Grandin's "Thinking Like Animals"

For this blog I read Temple Grandin's piece, "Thinking Like Animals". I really enjoyed reading this passage; it is a story that I have heard before on a television show a few years ago. The work that Grandin does for animals headed for slaughter is amazing and very interesting when you consider how she is able to better understand these animals through her autism. The strongest part of this argument is her stance on the reasoning behind her design of the restraint system. She gives concrete reasons as to what alarms cattle and what calms them and she does so by speaking from a personal experience point of view. Through her autism she was able to understand more and more about how touch, sound, and motion affect people and animals which led her to create a much more humane method for slaughtering cattle. She talks about how she used to like to feel the pressure of the machine because it would calm her down just like it does for the animals. The only weak point of this argument is that she does not bring in any other testimonies from researchers or professionals, which doesn't necessarily hurt her cause but it also doesn't add anything extra. Overall, I really enjoy this piece. I think that Grandin is doing wonderful, helpful work and her story of using her handicap to benefit the world is an inspiration.