Steve Jobs, half of Silicon Valley, you know, Van Gogh. And at the other end of the spectrum, you got much more severe handicaps where they never learn to speak.

  Temple Grandin

  Jobs, Autism, Valleys

  "Autism & animal welfare activist Temple Grandin". "The Tavis Smiley Show", www.pbs.org. July 5, 2013.

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• It seems that for success in science or art, a dash of autism is essential.

  Hans Asperger

  Funny, Success, Art

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• If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.

  Temple Grandin

  Inspiring, Autism, Fingers

  Temple Grandin (2009). “Thinking in Pictures”, p.34, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• Mom worked with autistic children.

  Isabel Lucas

  Mom, Children, Autistic Children

  Interview with Mark Jacobs, www.interviewmagazine.com. October 23, 2011.

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• As you may know, some of the stereotyped behaviors exhibited by autistic children are also found in zoo animals who are raised in a barren environment.

  Temple Grandin

  Zoos, Children, Animal

  Interview with Stephen Edelson, www.autism.com. February 1, 1996.

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• Research demonstrates that autistic traits are distributed into the non-autistic population; some people have more of them, some have fewer. History suggests that many individuals whom we would today diagnose as autistic - some severely so - contributed profoundly to our art, our math, our science, and our literature.

  Morton Ann Gernsbacher

  Art, Math, People

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• Autism doesn't have to define a person. Artists with autism are like anyone else: They define themselves through hard work and individuality.

  Adrienne Bailon

  Hard Work, Artist, Autism

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• To measure the success of our societies, we should examine how well those with different abilities, including persons with autism, are integrated as full and valued members.

  Ban Ki-moon

  Autism, Different, Our Society

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• Christians need to take the lead in educating people that children are gifts, as my autistic grandson most surely is. By going down the path we're currently on, we might one day get rid of genetic diseases, but only at the cost of our own humanity.

  Charles Colson

  Christian, Children, People

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• Nobel prize-calibre geniuses often have certain core autistic features at their heart.

  Allan Snyder

  Heart, Autism, Genius

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• Mild autism can give you a genius like Einstein. If you have severe autism, you could remain nonverbal. You don't want people to be on the severe end of the spectrum. But if you got rid of all the autism genetics, you wouldn't have science or art. All you would have is a bunch of social 'yak yaks.'

  Temple Grandin

  Art, People, Giving

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• You have got to keep autistic children engaged with the world. You cannot let them tune out.

  Temple Grandin

  Children, Tunes, Engagement

  Interview with Dr. Stephen Edelson, www.autism.com. February 1, 1996.

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• Some autistic children cannot stand the sound of certain voices. I have come across cases where teachers tell me that certain children have problems with their voice or another person's voice. This problem tends to be related to high-pitched ladies' voices.

  Temple Grandin

  Teacher, Children, Voice

  Interview with Dr. Stephen Edelson, www.autism.com. February 1, 1996.

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• Steve Jobs was probably mildly on the autistic spectrum. Basically, you've probably known people who were geeky and socially awkward but very smart. When does geeks and nerds become autism? That's a gray area. Half the people in Silicon Valley probably have autism.

  Temple Grandin

  Jobs, Smart, Autism

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• It's very important for the parents of young autistic children to encourage them to talk, or for those that don't talk, to give them a way of communicating, like a picture board, where they can point to a glass of milk, or a jacket if they're cold, or the bathroom. If they want something, then they need to learn to request that thing.

  Temple Grandin

  Children, Glasses, Want Something

  "Q&A: Temple Grandin on Autism & Language". Interview with Vikki Valentine and Jon Hamilton, www.npr.org. July 9, 2006.

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• The autistic brain tends to be a specialist brain, good at one thing, bad at something else.

  Temple Grandin

  Brain, Specialists, One Thing

  "Talk of the Nation" with Ira Flatow, www.npr.org. January 20, 2006.

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• Some teachers just have a knack for working with autistic children. Other teachers do not have it.

  Temple Grandin

  Teacher, Children, Knack

  Interview with Dr. Stephen Edelson, www.autism.com. February 1, 1996.

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• Normal people have an incredible lack of empathy. They have good emotional empathy, but they don't have much empathy for the autistic kid who is screaming at the baseball game because he can't stand the sensory overload. Or the autistic kid having a meltdown in the school cafeteria because there's too much stimulation.

  Temple Grandin

  Baseball, Children, School

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