Re: Cat-Like Behavior in Kids

[Guest guest]

We did the cat thing with my daughter from 4 years old until about 3rd grade. In 4th it just suddenly stopped. Better that than explosives and bombs which was my sons obsession (in addition to computer) at age TWO (with no exposure to the topic whatsoever) and still is a fascination of his! Thank god he is obsessed with computers and a bunch of other things that we have tremendously fostered instead of explosives....

( ) Cat-Like Behavior in Kids

Hi all -This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher. Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello, pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's experiences with their kids being cats!Thanks,Bridget

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[Guest guest]

My son likes cats but I don't think he's done much imitating of them. You

really should check out the book All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome, though. LOL.

It's a kid book. I actually haven't read it but have read other things by the

same author, Kathy Hoopman. She wrote The Blue Bottle Mystery: An Asperger

Adventure and Of Mice and Aliens. I have both of those books.

Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Cats-Have-Asperger-Syndrome/dp/1843104814

>

> Hi all -

>

> This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how common

is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old has

meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a baby

cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have been

increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad at

us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

>

> Thanks,

>

> Bridget

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the book idea - I will check that out!

Bridget

> >

> > Hi all -

> >

> > This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how

common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old

has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a

baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have

been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad

at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > Bridget

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I'm sorry I rarely post if ever on this board but I have to weigh in on the

bizzare similarities. My son did the same thing. He would say he was baby kitty.

Till this day he will meow but we have cats in the huouse. How can this sort of

thing show up across the board of the syndrome? Stein Rochester NY

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

[Guest guest]

Bridget, my daughter did that for a long time too. She'd play cats, imitate

cats, and like your child hiss when very upset or mad. Our daughter is very

high functioning Aspergers, and we didn't arrive at a diagnosis until she was 10

or 11. But looking back at her preschool and early elementary years, I thought

that her adopting a cat role was something that helped her cope in a social

situation that was too much for her. Maybe using words in situations were just

too hard? I'm still not sure, but role-playing in stressful situations and a

strong identification with animals have been traits she's exhibited her whole

life.

Also, again looking back, I see the hissing thing when angry as an immediate

reaction that didn't require her to sort thru overwhelmed feelings to find

words. We started handling it by saying things like " I can see you are upset or

mad but if you don't know words we don't know how to fix it, " etc. " Validate

the feelings, help her find words for them, and help her understand that she

NEEDS to use words.

The " All Cats have Aspergers " and her strong identification with cats really

helped when we first talked with her about Aspergers. It was a big part of her

understanding Aspergers in a non judgmental, non-negative way.

Also, we have been able to use her love and identification with cats as part of

developing social skills. We started taking her to our local animal shelter to

visit the cats when she was tiny (we have 2 at home too) and so volunteering

there to help socialize and care for the cats has been a good social thing for

her.

At any rate, it's interesting to hear that other kids do or have done this too.

At the time, we figured she had a very active imagination but of course looking

back now I see that there were other things going on too.

Diane

> >

> > Hi all -

> >

> > This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how

common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old

has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a

baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have

been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad

at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > Bridget

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Wow! It sounds like cat and dog behaviors are fairly common. My dd isn't alone

in this behavior then. She is 9 years old now. Sometimes she is just playing,

but sometimes she just starts barking or meowing--almost like she's using it as

an outlet for pent-up feelings??? It was a bit embarrassing when the car window

was open and she stuck her head out the window and starting barking at people

and cars. I don't know...I guess neurotypical kids can do 'silly' things

sometimes, too. Usually, it's because they have other kids around and they're

all acting silly though if it would happen with them. My dd just does it whether

anyone is around or not sometimes. -Kari

>

> Hi all -

>

> This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how common

is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old has

meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a baby

cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have been

increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad at

us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

>

> Thanks,

>

> Bridget

>

[Guest guest]

I hadn't thought about this before, but my daughter, who does not have AS but

has OCD, anxiety and sensory integration dysfunction used to pretend she was a

cat. She still says, " Meow " sometimes when she's nervous around a new adult.

She'll do it when the person talks to her and she'll look at me and say, " Meow "

which seems to mean, " Help me! " . When she was 4-5 years old she LOVED to play

" baby on the doorstep " or " kitty on the doorstep " . That would mean she would

pretend to be a baby or a kitten in a basket abandoned by parents/owners. I

would have to play with her so I'd be the person on whose step she was left.

LOL. Rayleigh is 10 now.

is 13 and LOVES to watch animals on youtube. Animals are so motivating for

him that his teachers bring in their pets for visits with . LOL. gets

visits with certain pets if he gets points on his behavior chart. can

spend his points on visits with animals or computer games, I think, or even a

visit to the guidance counselor who puts on cute animal vids for him.

Miriam

>

> Hi all -

>

> This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how common

is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old has

meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a baby

cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have been

increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad at

us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

>

> Thanks,

>

> Bridget

>

[Guest guest]

My son would " transform " every morning when my husband dropped him off at

preschool at age 2-3. Usually it was a tiger, panther, lion, etc. His preschool

teacher was great, would let him do it for a minute or so, and then ask the

" animal of the day " to come sit by her, thus redirecting him into the rest of

the class. The next teacher was not so great, and forbid him to enter the class

doing that, and he now remembers her as the " teacher who wouldn't let me use my

imagination " . This was all before his diagnosis of course, but looking back, I

think it was his way of dealing w/ the transition every day from home to

preschool, from one caregiver to another.

> > >

> > > Hi all -

> > >

> > > This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how

common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old

has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a

baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have

been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad

at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

> > >

> > > Thanks,

> > >

> > > Bridget

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

It is fascinating to hear how many of our kids use cat behavior to express their

feelings. I later realized that on the day my son meowed to call his teacher

that it was the first ever day he was dropped off at the gate instead of having

me walk him into the playground. It makes a lot of sense to think that my son

was in need of a teacher close by, and that in the stress of the moment lost the

words to tell her.

