Thoughts on All Cats Are on the Autism Spectrum

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Is there a general consensus in the autism community over the book "All Cats Are on the Autism Spectrum"?

I had a cat, named Floyd, who was just like an NT dog

He was. He was quite a personality.....

Not all cats, but one of mine probably seemed to be.

When I was in my late teens, I worked one summer out in the middle of the desert. One night I was walking with a girl and we went to a coke machine off the edge of town and bought a coke. It was a warm day and the heat was still there in the night. I put in a quarter (this was a long time ago when cokes from a coke machine were only a quarter). Out popped a coke and a cat came out of the coke machine. I thought this was weird. I put another quarter in for a second coke for the girl, and out popped another coke along with another cat.

We really did not know what to do with the cats, so we each brought one of them home with us and raised them. My cat grew up and was about twice the size of a normal cat. It was friendly but very brave. Some nights it went on the prowl and would tangle with coyotes. It would returned injured and hanging on for dear life. I would put it into the basement and feed it for about a week until it recovered. Then it was out again at night on the prowl. One day it never returned.

While the book is certainly not in-depth, I like it. Isn't it a children's book?

After I concluded I was probably a High-Functioning Autistic I bought a copy of the book before I got my official diagnosis.

My jaw dropped when I got to the picture of the cat in the snow. There had been multiple instances of me being less bothered by the cold than those around me. At college some neighbors in the dorm noticed how nonchalant I was about the cold weather, at their request a couple of times I walked around outside without a coat while it was snowing. They tagged along behind me and greatly enjoyed the shocked reaction of people when they saw me.

I did not realize that was likely tied to Autism 'til I saw the book.

I really like it. I've always identified with cats. There's also a companion book called All Dogs Have ADHD which I also think is pretty accurate.

I’ve never read the book, but I’ve heard the stereotype, and it does make sense.

As a kid, I was obsessed with cats. As I’ve grown older, I’ve grown to like dogs more. But I’ve never had a pet of my own, so I don’t know how tolerable either would be to live with on a daily basis. I’m both ADHD and autistic, so I can relate to aspects of both animals.