Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

Grandin is best known for her memoir, Thinking in Pictures (1995), a text that explains how Grandin’s autism informs her work with animals and gives her a better understanding of how animals think and feel. Animals in Translation takes Thinking in Pictures one step further, providing an in-depth account of animal cognition and emotions. Grandin explains that because she has autism, her brain does not convert information to words. Instead, she thinks “in pictures,” and her brain spends more time interpreting visual cues. She argues that animals process information in a similar manner. Because they lack the capacity for language, they also interpret information visually. Because neurotypical humans and animals “think” so differently from each other, most people have long assumed that animals are less sensitive and less intelligent than humans. Humans, she notes, do not understand the way that animals think and feel. Grandin’s autism makes her detail-oriented and helps her to focus on making keen observations. Because she is more attuned to animal thought and emotion processing, she has been able to observe animals in commercial settings and ascertain which aspects of their care or handling might be more distressing to them than anyone previously realized.