All Cats Are on the Autism Spectrum

Product Information

Now that I have known Kathy’s Cat Book for many years and have put many hours of work into translating the new edition, the question is: Have I grown tired of reading it? Kathy Hoopmann’s newest edition of All Cats Are on the Autism Spectrum will bring lots of smiles and autism awareness information to readers of every age.’ Liane Holliday-Willey, EdD, author of Pretending to Be Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome and Safety Skills for Asperger Women: How to Save a Perfectly Good Female Life For children known to be consistently kind with the cat, the relationship could offer an at-home brief break for the parents. In the Netherlands, animals are used to provide a short break for children with ASD at care farms ( 23), but having a calming animal at home offers a more consistent and convenient source of affection. Simply seeing the child being calmer with the cat can be comforting to the parents, as indicated in some of the volunteered comments by parents. In addition, all specified cats were relatively low in aggression, with 47% never being aggressive to the specified child. And 47% of cats also were never aggressive to adults, but only 25% of specified cats were never aggressive to another child in the household. Mirroring the affection results, this leads to the assumption that these cats were more likely to be attached, affectionate, and non-aggressive to the ASD child and often preferred the specified child rather than adults or other children in the household. Cat’s Behavior Affecting the Child–Cat Relationship

Walther S, Yamamoto M, Thigpen AP, Garcia A, Willits NH, Hart LA. Assistance dogs: historic patterns and roles of dogs placed by ADI or IGDF accredited facilities and by non-accredited U.S. facilities. Front Vet Sci (2017) 4:1. doi:10.3389/fvets.2017.00001Turner D. A review of over three decades of research on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships. Behav Processes (2017) 141:297–304. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2017.01.008 Kathy has an ingenious way of blending the characteristics of beloved kitty cats to showcase the nuances and diversity of people on the autism spectrum. The richness of the pictures within this book, captures the essence and spirit of autistic people through the eyes of our purry, furry friends, that many autistics share a love for, and a commonality in the charm, inquisitive nature and love they have to give to the world All in all this book is pretty amazing in the way it explains Aspergers in simple terms, and using large letters to explain each kitten photo in terms of children with Aspergers. By using these adorable photos to explain how cats can be very quirky, aloof and creatures of routine, and that their behaviors, at times, can be somewhat similar to children with Aspergers. Approval was obtained from the University of California, Davis, Institutional Review Board as Protocols #201018447-1 and #284059-2. Phase 1. Web Survey of Parents Having both a Child Who Had Been Diagnosed with ASD and a Cat

Smiles from the book’s feline friends were contagious within my house; my mom and dad shared the magic of cats on the autism spectrum with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about the many ways All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome made me smile as an autistic teenager, and the book loyally sits in my joy-filled autism library well into adulthood. One reviewer didn't like he being used. Most people with Aspergers are male. Frankly, I didn't catch it.Zasloff L. Measuring attachment to companion animals: a dog is not a cat is not a bird. Appl Anim Behav Sci (1996) 47(1–2):43–8. doi:10.1016/0168-1591(95)01009-2 The study did not include an opportunity to conduct direct observations of the interactions of the child and cat; rather, parents provided their perspectives on the behavior of the cat and the relationship of the child and the cat based on their ongoing lives with child and cat. Further, the role of the cat’s breed could not be assessed because of the small numbers of cats. Discussion However words do matter, and sometimes we get things wrong, and that’s ok if we are gracious about respecting the views of others and are prepared to use their preferred language once we know what it is. of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, United States Every time I read in it, it still gives me a sense of being heard, met and understood as an autistic individual, and I’m certain that others will feel the same way. And I will never get tired of looking at all the beautiful and cute cats.

As described in the Statistical Methods, a PCA was run on all responses that pertained to the quality or depth of the relationship between the autistic child and the specified cat. The child’s gender and the cat’s gender, intact status, and breed first were found to be insignificant factors. The first principal component summarized this information, with positive factor loadings for all positive cat/child interactions, except for “aggression toward child,” which had a negative factor loading. Thus, high values of the first principal component indicated a positive/deep relationship, and low values indicated a poor/shallow relationship. While there was a range in reports of relationships with the specified cat and autistic children, for a majority of respondents, there was a very favorable relationship between the cat and ASD child, as well as with cats and less severe ASD and typically developing children. Among parents of typically developing children, 9 offered very positive comments. “Cat and child love each other.”“Child likes to talk to our baby about the cat and bring the cat over to the infant to say hi.”“Child loves to carry the cat around.”“Child loves the cat.”“Cat tries to guard the family.”“Fun to watch the children loving to interact with the cat.” Two parents had no comment. Another described the cat and child ignoring each other, and two said the child was slightly fearful of the cat. Two said the children hated and were afraid of unfriendly cats; one usually unfriendly “cat comes into the bedroom at night purring to get petted, child will scream for parents to come get the cat.”Viau R, Arsenault-Lapierre G, Facteau S, Champagne N, Walker C-D, Lupien S. Effect of service dogs on salivary cortisol secretion in autistic children. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2010) 35:1187–93. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.02.004 Okay, I did not know what to make of this book when I saw it on the table at a recent book sale, but cat lover that I am, how could I pass it up for 50 cents? This is a fabulous concept for a book, and in execution it's cute a lot of the time. Maybe even most of the time. But some of the humor comes off as trying a little bit too hard, stretching a little too much. The text could stand to be a little less clinical and a little more whimsical (to match the kitty-cat theme) and, if handled skillfully, would not lose any of its truthfulness... and would actually wind up being much more memorable. Haley Moss is an autistic attorney, author, artist and advocate. In these words, taken from her foreword to Kathy Hoopmann’s new All Cats are on the Autism Spectrum , she explains how the book has personal meaning for her.