Bridget

> > > >

> > > > Hi all -

> > > >

> > > > This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how

common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old

has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a

baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have

been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad

at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we

don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher.

Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his

teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello,

pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

experiences with their kids being cats!

> > > >

> > > > Thanks,

> > > >

> > > > Bridget

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

"mamanature66@..." wrote:<<I'm sorry I rarely post if ever on this board but I have to weigh in on the bizzare similarities. My son did the same thing. He would say he was baby kitty. Till this day he will meow but we have cats in the huouse. How can this sort of thing show up across the board of the syndrome? Stein Rochester NY >>Of all our AS kids, the oldest was the only one to be such a mimic. He had a certain posture/expression that told us he was, at the moment, a dog. Sure enough, sooner or later out would come a bark. But barks weren't the only sounds in his repertoire. He mimicked the cries of a dinosaur and a beaver (which sounded suspiciously like their names), but I don't remember him ever being a cat.We're in the process of diagnosing our 2-year-old son with AS (this is the first one we've had since we learned about Asperger's). All of our kids are a little different, and his thing is that he calls every bird a 'duck' and every

large mammal a 'moo'. Cats are Meows, dogs are Arfs, but 'duck' and 'moo' cover about everything else. If you listen closely, hens are more like 'cucks', roosters are an attempt to mimic their crow, and pigs are symbolized without any specific name by wrinkling up the nose and snorting in disgust at the thought of their smell. His next older brother called just about everything a 'mou' (mouse). How much that is characteristic of AS and how much is just a family quirk I don't know. The white sheep of our family, our non-AS 'all girl' daughter, got the name 'Eah' (Leah) stuck in her mind as the proper appellative for any adult female, including her own grandmother.

[Guest guest]

I am noticing that the cat behaviors are especially strong right after I pick my

son up from preschool. Maybe he is all talked out after a couple of hours in the

classroom? Today he not only did tons of meowing, but crawled across the lawn on

all fours like a baby cat to our door. The baby cat is generally very sweet, but

I am starting to get the picture that it has a deeper meaning than my son really

liking cats (which he does).

Bridget

> <<I'm sorry I rarely post if ever on this board but I have to weigh in on the

> bizzare similarities. My son did the same thing. He would say he was baby

kitty.

> Till this day he will meow but we have cats in the huouse. How can this sort

of

> thing show up across the board of the syndrome? Stein Rochester NY >>

>

> Of all our AS kids, the oldest was the only one to be such a mimic. He had a

> certain posture/expression that told us he was, at the moment, a dog. Sure

> enough, sooner or later out would come a bark. But barks weren't the only

sounds

> in his repertoire. He mimicked the cries of a dinosaur and a beaver (which

> sounded suspiciously like their names), but I don't remember him ever being a

> cat.

>

> We're in the process of diagnosing our 2-year-old son with AS (this is the

first

> one we've had since we learned about Asperger's). All of our kids are a little

> different, and his thing is that he calls every bird a 'duck' and every large

> mammal a 'moo'. Cats are Meows, dogs are Arfs, but 'duck' and 'moo' cover

about

> everything else. If you listen closely, hens are more like 'cucks', roosters

are

> an attempt to mimic their crow, and pigs are symbolized without any specific

> name by wrinkling up the nose and snorting in disgust at the thought of their

> smell.

>

> His next older brother called just about everything a 'mou' (mouse). How much

> that is characteristic of AS and how much is just a family quirk I don't know.

> The white sheep of our family, our non-AS 'all girl' daughter, got the name

> 'Eah' (Leah) stuck in her mind as the proper appellative for any adult

female,

> including her own grandmother.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Our daughter has been connected to cats since she was very young. Her first word

was cat. She is now hopelessly and romantically (at least that's how she

behaves) in love with her cat. She expresses herself through purrs, meows,

hisses and cat gestures. Yet another freaky connection we find.

(Father of E, 8 year old daughter)

> > > >

> > > > Hi all -

> > > >

> > > > This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how

> >common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year

old

> >has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a

> >baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors

have

> >been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is

mad

> >at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person -

we

> >don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool

> >and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of

> >the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a

teacher.

> >Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for

his

> >teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat

> >language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future

(hello,

> >pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's

> >experiences with their kids being cats!

> >

> > > >

> > > > Thanks,

> > > >

> > > > Bridget

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

This is fascinating. My Liz does not pretend to be a cat, but she is obsessed with the Warriors book series, which is about cats and she is always drawing pictures of cats. Her psychologist told me a lot of her AS kids love the Warriors books. Hmmm..... From: beanniferj@...Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:10:39 +0000Subject: ( ) Cat-Like Behavior in Kids

Hi all -

This came up in a previous thread, and it really made me curious - how common is imitating cats in kids with AS? For quite some time now, my 3 year old has meowed when he is happy or when he sees a cat. He refers to himself as a baby cat, and it is generally quite cute. Lately, though, the cat behaviors have been increasing - for instance, he has started hissing like a cat when he is mad at us (although I can't even recall a time when he saw a cat hiss in person - we don't have a pet). The other day, my husband dropped our son off at preschool and mentioned that as he drove away, he saw our son standing in the middle of the playground meowing loudly, and that he thought he was meowing to a teacher. Sure enough, when I asked our son about it, he said he had been meowing for his teacher to come back to him...needless to say, she did not understand his cat language and we have suggested that he try using his words in the future (hello, pragmatic language difficulty!). Anyway, I was wondering about the group's experiences with their kids being cats!

Thanks,

Bridget