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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Cat therapy

Many children do not share. I’m not talking about sharing of things, such as toys, but the more important kinds of sharing, such as experience. Child development often includes moments of shared attention, [translation = look at the bird flying] and other pointless social moments. [translation = I like that blue flower] Some children, especially if they are autistic, do not develop this trait when their peers do. [translation = but it might come later, if you’re very lucky] This is not to denigrate the power of "dogs," but there is also a place for felines.

Words flow because it is first thing in the morning. [translation = a full bank of words available, retrieval is free and unfettered] Frenzied cats are electrified all around the house and frenetic children also buzz.

My son hurtles towards me screaming. [translation = happy, excited, willing to communicate]
“He is dunning it!” he splutters amid frantic arm gestures that I am unable to interpret. I am distracted by the flailing arms, “who is dunning what dear? I mean…..who is doing what dear?”

“Him! He is!”
“Who is he?”
“Dere, dere, dere, dah cat, Rascal, it is him. Boy is he ever gonna get it now!” he adds jauntily. I ignore the scripting from trashy cartoons because it is appropriate. [translation = exact repetition of lines from many sources] He grins with the mischevious air of the tattle taler. “Come on, come on, come ON!” he adds dragging me by my ever lengthening arm. [translation = hand leading is usually a skill acquired at a much earlier age. 65 lbs worth of torque, from an 8 year old ensures that I cannot help but grin too, but for different reasons.]

We skid over to the front door where my son demonstrates ‘horror struck’ for me, and points at the overturned plant pot. In case I am in any doubt as to the culprit, he advises me of what has come to pass, “he did it, dat bad ol catty, Rascal the trasher! Rascal the hooligan! Rascal the vandal! He done did it.”

Indeed he did.

14 comments:

kristina said...

Beware lest the cat take its turn to "rat" on future overturned flowerpots!

Joeymom said...

I always love the way you transcribe your kids' speech patterns, because that's exactly how Joey talks- only he does more of the scripting and less of the grammar-garbled spontaneous speech. BUt at least I am not the only one in the world who knows the definition of "dunning." ;)

Sweetpea said...

i am so amazed by your strength and spirit, to be exhausted at the end of the day but your funny bone survives.

HortenseDagle said...

Great little story. After fighting about 4 years of school brainwashing that "people are different from animals", I've finally convinced my 7 year old that our dog is actually his older brother. Now I have to teach him that it's not nice to call the dog, a "jerk". Ah, sibling rivalry!

mjsuperfan said...

The drive to tattle on others overcomes the difficulty of putting together sentences! It's a great day!

Henny Penny said...

We have cat therapy here as well. In the form of a 10 week old kitten The Kid has named Ralphy.

I'm awakened way before daylight with The Kid searching for her kitty.

Our much beloved cat was killed a few weeks ago. Although I would have waited a while before getting another, to The Kid it was crucial.

I've enjoyed perusing your posts!

LIVSPARENTS said...

I can't wait 'till I and Liv can share the 'little' things like this! It's one of those things I've learned to adjust into having children with autism. It just makes those moments 1,000,000,000,000,000 times more sweet when they happen.

I don't know why I didn't but I now have your blog on my radar. Click your counter up 1 about twice a week...thanks, Bill

Melanie said...

What a wonderful story!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Dan said...

How wonderful. I have had cats for at least 15 years. They're like Zen masters and Zen mistresses. The fact that they can help here is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your comment on my site, angstmama.com. I love hearing from other parents dealing with children with autism spectrum disorders. Let's keep in touch, ok?

Laura

Anonymous said...

Thanks for bookmarking me! I'll add you to the blogs I read.

Our son is six and has had an IEP for about two years now. He's just finishing Kindergarten right now. We're having him evaluated at the U of Washington to hopefully get a diagnosis of specifically what we're dealing with. After you commented, I edited the entry to clarify what exactly we're doing.

I look forward to reading more of what you have to say.

Laura

Infinitesimal said...

hello,

you stopped by my dream blog tonight.
I would like for you to return and see my other blog as well, it is called Rotating Chaos
I have a post up now that you may be interested in.
There is a video at the end made by a woman with autism.
I am very pleased to meet you

In the post below, "Tertiary" is just great. I love your kids already.

Well, I hope that you have occasion to come by and check out my other blog.

I will come back to visit you for sure.

Cheers!

Jessica said...

How cute! I love your blog! The way you make everything seem to hilarious. Thanks for that!

Jaya said...

Being a total cat nut, it's no surprise I especially loved this post of yours! I really enjoy the photos of the kids with cats also.

 
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