Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

The obvious subject of this book is animals, but the perspective is unique. Temple Grandin, a well-known animal behaviorist and autism spokesperson, applies both of those fields of expertise to the challenge of understanding how animals view the world they share with us.

There's a certain degree of speculation in what she tells us, because supporting data is skimpy. But her perspective from a high-functioning spot on the autism spectrum is fairly convincing. She experiences reality somewhat differently from most of us, and she suspects that she may have some overlap with the way animals see it.

For example, she tells us animals and autistic people share certain traits:
1) They really don't like abrupt changes (for cattle, this could include being compelled to go from bright light into a dark area, or toward a puddle with odd reflections). If left alone, animals will eventually inspect a new thing out of curiosity (learning about anything unusual is a survival mechanism), but they resist and panic when it's forced on them.
2) They notice details ordinary people do not (unless we are consciously looking for those details). We suffer from "inattentional blindness," because our frontal lobes get in the way. Higher cognitive thinking means we see the big picture but not necessarily the details that make up that picture.

She tells us "frontal lobe problems are a big part of autism." She has a fascinating speculation about disability, i.e., "Frontal lobe functions are the first to go, whether the problem is a traumatic head injury, a developmental disability, old age, or just plain lack of sleep. Worse yet, if you damage any part of your brain ... you wind up with frontal lobe problems even when your frontal lobes weren't touched." The explanation (which she attributes to a researcher at NYU) is that every other part of the nervous system is connected to the frontal lobes, so if any other part is damaged, its input to the frontal lobes is affected. "If the frontal lobes aren't getting the right input, they don't produce the right output."

Returning to the perceptions of animals, she says that beneath our massively overgrown prefrontal cortex, humans still have "animal brains" that are basically the same as the brains animals have. So (apart from the unique sensory apparatus some animals have) animal perceptions, a dog's sense of smell, for example, are at least theoretically possible for humans—and there are rare instances of humans who have this perception. Also, experts have shown that "people perceive lots more than they realize consciously." Because "your brain does a lot of processing before it allows something into consciousness." Being able to filter out distractions is usually a good thing, in that it enables us to get through our days more efficiently, but animals and autistic people don't have that ability. They can be confused, frightened, or bogged down with stimuli that really are not relevant.

Along the same line, humans make sense of what we see because we generalize. If for example we see a building from one side and later see it from the other side, we know it's the same building. On the other hand, "animals don't generalize well. ... A good way to try to get inside an animal's head, to the extent that is possible, is to be constantly asking yourself, 'How would I feel if what I were looking at right now was something I'd never laid eyes on before in my life?'" Seeing something you never expected to see can prompt some fear. That experience is usually not traumatic for us, because we automatically assign new things to existing categories. Animals, being "hyper-specific," have to deal with a "barrage of details from the environment" and are perceiving new and perhaps scary things quite often.

Most interesting to me is the author's repeated observation that "curiosity and anticipation is one of the most basic emotions." Think of the excitement of a pet that knows it's about to be fed. This "SEEKING system" in the brain starts firing when there is evidence that something desired may be at hand. Interestingly, it stops firing as soon as the desired object is attained. "Animals and autistic people are wired to enjoy hunting for food. ... They like the hunting part in and of itself. Depending on our personalities and interests, humans enjoy any kind of hunt" (e.g., shopping for bargains, researching a topic on the Internet, trying to understand the meaning of life in a captivating church message).

Beyond that, the author gives considerable attention to explanations for other kinds of animal behavior, such as aggression. She says (and it's probably true) that humans are generally at fault when, for example, we don't allow young animals to interact with one another or when we show favoritism to a dog that is not the alpha dog in a group—or if we allow a dog to get the idea his owner should be submissive to him! (On two occasions, large dogs owned by neighbors have abruptly lunged at me, barely held back by owners not really in control of them. Whatever the factors that prompted those attacks, I did not react well. I had dogs when growing up, and thought they were fine pets, but this discussion does not make me want another one. Dogs, cats, riding horses, etc. need to be socialized and made comfortable with novelty and change, and at an early age.)

Near the end, the book provides very interesting discussions on pain and (again) fear, as these are probably experienced by animals. I'm left with the impression that we assume a lot about animals (and perhaps about autistic people) that may be pretty far off-base. Maybe over time, with the help of people like Temple Grandin, our understanding will improve.

