Pete the Cat Logic

 

Discussion of topics to build awareness, increase knowledge-base, and ultimately assist in conquering the challenges of being special parents of kids with special needs, such as those with autism or adhd.

    To my disappointment, my son was not interested in books at all for a long time.  I was very well aware of the importance of reading to your child daily, and I wanted to do it.  It made me happy to think about sitting with him in my lap and reading to him.  But, as I stated, he was not interested.  He pulled the book out of my hands, tried to turn the pages after I'd read only two or three words, would rip the pages instead of turn them, or would just look anywhere and everywhere besides at the pages in the book.  It seemed he could not focus long enough to appreciate what I was reading about.

    My dad had actually bought a book for my son when he was a young toddler.  This was not surprising to me because my dad regularly read books to me every night when I was a little girl.  It was a Pete the Cat book; a collection of stories.  Couldn't get my son to pay attention to it for a while.  It sat in our bookshelf untouched for what seemed like an eternity.  Eventually, somehow that changed.

    Periodically, I would try to read to him.  When he was finally agreeable, he would choose the Pete the Cat book for me to read.  He was paying attention to the pictures and listening to the words.  He was memorizing the stories the best he could.  Often, he was asking questions about the pictures. 

     I would find him with the book throughout the day, busily turning its pages.  It seemed that he liked to hear the sound the pages made when he pinched them between his fingers to grip them so he could turn them.  That squeaky, crumply sound fed his sensory needs for some time.  He literally wore the pages out, and I rather enjoyed watching the breakdown of that book.  😊  Several times, I taped up its split pages and its torn spine.

    When we took our son on an airplane for the first time when he was 5 years old, I knew I had to bring two things: a device to play his favorite movies and his big Pete the Cat book.  The Pete the Cat book was instrumental to keeping the experience from becoming disastrous.  Having his favorite book gave him something to do while we waited in the airport, an easy activity to engage in without disturbing anyone around us.

    Speaking of his first time in an airplane and waiting in an airport, he had his moments, as I knew he would.  For example, at one point, I wanted to get us something to eat before boarding the plane.  He loves hamburgers, so I found a Burger King and had to wait a pretty long time in a long line with him.  I always get nervous when we have to wait in a line for an extended period of time.  I mean, if the line does not move at a constant, steady pace, gets stagnant for any length of time, my son becomes problematically impatient.  He wants things to happen instantly.  He wants what he wants right now.  So I did the usual prompting to encourage patience.  Also, waiting in line when he is bored and impatient causes him to want to engage with people around us more.  Sometimes, because he is on the spectrum and developmentally delayed, his engagement may be inappropriately repetitious, overly familiar, and/or awkward for others.  

    Well, we survived the line and made it back to our gate to await the boarding process.  He was hungry, so I let him start eating.  He was in heaven... at first.  Then he had to go use the restroom.  He left his food with me and went to the restroom with his dad.  When he got back, naturally, he resumed consuming his burger.  However, the texture and composition of the the burger had changed slightly.  The bread had gotten a bit soggier; it didn't hold together as well; and it didn't look the way he liked burgers to look anymore.  This caused a meltdown of crying and yelling.  He wanted me to get another hamburger...  One that looked right. Well, that was out of the question because there wasn't even any time for that.  I had an audience watching me struggle to calm my child and it was plenty embarrassing for me.  His father who is in denial about his autism, scolded him and demanded that he be quiet and behave. as though he was simply a bad child.  I was trying to redirect him, telling him not to worry, he still had french fries and soda if he didn't want the burger anymore. Somehow, we managed to board the plane and get to where we were going in relative peace.  The french fries and soda, the downloaded movies on his tablet, and the Pete the Cat book came to the rescue.

    The book my father bought for his grandson opened up my eyes to the world of Pete the Cat.  I saw that there were many Pete the Cat books at the library.  There was one in particular that I found especially useful in molding my son's attitude.  It was the one where Pete's shirt loses a button.  The narrator asks, "Will Pete cry?"  Then the narrator answers, "Goodness no!  Buttons come and buttons go!"  In daily situations where my son was losing it because of something small, like his hamburger not looking perfect, I would use some Pete the Cat logic on him.  If a favorite toy broke or something, I would say "Will Pete cry?"  And my son would answer, "Goodness no."  Then, we both might say, "Toys come and toys go."  A lot of the time, doing this helped to prevent a meltdown.

    I really appreciate the Pete the Cat books because they teach valuable life lessons in a simple way.  Even self-published books like, Lily, Kenny, & Scott Learn to Bark, are great teaching tools for any child, especially those who have additional challenges in life. To never give up and to keep doing your best is a lesson I want my son to learn.  May we both live up to those mottos.

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HonorPraiseThank someone at hptsomeone.com.