Reddit mentions of Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism

If you want to understand your nonverbal autistic child, there are some great books out there to help you do that. I personally have read and recommend:

• The Reason I Jump: A short and easy but moving read. This is a book by a nonverbal Japanese autistic boy who learned to communicate through pointing to letters/writing. While we can't say for sure his experience is the same as other children like him he explains is feelings, sensations, and the reasons for many of his behaviors that are common to autistic children.
  
  
• Carly's Voice: Longer book but moving and well written. Most of the book is by Carly's father. He tells the story since infancy of his family including his daughter Carly who is severely autistic and nonverbal. Many considered her severely mentally disabled. However, when years later she finally learns and is willing to communicate through letters/writing (it is physically a lot of work for her) he learns she is much brighter and more aware then he imagined. Includes passages, conversations, interviews by Carly in the book that give information on what she is experiencing.
  
  
• Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism Written by genius animal behaviorists and well known person with Autism/speaker on Autism Temple Grandin. Tells her life, her experience, and how she thinks and experiences things differently. Between the other two books in length she is less severe on the spectrum then the Carly or Naoki but she still thinks, feels, and interacts with the world in a way that it was amazing to have insight into/I would never have guessed.
  
  Order these three books right now. They're all well written and so so insightful. You won't regret it.

You’re going through a period of growth and understanding. Last year I was assessed for autism myself and that definitely changed my perspective. For one thing, it explained why I struggle using words, both in my thought processes and practical use. By extension, the assessment gave a sense of permission to let go trying to use words and instead understand how to understand my own thoughts and feelings as they were expressed internally as shapes, colours, processes, and everything else but words. While this was a wonderful period of personal exploration, it was quite terrifying and agonizing.


Once I was more aware of my ‘problems’ I worked at trying to manage and fix them better. Two books helped with this Eikona Bridge: Live Communication with the Autistic Species and Thinking in Pictures
The former helped me understand how to, well, 'read' myself and the latter helped with feeling okay with thinking the way I do and how it can provide many practical advantages.


From personal experience, I recommend trying high doses of CBD. This way you can cognitively process things without being in an out of control high and it would help manage the anxiety you’re experiencing from this.

It's going to be okay mate :D

Perhaps you would be interested in taking a gander at Thinking in Pictures

As someone who doesn't think in words, but translates concepts into words unconsciously while I am speaking, my thinking seems to be very similar to that of people who think in words. I think in pictures and picture-like things. But then, I'm autistic (many autistics also think in pictorial and sonic events, with some abstraction that I can't explain), and it's possible that pre-language normal people didn't have the abstract image capacities that autistics have evolved.

See Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures for more.