In the duration of reading this book, I noticed a change in empathy towards others. I suspect it was towards people who have (mentally) different brain functions. It made me think of how I respond to events that make me feel certain ways, especially when they involve other people. Perhaps reading from the perspective of an autistic person, Temple Grandin, made me sympathize with people who act differently, without a choice. With me seeing the ways this kind of thinking impacts their lives, I can’t bring myself to be mad or have any bad feelings towards them no matter what they do to me. One scenario that did actually happen to me during this time period, really tested how much I want to change.
This happened over the summer, while I was at an Urban Air in Durham NC with my sisters and another family, after me my sisters ordered some food. This one child kept trying to take the food, but wouldn’t speak when we confronted him, which made me wonder if he was …different, until he was sent back to his parents. Once the parents told us their child was autistic, I felt a lot of guilt at myself, but thought of Animals in Translation, and how autistic people think visually, like animals do. I continued on reading, and promised to myself that I would change my mindset, so I wouldn’t automatically assume someone was just like me, able to do the things I did every day and took for granted. Truly, I have Animals in Translation to thank for that change, and while it is a work in progress, I hope I will soon be able to see the results.
Animals in Translation is an adult’s memoir about the fascinating studies Temple Grandin, the author along with Catherine Johnson, has done in animal behaviors, as well as autistic studies. The book was split into ten main chapters, and each chapter would have about 15-20 “sections” that gave more detailed explanations on parts of the main chapter’s topic. Temple would mention her own experiences with animals or sometimes would talk about her own opinions rather than scientific facts, which I liked. Each section in a chapter was very closely related, and worked with each other to make the chapter what it is. The chapter I found the most interesting was Chapter 5: Pain and Suffering. It talks about the things animals (and partly autistic people) need to have a good mental life. And while the entire book made me think about this, Chapter 5 is when I really thought about my dog, Coco, and whether or not she is having a good life with us.
Temple Grandin is an author of over thirty books, some of which, including both Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human (The other book I received along with this one), in collaboration with Catherine Johnson. Temple is known for being an animal advocate, and for inventing her world-famous “hug machine”. It is used to relieve her own anxiety, and is now used as forms of pressure therapy for autistic people around the world. She has worked with many popular food chains including McDonalds and Burger King, to ensure their animal facilities are handled in a humane manner. I wondered, along with many other people apparently, if she cares so much about animal welfare, then why does she work with slaughter companies? She actually answers this question in Animals in Translation and says, “We owe them a decent life and a decent death, and their lives should be as low-stress as possible. That’s my job.” (Grandin and Johnson #307) Catherine Johnson has been on the National Alliance for Autism Research, is a writer and brain Ph.D (Grandin, Temple, and Catherine Johnson. Animals in Translation. Simon & Schuster, 2005). These are women to look up to, at least for me, I hope to be as successful with my career one day.
I noticed that while there are two authors writing this book, Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson, I mostly found traces of Temple, because Animals in Translation was written from her point of view. I couldn’t actually tell which parts of the book Catherine had written entirely. I also began to realize that Animals in Translation isn’t written like a traditional nonfiction book. It is written like one long conversation, with Temple talking about her most important studies with autistic people to learn about animals’ behavior. I learned that I prefer these types of books, because while they don't hold my attention as well in the beginning, I like learning about what the writer thinks about everything they’ve learned as well. While I was reading the beginning of the book, I decided that I should, to keep track of the pages that I found really interesting, memorable, or just important to remember one day, bend the bottoms so I could find them again. Still, it is important for me to remember things that can help me in the future.t
There are two main things I hoped to have gained from reading this book: I wanted to understand animal behavior and/or language, and I wanted to understand those who are autistic, to get an idea of what goes on in their minds. I was once blind, believing everyone thought the same way. Those are close minded, ignorant thoughts. Suppose someone who has the same background as you, whether it is race, religion, ect, you shouldn’t assume they think the same way you do. You just never know what is going on in other people’s heads, so making assumptions won’t get you anywhere. With this in mind, (and like I’d mentioned before) I hope to be able to transition from an assumptive state to a person who gets to know people for who they are, not who I think they are. Yes, it will take some time, but I know that version of me exists, I just have to work for it.
I think the knowledge Animals in Translation presents is really important. Imagine if everyone in the world took it upon themselves to make the choice I made. While that is truly just wishful thinking, I could start with one person reading this book, and I actually have two people who I think should read it. One, is my cousin, Khalifa, but everyone at CHCS just calls him Coach Shareef. He works on the farm at that school, and I think that even though he works more with the plants, he should still know about the animal welfare movement, and try to treat the pony and chickens better. My other recommendation is to my other cousin, CJ. He wants to be a veterinarian too, so I think that anyone who wants to follow the path of working with nature’s creatures should read Animals in Translation. I don’t just want them to read the book for the animal aspects of it, I believe they are really interested in other people, so if anyone is likely to change the way they think about others, it's them.

