Pavlov Lives

Though not proud to admit it, I sometimes think of my middle son and trained animals in the same instant. You can get dogs, cats, seals, dolphins and other animals to "perform" once they have been adequately trained. Though it might pain other parents to hear it, autistic kids have a lot in common with trained animals. Ok, I take that back. To save myself any hate mail, I will insist that only MY autistic child has a lot in common with trained animals. That fact is brought home to me again and again, but most recently on a family vacation. My husband pointed out a crane (the bird) to my daughter. When Noah heard the word 'crane' he immediately piped up with "a crane is a piece of construction equipment which lifts heavy things." That came straight from the vault of construction information, one which Noah dips into repeatedly as a way to start his idea of a conversation. Other topics include farm equipment, animal facts and other plug-and-play information that Noah programs into himself when he needs or wants to communicate. Pavlov's dogs perhaps pre-figured kids like Noah. At this point though, I think Noah has out-Pavloved Pavlov. Not sure if that's good news or not. It just is. And so is Noah. He just is, animal comparisons and all.