Re: Strong interest in cats........................

[Guest guest]

HI Tammy

my eight and a half year old Grace is ADD and asd she is not on meds

although they have been prescribed. She has poor fine motor skills and is

obsessed

by all animals particularly dogs, she has her own dog, who is in training foir

Autism assistance.

Youn will love this group, a real wealth of support and information

Tony x

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy,

Welcome to the group! You'll love it here.

My daughter (5 1/2) does get speech and OT (and PT) at school. As

well as Speech and OT privately.

Her Obsessions change from time to time, or what I see as obsessions... I

don't know that it's a true obsession or that she just gets herself in a

routine and doesn't want it different for awhile. But it varies from

anything like always watching the same Tv show for weeks (not the same

episode each time but won't allow for a different show completely) to

needing Daddy to take his glasses off when he sits down to the table to eat.

is also on ADHD meds (which can cause trouble getting to sleep at

night)

But socially she is not at all at her age level... she wants to be social.

She loves most people, and loves the attention she gets from adults... but

her ability to be social with peers her own age is limited due to a severe

lack of language skills. She doesn't have the language to carry on a

conversation or make up things to play etc.

She'll say hi to people but from there her responses are based off of what

she thinks should come next like a person could say hi to her and then

she'll say hi in return and then say " I'm Good! " even if they've not asked

" How are you? " But she's used to so many people asking her that, that it's

an automatic response. And she can say that she's 5 (most of the time) or

tell them what color her clothes are... but the real give and take of a

conversation is just not there.

She's in a self contained classroom at school with 5 other children, however

they do mix in with one of the mainstream classes for different things

throughout the day, but she'll either find the younger kids on the

playground or stick with her aide.

Theresa

>

> Hello,

>

> I am new to this group and have a few questions about ASD My nine

> year old daughter has several AS traits, or what I think are AS

> traits. Do any of your daughters have: Poor fine motor skills, an

> obsession with our cat/ cats in general, gets speech ot and resource

> room in school, socially she is ok, although she rarely asks to play

> with other girls. She is on meds for ADHD which helps with

> hyperactivity and inattentiveness. She also has alot of trouble

> falling asleep at night. Thanks you in advance for any ans

> wers you can give me. Tammy

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy,

Welcome, it's nice to meet you!

My daughter obsesses about her pets, but over the years she has shown a

tendency to " do " other topics too until she's sick of them, then move on.

She is 13 now & chatters constantly, but at age 3-4 she had 20 hours per

week of immersion speech therapy at the elem school for 2 full years. She had

weekly OT sessions, and still has trouble maintaining a tripod pencil grip and

does not use her thumbs appropriately. She dislikes art, coloring, crafts,

or anything that involves fine-motor skills. She still tends to monologue

when nervous rather than have good conversations with peers, but she does fine

with family.

She started on ADHD meds at around age 9. Her nickname was Tigger back

then, (Tiggers BOUNCE) LOL. It took behavior mods, diet, energy burners

several

times a day (skipping & crab walking breaks in the hall @ school, etc),

appliances (stretchy bounce straps wrapped around her chair legs for quiet

fidgeting), and the medication for her to survive elementary school.

She still has nights when she can't get to sleep, but does so much better

than when she was younger. We have identified guidelines and a schedule that

are the most help with that. Things like: never take her ADHD med later than

7:30 AM, romp w/the dog & get some good exercise daily, no naps, no

cola/caffeine drinks after supper, no stimulating activities after bath time -

just

quiet reading, keep the bedtime schedule on track, she has a sound machine to

mask noises from around the house and outside that might wake her, the dog to

sleep in her room for security (some of her problems have been anxiety based)

and no stressful conversations before bed.

Hope this info is helpful! Sandi

In a message dated 1/8/2009 8:38:11 P.M. Central Standard Time,

bchnntmmy@... writes:

Hello,

I am new to this group and have a few questions about ASD My nine

year old daughter has several AS traits, or what I think are AS

traits. Do any of your daughters have: Poor fine motor skills, an

obsession with our cat/ cats in general, gets speech ot and resource

room in school, socially she is ok, although she rarely asks to play

with other girls. She is on meds for ADHD which helps with

hyperactivity and inattentiveness. She also has alot of trouble

falling asleep at night. Thanks you in advance for any ans

wers you can give me. Tammy

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[Guest guest]

Hey Tammy, welcome. I have 3 daughters, my 9 yr old has autism and

LOVES cats. I'm sort of an shadow-to-aspie person myself. As a child

and teen I was obsessed with cats. My mom got me a subscription to Cat

Fancy and I read medical encyclopedias about cats. I still have my

Cornell Book of Cats. You'll be happy to know though we still have

some, they annoy me to no end! Pretty much when I had kids they went

from being my babies to my plague! Now my obsession is autism. Go figure!

I think my mom giving me the books & stuff helped me since I hated

reading. It gave me an outlet and made me feel smart by reading all

that. I could give any cat fact in the world at that time.

