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157 reviews for:
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Temple Grandin
4.01 AVERAGE
157 reviews for:
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
Temple Grandin
4.01 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this book! It changed the way I see many things. It was interesting, captivating, and I never wanted to put it down. I learned about autism, animals, and different ways in which we see the world. So many perspectives! I would highly recommend this.
This was understandably a bit dry and at times repetitive, but I never got bored with it. There are many interesting observations and theories in the science of animal behavior, and Temple Grandin illustrates a broad selection of these. Her vocabulary choices are deliberate, consise, and surprisingly approachable, so the layperson can follow easily.
I listened to this through my library's digital audio download program, so it took me longer to find time to "read" this than my paper-bound books might, but it did keep me on the treadmill a little longer than music would.
I listened to this through my library's digital audio download program, so it took me longer to find time to "read" this than my paper-bound books might, but it did keep me on the treadmill a little longer than music would.
Tmeple Grandin is amazing and this book was totally engrossing. I am not usually "into" non-fiction, but I did not want to put this book down.
Temple's insights into how animals think and what they feel - whether it's predator (dogs, cats, tigers, wolves) or prey (cattle, horses, sheep) animals - are thought provoking and a definite eye opener into how "normal" people see the world.
Anyone interested in animal behavior would find this book intriguing. I am thinking of picking up her books that are about autism in the near future. (FYI, Temple Grandin is autistic, and is able to "see" how animals see. She has a PhD in Animal Behavior, and is an expert in the field of cattle handling.)
Temple's insights into how animals think and what they feel - whether it's predator (dogs, cats, tigers, wolves) or prey (cattle, horses, sheep) animals - are thought provoking and a definite eye opener into how "normal" people see the world.
Anyone interested in animal behavior would find this book intriguing. I am thinking of picking up her books that are about autism in the near future. (FYI, Temple Grandin is autistic, and is able to "see" how animals see. She has a PhD in Animal Behavior, and is an expert in the field of cattle handling.)
I hope this book will help regular people be a little less verbal and a little more visual. I've spent thirty years as an animal scientist, and I've spent my whole life as an autistic person. I hope what I've learned will help people start over again with animals (and maybe with autistic people, too), and begin to think about them in a different way.
I hope what I've learned will help people see. (26)
A book that was highly recommended to me in my undergrad days of studying Education and which I only now got around to reading. I wish I hadn't waited! By now I'm sure everybody knows the "hook" to this title: author Temple Grandin is autistic (her own words, no offense meant to anybody who prefers the Identity-First Language of "a person with autism" or "on the spectrum" or something similar -- I'm not very up-to-date on things like this and genuinely hope I don't offend) and so this book is both a sharp reminder that everyone has a valuable contribution to make of some sort or another as well as an illuminating look into animal behavior which is a fascinating topic in and of itself.
Grandin's writing is quaint, and patient, and precise. It's guileless. It's as if Kurt Vonnegut were writing a "how to" manual. And in learning about animal behavior, she asks us to consider our own in the process, making for a wonderful primer on foundational topics in psychology.
All in all this is a good book, but not perfect - it grows quite repetitive, and Grandin fires off a lot of trivia that is interesting but does not delve very deeply into the topics she shares. It's a really great introductory text to some basic principles of brain chemistry, developmental psychology, and of course behaviorism and animal husbandry. But while each page itself is full of fascinating tidbits, the book as a whole does not cohere.
3 stars out of 5. Both interesting and informative, which is what we all hope for in our nonfiction, but the length leads to repetition, the content doesn't delve all that deeply into these topics, and as other reviewers have noted there are some concerns about the scientific validity of some of her conclusions drawn on small sample sizes and anecdotal evidence. The best chapters, in my opinion, are "Pain and Suffering" and "How Animals Think" as they explore content I haven't seen as often in other works.
Dr. Temple Grandin has written an intriguing explanation of how her way of thinking in pictures offers insight as an autistic scholar towards understanding the way animals might think as well. It was a fast and fascinating read- I highly recommend this for anyone to read and get a window into another perspective to people and animals.
Interesting book. A lot of insight into how animals perceive their world; however, I disagree with some of the premises put forth in this book - namely that animals can never forget a traumatic experience, thus never fully recover from it. There are people working with animals, particularly dogs, proving that's not entirely accurate every day.
I respect Temple Grandin, and her work has revolutionized the animal industry. However, this book is a product of its time and has outdated information and ideas about behavior and training.
This book is much more interesting to me for its insights into autism than it is as a book about animal behavior.
Animals in Translation is a difficult book to define, there are so many subjects that are intertwined in it. It isn't just about autism, neurology, language, or animals; all of these subjects (as well as others) are related to each other and the seamless writing shows these connections so clearly you'll wonder how you never made the connection yourself.
While technically a scientific book, this isn't a book limited to the scientific community. Anyone can pick up this book and understand it without getting a migraine or needing a brainiac translator. It almost reads like a conversation you are having with your own renowned scientist friend.
Anyone with even the slightest interest in animals, neurology, or just about being human will find something to enjoy in this book. Temple Grandin shows how connected everything in our world really is with personal stories, scientific studies, and insight few people (let alone those in her position of influence) possess.
While technically a scientific book, this isn't a book limited to the scientific community. Anyone can pick up this book and understand it without getting a migraine or needing a brainiac translator. It almost reads like a conversation you are having with your own renowned scientist friend.
Anyone with even the slightest interest in animals, neurology, or just about being human will find something to enjoy in this book. Temple Grandin shows how connected everything in our world really is with personal stories, scientific studies, and insight few people (let alone those in her position of influence) possess.
I was very concerned about this book after checking the reviews. I always like to peek before I start a book that no one had recommended to me, I had just stumbled upon. However, many of the negative points I saw in reviews were non-issues to me.
I grew up with an autistic brother, and the way the author describes autism and herself as a person with autism is very similar to the verbiage my brother uses to this day. I could understand the issue if a non-autistic author was using the language that Grandin uses, but that point is nullified by the author's own experiences.
Another issue I saw mentioned in the reviews is the way the author uses the term "animal". However, there is biological definitions of the word (that are scientifically reputable and taught in college classes for reference) that do not include birds or humans as animals. So again, that point is null in my mind.
This book was a very informative read. I greatly appreciated the author's view into animal behavior and the associations made with autism and why it may be similar to animal behavior is some aspects. Grandin's experiences that were incorporated into the book shined a light on many different behaviors in humans and animals.
I grew up with an autistic brother, and the way the author describes autism and herself as a person with autism is very similar to the verbiage my brother uses to this day. I could understand the issue if a non-autistic author was using the language that Grandin uses, but that point is nullified by the author's own experiences.
Another issue I saw mentioned in the reviews is the way the author uses the term "animal". However, there is biological definitions of the word (that are scientifically reputable and taught in college classes for reference) that do not include birds or humans as animals. So again, that point is null in my mind.
This book was a very informative read. I greatly appreciated the author's view into animal behavior and the associations made with autism and why it may be similar to animal behavior is some aspects. Grandin's experiences that were incorporated into the book shined a light on many different behaviors in humans and animals.