A recent tweet.

Recently through Twitter, a user shared with us a very heart warming message and we wanted to it with you:

“I’m autistic, [and I] don’t know what I would do without a hamster. Hamsters don’t judge you, laugh at you, or hate. He just wants love and treats.”

The human-animal bond miraculously skips our intellect and goes directly to our heart and emotions. It nurtures us in ways that nothing else can. The message above really captures that. Many studies have also shown the beneficial effects of animals on the health and adjustment of individuals. Dogs, cats, and small animal pets can help build rapport, enhance counseling relationships, and can help with the expression of feelings, responsibility, grief, and attachment.

Pets in a family (or classroom) with autism can also be very therapeutic and can encourage an autistic child to have responsibility, follow instructions, love the pet with hugs, talk, cry and express emotions to it. All things they may not do with others.

Before purchasing a pet, make sure to talk about what kind of small animal would be best for your family or classroom. Discuss its’ care, associated costs, and who will have the ultimate responsibility of taking care of your new friend. If you’ve decided to get a pet, it’s a good idea to take your family to various pet stores or animal shelters, and visit other families have pets. This will give you a chance to evaluate how an individual responds to various kinds of pets. You can also purchase a stuffed animal that looks like the kind of pet you and your children want. You can use the stuffed animal to practice and show an individual what to expect when the animal comes home as a permanent member of your family or classroom.

Tags: autism, hamsters, twitter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 11:03 am and is filed under Parents, Teachers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.