The word "animals" is in the title, but the reader learns a lot about human behavior from this book. The author writes from her own personal perspective of being autistic.

I learned from the book that the frontal lobe's ability to screen through all the incoming sensory data to the human brain to quickly form broad generalizations is what we understand to be normal human consciousness. The more limited functioning of animal frontal lobes allows them more direct access to the raw data from lower parts of the brain. This allows animals to super specialize in certain skills that help them to survive. (i.e. dog's ability to smell, or migratory bird's ability to remember 1,000 mile routes).

Impared functioning of the frontal lobe may explain how some autistic persons appear to have super human skills in specialized areas. They have privileged access to the raw data from the lower parts of the brain unfettered by screening by the frontal lobes. Unfortunately, it also explains how other autistic persons can be overwhelmed by the flood of incoming sensory data and are unable respond appropriately to their surroundings.

The book is full of interesting anecdotal stories about human and animal behavior. One part I found particularly fascinating is the theory that the evolution of the human brain may have been influenced by the presence of domesticated wolves (i.e. dogs). I know it sounds hard to believe, but there is a rational basis for such speculation. The comparison of dog and wolf genetics indicates that dogs started being domesticated about 135,000 years ago which is the approximate time that modern humans began spreading throughout the world. The partnership between dogs and humans may have given an edge to modern humans in their competition with Neanderthals in Europe during the last ice age. So the expression, "Man's best friend," may have more truth to it than we realize!

Excellent read. Temple is one of my heroes. And the book does not disappoint. Fascinating information.

I was fortunate to see Ms. Grandin in 1984 when I was in College and studying Special Education. She was showcased on a Segment of "Oprah" on a show about "Idiot Savants" I remember as vividly now, how angry I was then, that they referred to any of the People, whom I felt they were exploiting for the financial gain of the Psychologist who had been studying them since their childhood. Still, I was doing my Undergraduate Thesis on Autism and while biting my lip a few times, watched in fascination as Ms. Grandin would "snap out of her inner world" for a moment and say or do something remarkable. Unfortunately, the "What" at this point has failed my memory.

I read this book when it was first published in 2005. It didn't surprise me that she had the ability to communicate with animals. My own research had led me to the argument that Autism and Animal Communication were so tightly entwined that one day someone would crack that code.

This book is well written. It will leave you teary eyed at times, while just fascinate you at others. This is a must read!

DNF at around 15%. I just can't. Between the generalizations about autism and the info I don't want about the meat packing industry (as a vegetarian), I just can't do it. I'm sure there are valuable insights here, but it's just not for me.

A truly fascinating read. Grandin's synthesis of how human and animal brains works is by far the most compelling one I've read so far (and I've read a few!). Her anecdotes are truly fascinating (elephants that communicate over miles by beating on the ground! dogs that can detect human seizures long before they occur! dolphins that kill porpoises just for kicks!) and fodder for a lifetime of cocktail party conversations. But more vital is the synthetic whole she makes out of her work on animal behavior and her own autism, which is at once disarming and compelling. In the end, Gradin's frankness, honesty, and willingness to acknowledge the limitations of her knowledge makes her generalizations about minds, behavior, and evolution far more compelling than many of the more popular writers on the brain. This little book should be read by anyone who cares about animals, and/or anyone cares about how the mind works.

Really a 4.5 star book, but I'll give it five do to the limited nature of the grading system.
This book really changed my perspective on how I view animals (and autistic people!). Unfortunately, kids will be forced to read some waste of time book in high school like Billy Bud or Romeo and Juliet when there are awesome thought provoking books like this. It was fascinating to feel the basic accessibility of this book instead of the normal, overly-verbose, academic prose that would fill this type of book.
I wonder how much of the writing was done by Temple and how much by the co-author. Being autistic, is it even possible for Temple to write an entire book by herself? I have way too many questions now, but that's the whole point to a good science book.