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157 reviews for:
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Temple Grandin
4.02 AVERAGE
157 reviews for:
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Temple Grandin
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I got kind of obsessed with this book and the writing style over the course of reading it. I loved this quote: "looking at those animals I realized that none of them would even exist if human beings hadn't bred them in to being. And ever since that moment I've believed that we brought these animals here, so we're responsible for them. We owe them a decent life and a decent death, and their lives should be as low-stress as possible. That's my job."
This is one of the most interesting, informative, and useful books I have ever read. If you’ve ever wondered what motivates your pet (or any animal), I’d highly recommend reading this book.
I listened to this book over the past two weekends. I found it excellent listening material, but imagine it would have been to technical and repetitive for me to read a text version. I was able to "skim" listen to it while sewing, knitting, making valentine's cards and cooking, it made a good combo with things I don't need to focus on too closely.
As it is, I learned lots, about what life is like for people with autism as well as animal behavior. I learned some things that will be helpful with our dog, and that explain some of her behavior. There were some super interesting things about natural selection and intentional breeding for single traits.
As it is, I learned lots, about what life is like for people with autism as well as animal behavior. I learned some things that will be helpful with our dog, and that explain some of her behavior. There were some super interesting things about natural selection and intentional breeding for single traits.
This was a decent and interesting book, but it was very repetitive, making it an unnecessarily long book. But, I'm glad I stuck with it; the last chapter, which talks about how much humans and dogs need each other, was my favorite.
informative
slow-paced
Writing was pretty jerky and uneven at times, but the book was full of fascinating information about animal (and human) psychology and behavior. I was especially fascinated to read about the parrot that learned how to spell and the prairie dogs with a language with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Who knew?
Animals in Translation looks at the similarities between animals and autistic people. Temple Grandin is able to give examples of how her life with autism parallels certain animal behavior. She has many interesting theories based on her observances, however I'm not sure if I can completely believe in everything she says until studies have been conducted backing her up. She has clearly done extensive research in the field of animal behavior and has had much success. She has worked with other scientists and the book has a very thorough bibliography. There are also footnotes throughout the book citing her various sources. I believe her to be very well educated and think that even if some of her theories prove to be wrong, the time she puts into study of them will be quite beneficial.
One thing I must note about the book is that even though there is a co-author, Catherine Johnson, the book seems very much to be written with Temple Grandin's voice. That being said, it can be very "staccato". Also, she can go from using very technical, scientific terms right to using elementary phrases to describe an animal or its behavior. I found this to be a bit jarring as I was reading; it seemed to interrupt the flow of the text when it happened.
The book focuses primarily on livestock rather than house pets, so be aware of that if you are hoping for some insight regarding your kitty cat. That is not where the author's specialty lies and she doesn't try to pretend that it does. I did take exception to her discussion of certain types of dog breeds. I think she focused a bit much on Rottweilers, among others, and their "aggressive nature". I am a big believer that most of the time, with the proper training, these breeds of dogs can be trusted completely. This is where she and I disagree.
It took me quite a long while to finish this book. It was slow reading and could be quite repetitive. I also felt at times she went off on tangents by telling a story that didn't quite pertain at the moment. I had been wanting to read Temple Grandin's books because I find her to be very fascinating. This was the first one I read and will not be the last. However, I will go into the next one understanding that there will be little entertainment value and I may have to struggle through it like I did this one.
One thing I must note about the book is that even though there is a co-author, Catherine Johnson, the book seems very much to be written with Temple Grandin's voice. That being said, it can be very "staccato". Also, she can go from using very technical, scientific terms right to using elementary phrases to describe an animal or its behavior. I found this to be a bit jarring as I was reading; it seemed to interrupt the flow of the text when it happened.
The book focuses primarily on livestock rather than house pets, so be aware of that if you are hoping for some insight regarding your kitty cat. That is not where the author's specialty lies and she doesn't try to pretend that it does. I did take exception to her discussion of certain types of dog breeds. I think she focused a bit much on Rottweilers, among others, and their "aggressive nature". I am a big believer that most of the time, with the proper training, these breeds of dogs can be trusted completely. This is where she and I disagree.
It took me quite a long while to finish this book. It was slow reading and could be quite repetitive. I also felt at times she went off on tangents by telling a story that didn't quite pertain at the moment. I had been wanting to read Temple Grandin's books because I find her to be very fascinating. This was the first one I read and will not be the last. However, I will go into the next one understanding that there will be little entertainment value and I may have to struggle through it like I did this one.
The reactions to the book were mixed. A lot of facts - a deluge of details. Too much maybe. Or maybe welcome information. Repetitive, and not terribly well organized. Which may just be a side affect of Grandin's autism. Shama, who works with autistic kids, marveled that Grandin was articulate enough to write as well as she did. But then, it's now recognized that autism is a full spectrum, and the high-functioning members would be indistinguishable from neurotypical people. (And conversely, "normal" people would have aspects of autism.)