And yes, my daughter still has delayed motor skills. She does get some

OT & some sensory strategies for the classroom.

I've found getting some active play time in before like 8pm helps with

sleep. Some of us use melatonin or 5-htp to help go to sleep, it's

available at most drug stores.

Debi

[Guest guest]

when was of littler was of greatly interested in cats but over the

years less of obsessed with them but now more just really like of them

but like of many animals too. I to found out a few years back allergic

to cats so now tyring to limit my contact with my cat sassy pooh which

is of hard because her fur is of silky soft and really fluffy.

sondra

[Guest guest]

Sondra, as always, thank you for your input.  My daughter Ella is 6 yrs old and

has an amazing obsession with animals.  She said her first words appropriately

when she sat on a horse for the first time.  ( " It's a horse! " )  We a behavior

certified dog for her.  They go everywhere together.  We are trying to teach

Ella that not every dog is safe like hers.  She having a very difficult time

with this concept.  She has NO sense of fear with anything, including animals. 

Can I ask if you have any suggestions about this?

________________________________

To: Autism_in_Girls

Sent: Friday, January 9, 2009 3:04:21 PM

Subject: Re: Strong interest in cats........................

when was of littler was of greatly interested in cats but over the

years less of obsessed with them but now more just really like of them

but like of many animals too. I to found out a few years back allergic

to cats so now tyring to limit my contact with my cat sassy pooh which

is of hard because her fur is of silky soft and really fluffy.

sondra

[Guest guest]

HI

Grace will hug dogs even if they are snarling or growling at her, infact she

seems positively happy that they have been 'talking' to her and will often

say that they growled! Unfortunatley we have had a really hard time getting

across to her that not all dogs are as placid as my guide dog or her autism

dog! She has been bitten on a number of occassions by other peoples dogs

fortunatley not badly but she still doesn't understand!

I find the best way is just not let her touch other peoples dogs unless you

know the dog!

really hard when your child has an in-built animal magnet!

I would be interested in any other suggestions!

Tony x

[Guest guest]

We have a similar problem with our cats. Allie thinks it's perfectly

hilarious if a cat claws, scratches, or bites her. When our golden was

younger she would play too rough, Allie provoked it. I guess it's that

sensory stuff. I wish I knew how to stop it.

Debi

[Guest guest]

Debi did your Golden grow out of that? Playing too rough? Ours does the same

thing, and like Allie, provokes it... though she's not happy with

the results. Such as being tackled from across the yard!

>

> We have a similar problem with our cats. Allie thinks it's perfectly

> hilarious if a cat claws, scratches, or bites her. When our golden was

> younger she would play too rough, Allie provoked it. I guess it's that

> sensory stuff. I wish I knew how to stop it.

>

> Debi

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sondra,

We too have been dealing with the nipping when Allie runs in the house. We

were trying a water squirt bottle to stop him, but too often by the time we

found where it had been left last time it had been too long since the nip, so

it was too late to do any good. Your suggestion sounds like something we

could manage. We'll definitely give it a try.

Thanks so much!

Sandi

In a message dated 1/10/2009 8:33:02 P.M. Central Standard Time,

hfa2@... writes:

my libby dog which is of around 50 pounds is of at times in her life

aggressive and will chase and nip at anyone who runs or makes of a

nosie she does not like and how we broke of her of this behavior is we

immidiately used harsh tones and placed her the bathroom in the dark

alone for 10- minutes or so. she hated that and was of so sorry acting

when she came back out but over time she is of rare to nip anyones.

sondra

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[Guest guest]

Debi,

We have been successful in teaching my Allie's dog to seek her. He is only

7 pounds, so can't do rescue, but if I give him the " Where's Allie? " command

he'll find her or drop trying.

It began accidentally from their usual games of fetch, then we made it into

a new game they play, so he just loves doing it.

Sandi

In a message dated 1/10/2009 9:15:59 P.M. Central Standard Time,

fightingautism@... writes:

Allie can now

swim but I would love to know Lolly would seek & receive a person on

command.

I would suggest you keep putting the dog at least in a down command

with food reward. From the limited amount I know, a down stance is one

of the most submissive states for a dog and at least the dog would

recognize that she has to be submissive and not aggressive.

There are some excellent boards for SD stuff, I would only suggest you

avoid any site where Fred Shotz is involved, that man is whack!

HTH,

Debi

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[Guest guest]

Yes, was very brief. We bought Lolly to train for a service dog & I

was told to stop it any time Lolly began to get rough. We would put

Lolly out back without anyone for a few minutes & she seemed to get

the association that being rough equated being alone.

HTH,

Debi

[Guest guest]

That's why we got Levi too... to be a service dog for .

We did just get a crate big enough for him (he's bigger than your average

Golden) so that we could do the same thing... put him alone when he's too

rough. We were doing outside but that wasn't working cause he'd just sit out

there and scratch at the door or bark... and since we live in the city

limits and our neighbor runs a daycare out of her home, we can't let him

bark on and on.

