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

Unabridged
Author: Temple Grandin , Catherine Johnson
Narrator: Shelly Frasier
Genres: Science & Technology, Biology & Life Science, Psychology
Publisher: Tantor Media
Date: January 2005
Length: 12 hours
Ratings:
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, debunked common assumptions about autism in Thinking in Pictures (1995). In her latest book, she sheds new light on animal behavior. Comparing an autistic person’s frontal lobes (which can receive mixed messages from the brain) to animals’ less developed ones, Grandin argues that autism can help us understand animals’ more defined actions. She offers funny, thought-provoking insights into their conduct—Mozart’s pet starling inspired his music; some dogs sense people’s oncoming seizures. A thoughtful, concluding "troubleshooting" guide to animal behavior contains useful advice. A few poorly edited, repetitive chapters, not to mention the controversial brain research cited, irked some critics. Overall, however, readers will leave Animals with greater understanding of why Fluffy feels—and acts—the way he does

Reviews (3)

Excellent

Written by Anonymous from Sterling, VA on January 7th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I rented this book thinking I was going to learn about autism. The book is mostly about animal behavior and the parallels that exist in human brains, not just autistic ones. This is an EXCELLENT book. I highly recommend it for kids in middle school on up to adults. Beyond the great subject matter, this book is proof that difficult scientific concepts can be delivered to the general public in a way that is incredibly interesting and informative.

Animals in Translation

Written by Nannette Minchey on August 8th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I found this book fascinating. It provides incredible insights into animal behavior, historically wrong assumptions that have been made in animal research, and a look at the world from the view of an autistic person. I would highly recommend it. When I received it, I thought "how could there possible be enough information to fill up 10 disks?" There is enough information and it was interesting listening. I look at the world, animals and autistic people a bit differently now.

Animals in Translation

Written by Anonymous from Sedro-Woolley, WA on July 25th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I thought this was a highly informative book. It did tend to repeat it self at times, but that was ok, as it refreshed the information in my mind as it was a long book. I would recomend this book to anyone that loves animals and wants to know more about how they think.