When a child in foster care pretends to be an animal

When a child has experienced abuse or neglect, they might communicate their needs in unique ways. At times, children may pretend to be an animal

As caregivers, it's important that we approach kids with empathy, and seek to understand their needs and triggers, and advocate for professional support.

Feel free to share any additional insights in the comments below that might benefit others watching this video!

Find Me on Social Media:

[eldritchteletubby]

If little autistic me was treated with this much kindness and respect, it would've changed so much.

[msnorringtonsims]

When I was 9, I pretended to be a dog for about 8 months at least. While my childhood was a lil chaotic, I’ve never considered why I did it. I was simply considered a weird kid but in hindsight, it may have been a coping mechanism. Fortunately my family was kind and understanding of it. I was allowed to be a dog at home but I had to be well trained dog that ate at the table 😏 and the dog wasn’t allowed at school or church. Left that stage with happy memories and no trauma 😘

[bryophytalivsey]

thank you for addressing that it can be a sign of underlying conditions but isnt necessarily that, it's so important to be aware of that when youre in a childs life

[iteration-u]

I love how you showed respect for the child in the beginning and allowed them to have their animal persona. Later on, gently creating limitations to the animal persona and encouraging the child to be themselves and praising the child when they do❤

[jordan]

I was a pink kitty when I was little! I would wear my pink tutu and only communicate in meows. I just loved cats so much!! I outgrew it by 5 y.o. but I just got a kitten for my birthday and it made my inner child so happy 😊

[Camigremli]

I used to do this as a kid, and I wish my parents treated me with this much kindness. But I shouldn’t have expected as much from the people who abused me. Thank you for being there for kids who are abused.

[lindsyfish]

I'm so SO glad you mentioned DID! It's such a rare and controversial diagnosis that people don't like to talk about it. Except it's very strongly correlated with severe abuse, especially SA. So it's important to catch it as soon as possible.

[junejetson]

Sometimes when I'm sad, I watch your videos about how you talk to children with struggles and it makes me feel better. Even when I'm not struggling with the same things, your gentle mom voice and the calming things you say are so soothing.

[sonyafirefly]

As an adult who developed DID as a result of severe childhood trauma...this made me cry. Being treated like this when my "weirder" coping mechanism alters fronted as a child probably would have made those coping mechanisms unnecessary over time. You are amazing. Thank you.

[Oreithyia.Arcana]

Did that a lot as a kid and as an adult I finally got diagnosed with autism, PTSD, and DID. It's wild how much parents miss symptoms in their kids when they're busy judging behaviors instead of trying to understand them.

Now as an adult I work in a class where a student behaves just the same as I once did in this regard. I think I'm one of the few who fully get it.

Thank you for setting such a good example in handing these behaviors.

[foureverne]

My niece has autism and she used to do that, eventually to get her to not need to bring her toys in the store with her we would tell her that they would stay behind and help protect the car, or keep the car cool, whatever worked in that moment

[HandlesAreDumbb]

I went through a phase like this. "Meow" was my stepmom) "Little Meow" was me and my dad was "The Big Tiger" 😂🤣 I'm 42 and still sign greeting cards with a 🐾

[snowviolet]

As a kid going through sa by my mother and her partner, I’d pretend I was a spider, I was quiet and unseen and safe in my web.

[pastelbubbles]

As someone with DID, I appreciate when people take notice of this. We had no idea growing up that one of our frequent fronters acted like an animal to protect themselves. It's refreshing to see younger kids who could possibly have DID or be in the process of developing it getting the recognition and help they need ❤❤

[tinyteacupzz]

As an autistic DID system, this really got me emotional. Thank you for sparing kindness <3

[jennenny]

Two of my kids do this! It's not always a trauma response of emotional issue. Kids (especially little kids) are very imaginative and often use creative means to express difficult emotions or get past shyness, when they're having difficulty speaking up, or just simply don't have the words for something yet.

But I don't mean to undermine the fact that being continually nonverbal/minimally verbal or having nonverbal periods on a regular basis (for example when stressed or around new people/situations) can be a sign of neurodivergences such as autism or a trauma response (EVEN IF they grow out of it!) so it's a good idea to look into ot anyway and keep an eye out for other signs that they may need additional support.

...but mostly I just want to say I'm so grateful this video exists! I really wish more people were so empathetic to kids who do things like this. You don't have to personally relate to something to be kind about it. 🙂

[Izzy-mg]

Me and my younger sister were put into foster care when i was 13 and she was 10 this affected my sister in so many ways and one of them was she pretended to be a dog our foster parents didnt understand and called her stupid and shortly afterwards we were put back in the system i am now 15 and me and sister have finally been adopted by amazing parents. I wish our foster parents had been like you.

[Idkwhoiam_]

My friend sometimes does this. She has been through a lot of trauma so I always give her space when she does non-verbal or starts to act more animal like!

[solitarelee]

I'm autistic, and I was left alone on our farm for very long swaths of time basically as soon as I was able to walk--my brother was four years older and needed a LOT of care. We were homeschooled bc of my brother's special needs, and so I didn't have any friends. I spent basically 12 hours a day with our dogs. It REALLY should not have surprised anyone when I started acting like one! My parents were not quite as patient as this when I started barking, tho, that's for sure.

[GythiaTorvay]

As a mom to an autistic cat/dog/dinosaur/unicorn (and sometimes other animals) kiddo, it makes me so happy that there are fosters out there like you, who embrace the kiddos who are eccentric. Thank you for being there for the cat/dog/dinosaur/unicorn kiddos that need a safe home.