He just plays with likes she's another pup in his litter... know

what I mean? She's not much taller than he is now and he weighs twice as

much as she does already, so just him trying to play like he would another

dog is too rough with her.

He is good with her otherwise, lets her sit on him, lay on him and I've even

seen her try to ride him a few times and be successful once! LOL We try just

as much to teach her how to be gentle with him as we do for him to be gentle

with her!

He is doing a bit better now that I've started working with him more on some

of the training that I've watched on You Tube I'll just be glad when

the hyper puppy stage is over!

>

> Yes, was very brief. We bought Lolly to train for a service dog & I

> was told to stop it any time Lolly began to get rough. We would put

> Lolly out back without anyone for a few minutes & she seemed to get

> the association that being rough equated being alone.

>

> HTH,

> Debi

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

my libby dog which is of around 50 pounds is of at times in her life

aggressive and will chase and nip at anyone who runs or makes of a

nosie she does not like and how we broke of her of this behavior is we

immidiately used harsh tones and placed her the bathroom in the dark

alone for 10- minutes or so. she hated that and was of so sorry acting

when she came back out but over time she is of rare to nip anyones.

sondra

[Guest guest]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Our dog trainer told us that Lolly

perceived herself as part of the pack, particularly with our youngest

who was 4 at the time. When Lolly began playing Dinah would squeal &

according to trainer, that was a play sound to a dog and encouraged

the rough behavior. Now Dinah is 6 and we have about given up on SD

mode because I dropped the ball & Allie could care less about Lolly.

But Lolly still will herd Dinah. I wonder if she sees herself as

higher up than Dinah. It's really interesting to watch them play.

Maybe Lolly sees herself as Dinah's protector. Allie & Jess Lolly will

let go & do pretty much what ever but Lolly will herd Dinah from the

activity until I give Lolly the down command.

We used a trainer at Petsmart initially. She was gifted with the dogs

and could get Lolly to the point of canine good citizen award which is

very similar to the public access test as provided by the Delta

Society. Lolly could now meet that except for bathrooms. God love her,

Lolly's scared to death of bathrooms & still goes donkey on me every

time. This summer I'm hoping we will camp more often & my goal is to

get Lolly to pull the girls out of the lake on command. Allie can now

swim but I would love to know Lolly would seek & receive a person on

command.

I would suggest you keep putting the dog at least in a down command

with food reward. From the limited amount I know, a down stance is one

of the most submissive states for a dog and at least the dog would

recognize that she has to be submissive and not aggressive.

There are some excellent boards for SD stuff, I would only suggest you

avoid any site where Fred Shotz is involved, that man is whack!

HTH,

Debi

[Guest guest]

Yes Rose, there are many places that train service dogs, however they are

expensive and while many will try to work with families to help them raise

the money it costs, there are plenty of other requirements that we would

not yet have met. Especially the age factor. is only 5 and I only

found one place that would place a service dog with anyone under 15 and it

was a place whose fees were quite high... much higher than I could ever

manage without winning the lottery or something! LOL

We were going to do a puppy training class, it was our full intention that

once we got him caught up on his shots (when he was given to us he'd only

had his first set and it was too long between that set and the next for the

first set to be valid so the vet had to start over from the beginning) as

those vet visits can be pretty pricey and we didn't have the money to do

both at the same time.

Then once those were complete and it was safe for him to be around other

dogs and public places dogs visit, we were dealing with a cut in my hubby's

pay and then Christmas was coming and we needed to worry abou that...

And really the money is just not there.

It would be awesome if there was someone around here locally that was

willing to donate their training experience for us, but so far I've only

found trainers willing to drop their fees from $50/hr to $35/hr... which is

great, but still more than I can afford. So we'll continue to try the

training on our own... if it doesn't work then it doesn't work. But he's

only 8mo. old right now, and with most service dogs (that we've read about

at least) they don't start working with you and the dog till they are about

2-2 1/2.

So maybe by then our Levi will have calmed down more and will be a lot

further in his training.

We would be happy with knowing that Levi would just alert us to a seizure if

she was having one outside of our line of sight. But we knew from the start

that it was a chance he would and a chance he wouldn't... but we're willing

to give it a try.

If all else fails, she () is young enough that if a service dog is

still needed when she's older then we can try that route and hope to have

better financial abilities then.

Theresa

>

> Just wondering,don't service dogs get training from professionals? If

> not, what about puppy training? It sounds like you're making stuff up on the

> fly..

> Just curious,

> Rose

>

>

> >

> > Yes, was very brief. We bought Lolly to train for a service dog & I

> > was told to stop it any time Lolly began to get rough. We would put

> > Lolly out back without anyone for a few minutes & she seemed to get

> > the association that being rough equated being alone.

> >

> > HTH,

> > Debi

> >

> >

> >

>

>