Camille Glenn 1

Understanding The Relationship Between Animals and Autism

Temple Grandin is truly an inspiring individual. Through her dedicated research, want for
better treatment of animals, and her gift of autism she has helped to humanize half the
slaughterhouses and livestock farms across America. In this book she has given great insight into
the ways that animals think and perceive things versus the average human, while also giving
insight into the mind of someone with autism.
Autistic people often have trouble relating to or feeling comfortable around other people.
They seem to think and respond to stimuli in very similar ways to animals, however. This was
not immediately known to Temple Grandin, it took a good part of her life for her to realize what
a gift her autism could be. She did know early in life that she wanted to work with animals.
According to Grandin (2005), Animals in Translation comes out of the forty years Ive spent
with animals. Its different from any book Ive read about animals, mostly because Im different
from every other professor who works with animals. Autistic people can think the way animals
think. Of course, we also think the way people think we arent that different from normal
humans. Autism is kind of a way station on the road from animals to humans, which puts autistic
people like me in a perfect position to translate animal talk into English. I can tell people why
their animals are doing the things they do (p.6).
Animals and people perceive the world in very different ways. People develop schemas
and ideas of things, become used to them and dont look at each little detail of something. They
are also pretty oblivious to the animals feelings. Normal people are also proven to be fairly
blind to things that they arent paying attention to. This is a problem that Temple Grandin noticed
in many animal handlers. To her they seemed like obvious and elementary mistakes but that is
because she could see the squeeze chute or whatever contraption through the eyes of the cattle as

well. She compiled a list of tiny details that scare farm animals. Grandin (2005), Animals and
autistic people dont have to be paying attention to something in order to see it. Things like
jiggly chains pop out at us; they grab our attention whether we want them to or not. For a normal
human being, almost nothing in the environment pops. That means its practically impossible for
a human being to actually see something brand-new in the first place. People probably dont like
novelty any more than animals do, but people dont get exposed to much novelty, because they
dont notice it when its there. Humans are built to see what theyre expecting to see and its hard
to expect to see something youve never seen. New things just dont register (p.51).
Another important thing talked about in this book is the idea of selection pressure,
something that humans put on animals that can have dangerous, unintended consequences later
down the line. Selection pressure happens when humans directly control which of their domestic
animal species reproduce. Many times they are only focused on the one or two traits they want
the offspring to have and can end up messing with the way nature intended things. This is called
single-trait breeding and warps evolution. You end up with males raping the females and many
other unintended consequences. It is important to realize that with domestic animals, we are their
environments. Humans control their evolution and their lives. Grandin (2005) said, Were
constantly changing their bodies and their emotions, and it happens a lot faster than we realize
(p.74).
When humans are selecting for a trait, usually physical, they dont think about the
emotional and behavioral changes that will take place in the animal also. Grandin (2005) puts it
this way, Its when you consciously and purposely breed an animal to change one defined
physical trait dramatically from what nature intended that you can definitely end up with some
major emotional and behavioral problems. Moreover, when youre trying to change a physical

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Understanding The Relationship Between Animals and Autism
trait you very, very often end up changing an emotional and behavioral trait, too. The body and
brain arent two different things, controlled by two completely different sets of genes. Many of
the same chemicals that work in your heard and organs also work in your brain. So if you change
a gene in order to change a chickens breast size, youre also going to change whatever that gene
might have been doing in the chickens brain, assuming youre modifying a gene that is active in
both places (p.76).
When breeders continually over-select for any trait in an animal, eventually neurological
damage appears. Neurological damage almost always means emotional damage, or at least
important emotional changes. Temple Grandin talks extensively about the different selection
pressures put on purebred dogs and how the unintended consequences have actually left mutts as
being better behaved and healthier. This is because she said they are most likely using
constructive selection pressures on mutts. Badly behaved mutts are more likely to be culled out
than a badly behaved purebred. People are going to put up with a lot more when they paid a lot
for the animal. (p.82-83)
Temple Grandin touches on multiple differences in animal and human abilities and uses
her gift of autism to tie them together and explain them. In one chapter called Animal Feelings
she explains that mammals and birds have the same core feelings that people do. Their emotional
biology is so close to ours that most of the research on the neurology of emotions or affective
neuroscience is done with animals. Grandin (2005) says, The main difference between animal
emotions and human emotions is that animals dont have mixed emotions the way normal people
do. Animals arent ambivalent; they dont have love-hate relationships with each other or with
people. Thats one of the reasons humans love animals so much; animals are loyal. If an animal
loves you he loves you no matter what. He doesnt care what you look like or how much money

you make. This is another connection between autism and animals: autistic people have mostly
simple emotions, too. Thats why normal people describe us as innocent. An autistic persons
feelings are direct and open, just like animal feelings. We dont hide our feelings, and we arent
ambivalent. I cant even imagine what it would be like to have feelings of love and hate for the
same person (p.88-89). This gives such an insight into both an autistic persons point of view
and also explains a lot about animal and human relationships. An exception to this is that animals
can feel both fear and curiosity at the same time. In animals curiosity is a core emotion, and so is
fear. I love that she wrote this book in her own way talking as an autistic person would.
The book jumps around from subject to subject a little but you can tell how much she
cares in every word. Att my mothers suggestion I watched a movie on Temple Grandin in
preparation for reading Animals in Translation. My mom has worked with multiple autistic
children, knew of Temple Grandin, and thought the movie would help. Im a visual learner, so it
definitely did. Watching the movie made it possible for me to picture her squeeze machine, the
different cattle machines she redesigned, as well as how the world seems to an autistic person
and how they seem to others as I was reading. So much could be written about Temple
Grandins discoveries and accomplishments through her years of interest and curiosity. She
touched on a variety of animals in this book, mentioning different little facts she had discovered
from her unique perspective.
Another big difference between humans and animals that Temple Grandin mentioned is
that she doesnt think animals have the defense mechanisms Sigmund Freud described in
humans, which are projection, displacement, repression, and denial. Grandin (2005) Defense
mechanisms defend against anxiety, and all defense mechanisms depend on repression in some
way. Using repression, you push whatever it is youre afraid of down into your unconscious

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Understanding The Relationship Between Animals and Autism
mind and focus your conscious mind on a stand in (p.91). The reason she believes animals dont
have the Freudian defense mechanisms is that animals and autistic people dont seem to have
repression, or if they do its only to a weak degree. Defense mechanisms havent been tested in
animals, but animals act like they dont have them.
Animals in Translation goes into many different areas of focus and is written in a way
that is fairly easy to understand. Topics also covered were animal aggression, how animals think,
and pain and suffering. There was a whole section on the way humans see versus the way
animals see. This book is incredible and so is Temple Grandin. Her dedication, perseverance, and
the close relationship she feels with animals have allowed her to accomplish so much. It is
amazing what an autistic individual can do given the opportunity and support.
Animals are so much more complex than people give them credit for. Between this
course, Animals in Translation, and the Temple Grandin movie I watched, I have a different
perspective of animals. Ive always been an animal lover and sometimes feel I pay more
attention to animals and care more about them than other people do. Now I feel even more
interested in what an animal could be thinking and feeling at any time. I wonder this about my
cat all the time. This book really gives valuable insight into many behaviors of animals as well as
problems that people are causing in their lives without even realizing it.

References:

Grandin, T. and Johnson, C. (2005). Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of

Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing