Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior (A Harvest Book)

I don't know if people will ever be able to talk to animals the way Doctor Doolittle could, or whether animals will be able to talk back. Maybe science will have something to say about that. But I do know people can learn to "talk" to animals, and to hear what animals have to say, better than they do now. —From Animals in Translation

Why would a cow lick a tractor? Why are collies getting dumber? Why do dolphins sometimes kill for fun? How can a parrot learn to spell? How did wolves teach man to evolve? Temple Grandin draws upon a long, distinguished career as an animal scientist and her own experiences with autism to deliver an extraordinary message about how animals act, think, and feel. She has a perspective like that of no other expert in the field, which allows her to offer unparalleled observations and groundbreaking ideas.

People with autism can often think the way animals think, putting them in the perfect position to translate "animal talk." Grandin is a faithful guide into their world, exploring animal pain, fear, aggression, love, friendship, communication, learning, and, yes, even animal genius. The sweep of Animals in Translation is immense and will forever change the way we think about animals.

*includes a Behavior and Training Troubleshooting Guide  Among its provocative ideas, the book:

• argues that language is not a requirement for consciousness—and that animals do have consciousness
• applies the autism theory of "hyper-specificity" to animals, showing that animals and autistic people are so sensitive to detail that they "can't see the forest for the trees"—a talent as well as a "deficit"
• explores the "interpreter" in the normal human brain that filters out detail, leaving people blind to much of the reality that surrounds them—a reality animals and autistic people see, sometimes all too clearly
• explains how animals have "superhuman" skills: animals have animal genius
• compares animals to autistic savants, declaring that animals may in fact be autistic savants, with special forms of genius that normal people do not possess and sometimes cannot even see
• examines how humans and animals use their emotions to think, to decide, and even to predict the future 
• reveals the remarkable abilities of handicapped people and animals 
• maintains that the single worst thing you can do to an animal is to make it feel afraid

"¿Qué sienten los animales? ¿Qué piensan? ¿Cómo ven el mundo? A veces no nos damos cuenta de que, para entenderlos, debemos cambiar radicalmente nuestra perspectiva humana. Como científica experta en conducta animal y también como persona con autismo, Temple Grandin propone otras vías para establecer un fuerte vínculo emocional entre los seres humanos y el mundo animal, invitándonos a interpretar su forma de comportarse y expresarse desde otros puntos de vista, no solo desde el nuestro."-- Amazon "What do animals feel? What do they think? How do they see the world? Sometimes we don't realize that in order to understand them, we must radically change our human perspective. As an expert scientist in animal behavior and also as a person with autism, Temple Grandin proposes other ways to establish a strong emotional bond between human beings and the animal world, inviting us to interpret their way of behaving and expressing themselves from other points of view, not only from ours."-- Amazon An animal scientist draws on her experience as an autistic to identify commonalities between animals and autistics, offering insight into how animals process sensory information and how they often possess unrecognized talents. Animal scientist Temple Grandin argues that people with autism think the way animals think and draws from her experiences with autism to discuss how animals think, act, and feel People who aren't autistic always ask me about the moment I realized I could understand the way animals think.