huh.
...I've read a book by her I think.
Lots of the things she said made sense to me, actually.
I also feel like I think more like other animals and not like the standard "human" way of doing things.
It didn't seem to me she was generalizing all autistics as the same as her either.
Actually, she seemed to be saying that everyone is different from each other and there are different ways of thinking, no one more importnat or more "right" than the other.
I'm also a part of 2 communities that kind of revolve around animals.
They're called "Furry" and "Therian".
Both od them are basicly the same, concentrating on a deep affinity for animals. Furry being more fun and artistic, while Therian being more spiritually and psychologically oriented.
I've noticed there are a whole bunch of Autistics in these groups too.
Maybe our different way of thinking opens us up to see other ways of thinking from different forms of life?
Her saying we're "in between" kinda bothers me a bit, as that leads to the connotation that there is some kind of strict hierarchy. I view the world as more of a circle.
What section of a circle is the most important? All are needed for it to still be a circle.
Oh, Chamoisee, I concur on the lead apron! Now that the dental x-rays are so low-powered, and computerized, with no actual film, my dentist and his folks tell me that's no longer necessary. I told'em I found it to be strangely soothing, but they did not attend to my concerns.
I must insist on the lead apron, next time.
Curiously, I had a filling come out of a tooth just the other day. I'll try and insist on the lead apron when I go in for the tooth work. Surely, at 55 years old, I have the right not to care what other people thing of my harmless quirks? Besides, I betcha we can get by with smaller doses of the anesthesia, if I am less nervous.
On the lead-poisoning thing: It's not a problem for grown-ups, 'specially if said lead is sealed inside a plastic apron. I'm more worried about the increased cancer risks from the dental x-rays I had back in the fifties when they used lots of power, and from having grown up in Southern Florida, in the harsh sunlight, with my pale Celtic complexion.
What's with all this stuff about separating humans from the animal kingdom, anyway? It's really quite homo-centric and may I say a little arrogant of humanity.
I won't disagree with you about that, Nyan, though I insist that we (typical humans, not just aspies/auties) seem to be a very weird and unique kind of monkey. It's the big brain you know; encourages all sorts of sneaky devious thinking.
The smaller-brained critters seem to have their instincts shut down any weird crazy behavior before it gets really dangerous. I give as an example, the canine surrender behavior. (Lie on back and bare throat, etc.)
Humans have enough smarts to go against their instincts, at times.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, I think.
Hmm, I won't have any more root canal fillings. I will just ask the dentist to take the tooth out and be done with it.
I think I might be one of those people with a "furry" affinity as I like furry animals and feeling furry things such as soft furry blankets.
Well, I wouldn't say that I'm disabled, exactly, just that I'm a bit weird, and somewhat lacking in assertiveness. I'll try and assert my concerns at them, the next time I go in there. I am paying for it, I am a grownup, etc., as you pointed out.
I think I might be one of those people with a "furry" affinity as I like furry animals and feeling furry things such as soft furry blankets.
Hehe. Me too.
Oh, I do wish Professor Grandin would publish detailed drawings so that those of us who wanted to do so, could build our own squeeze-boxes. I dunno about you other folks, but sometimes I think a hug is just right; sometimes I think it is too much. I would like to be able to regulate it, myself, according to my own notions.
If the hug were provided by another human, he or she might feel offended at my reaction. Far better to suit myself without offending other people.
I won't disagree with you about that, Nyan, though I insist that we (typical humans, not just aspies/auties) seem to be a very weird and unique kind of monkey.
Well, ape, technically. Not monkey. 
Hey, when I wrote "monkey", I meant it in a kind of loose, slangish kind of way!
Oh! I saw yer smiley. Sorry.
I still think monkeys are funnier to watch than the great apes. Like us, but even sillier?
maybe sillier than us but not that NT's
LMAO
couldn't resist...
Hell I get the same comforting effect from sleeping in a sleeping bag... (which I do everynight even though I've got a perfectly good bed...)
My brother and I were talking about Temple Grandin earlier tonight. He said his wife had seen the documentary "The woman who thought like a cow" but didn't tape it as she didn't know it was going to be on.
Among other things, she said that Aspies are often in a constant state of overstimulation and find it well nigh impossible to screen out all the incoming stimuli.
I was trying to tell him about all the excessive noise where I work a couple of months ago, and he says he was a bit sceptical at that time but that now he understands why I was stressing about things that wouldn't bother most other people eg. people talking on the phone in annoying voices, mindless chatter. I've been moved to a more congenial environment now, thank goodness.
He suggested I might see if I can find a copy of the documentary and see if the health and safety officer would like to watch it. There is another Aspie in my work team so I could ask him what he thinks about it.
Grandin said that "Autistic people can think the way that animals think" - not that they can only think in that way.
Isn't objectivity, the ability to think impersonally and free from 'one's own' viewpoint, one of the advantages of autistic thought? At the other end of the spectrum would be the people who can't be objective and only understand things through the medium of their own subjective self.