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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
informative
slow-paced
I read this book as recommended on how animals experience pain and suffering, as my cat is in treatment for cancer. This book was interesting but it took me some time to read the entire thing. In retrospect, it would have been good for me to read the recommended chapter first and then the rest of the book.
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Dr. Grandin is famous for her work both in autism advocacy and farm animal management (her most well known invention being the “squeeze machine”).
As I am not an expert in either, I cannot speak to the veracity of everything in this book. It’s approaching the 20th anniversary of its publishing, and no doubt some things have changed.
But, speaking from the experience of one reading it—Dr. Grandin offers stunning insights into the multitude of ways it is possible to perceive a world we all share. Her understanding of animals feels meticulously constructed from the ground off, skillfully evading easy heuristics like anthromorphizing or subscribing lower intelligence and irrationality to beings that act differently than we expect them to.
To me, the emotional core of Animals in Translation is the necessity of treating all beings with respect. Speaking about animals from the perspective of an autistic person, Grandin speaks about two populations that have historically been subject to deep misunderstanding and oppression. Through her insights, she shows ways that we can continue to respect their autonomy, and relate to difference with dignity.
As I am not an expert in either, I cannot speak to the veracity of everything in this book. It’s approaching the 20th anniversary of its publishing, and no doubt some things have changed.
But, speaking from the experience of one reading it—Dr. Grandin offers stunning insights into the multitude of ways it is possible to perceive a world we all share. Her understanding of animals feels meticulously constructed from the ground off, skillfully evading easy heuristics like anthromorphizing or subscribing lower intelligence and irrationality to beings that act differently than we expect them to.
To me, the emotional core of Animals in Translation is the necessity of treating all beings with respect. Speaking about animals from the perspective of an autistic person, Grandin speaks about two populations that have historically been subject to deep misunderstanding and oppression. Through her insights, she shows ways that we can continue to respect their autonomy, and relate to difference with dignity.
I was expecting more autism and less animals, but I learned some things about animals that I never knew. Also some intriguing references to studies with animals, like research on prairie dog language that has revealed the critters use nouns, verbs, and adjectives! This is the drawback of having the audiobook but not the real text: very difficult to track these interesting tidbits for future reading.
Animals In Translation is one of the first scientific books I’ve read, so it was a little difficult for me to follow/fully absorb at times. I treated this audiobook more as a podcast and only listened when I could fully concentrate. I agree with essentially everything Grandin discusses and she confirmed my speculations on the harms of dog breeding. I love her thoughtful yet objective view on animals ranging from pets and barn animals to rats, wolves, and birds. Some of the information given was repetitive, but hopefully that just helps the reader absorb all her immensely interesting research! This book has only increased and confirmed my love and respect for animals, along with those who humanely study them.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book was interesting. It starts from the potentially problematic assumption that autistic people's brains work more like animal's brains than neurotypical people's brains. I was really hesitant when I read that, but the author both has autism and a phd in animal behavior. And she did make the point pretty well that her brain works more like the animals she studies, allowing her to understand them better than most people. I'm not sure "animals in translation" was a good title for this book as it seems to be more about ways in which animals are more intelligent than people give them credit for and how many amazing things they can do and understand. One might even read this book as arguing that neurotypical people are disabled compared to autistic people because they lose so much sensory information to generalization. I'll give this book 4.5 stars.
informative
medium-paced
Read for upcoming book club. Informative, and if I were an animal lover would would probably be fascinated by all this. Not being an animal lover, too close to reading a text book.
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced