We met Temple Grandin last night!

Yesterday was a whirlwind day for Shiloh and me (though Tuesdays usually are since I work two jobs on Tuesday). After working from 9-7:30pm I drove back to the University of Oregon to hear Dr. Temple Grandin present "My Experiences with Autism and Animals"
The University was woefully mistaken on how many people in the Eugene Community would turn out to hear such and influential speaker, they ended up needing two overflow rooms where people watch via video feed. The only reason I got in the main room with getting there late was due the fact I had my own chair! (sometimes it is an advantage)
Dr. Grandin is known for her work in improving conditions and treatment of  live stock such as cows and pigs. Her genuine compassion for and insistence on the humane treatment of animals comes from her unique ability to "think in pictures" and see things from the animals point of view. Her latest book is Animals Make Us Human, which I am in the process of reading and will post a review soon. My take home points from last nights discussion (that I will embed video of as soon as the university posts it) were:

• Animals do indeed have feelings- there is research to support this. example prozac works on dogs the same way it does for humans
• You need to find out what is motivating an animal to do what it is doing before you can accurately assess and solve the problem
• Animals can be trained for just about any situation, but just because and animals is habituation to one thing doesn't mean something humans may view as less threatening will be perceived that way by the animal

I was also lucky enough to get to met Dr. Grandin for a second and get my book autographed!
Please enjoy a clip from the new HBO movie about Dr. Grandin and know she is very pleased with how her life is represented within it.

Trailer