Dog Therapy
My older son is a boy of few words. He rarely fills the world with idle chatter but it takes all sorts when it comes to the autism spectrum.
He has been known to wax lyrical on occasions, usually on the subject of Pokemon and more recently Spore, but other than that his silence is particular and dogged. That said, there is a particular dog, his own, who has an undue influence upon him. The influence of Thatcher the dog is all too apparent as we walk the ten minute trip to his first puppy training lesson. As we trot down the road I prepare my son for the hour of tuition, what to expect. I know what to expect because I have already spent six weeks attending the very same class with Thatcher and my daughter. Now it is his turn, my sons.
I worry that the trainer uses more words in the average lungful of breath than many an average Californian. The trainer has a warm and attractive personality. She says the same thing many times and in many different ways which is fabulous for the average learner, but for the differently abled her words are a sea of jumble, verbiage to be tuned out. My only hope is one of her even more advantageous skills. She models the desired behaviour that she teaches with a dog. Forget the words, concentrate on the body movements because my son’s mimicry skills are second to none.
I think these thoughts as I trot next to my son who hangs on to the end of the lead with Thatcher’s long strides on the other end, just enough rope to hang himself. I exude calm over silent panic but of course he’s far more astute than I give him credit for as he hauls the lead into a heel. He pauses, breathless next to Thatcher, poised in a perfect sit. All of a sudden his word bank bursts open with a torrential flood of “reassurance,” “iz okay Thatcher, you’d gonna do great, you’re gonna make lots of friends, I’m gonna be there to help you, you’re gonna love the teacher, I’ve got lotsa treats for you, Kindergarten ain’t so bad…….” He continues in this vein for a full 7 minutes of uninterrupted, stutter free syllables until we reach the entrance door. Never say never my friends, we have a pal for life.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 am
Absolutely wonderful. Such a lovely post about your lovely son. Therapy, indeed! Nigel is like this with our cats. It’s really amazing how well they relate to animals.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 am
Dogs are indeed man’s best friend.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 am
Oh, my! My dampened eyes and smiling mouth!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:51 am
How cute!! You are so right, dog therapy among other things!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:09 am
i am sure the dog’s effect will continue to amaze you. you must be so incredibly glad you chose to add him to the family.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:51 am
aww tears in my eyes.
I will start posting soon about our new pup. Hopefully J will acknowledge her on a daily basis soon. Pets do not hold the same alure for him as they do for eager Little J.
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Oh how I wish our cats could affect my kid this way!
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
What a beautiful post!
That’s one beautifully empathetic young man you’ve got there!
Our dog is so in tune with our son that he clowns around in front of our son to make him laugh when he’s depressed or frustrated.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Wow. WOW. Not just the talking – the empathy! the reassurance! the thoughtfulness! the kindness! Wow!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
*sniff* I WILL not cry! This touched me. What a team…man and dog moving foreward together.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
what a great blog, came over from life with Joey, i was just talking about the very subject of your post earlier…great blog, great info, i’ll send some people i know over…
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
..in response to your comment, I have no idea how I got to that other site. (I’m so confused!). Just grateful that I can still access it.
After reading your upset over postage rates, I’m not sure that posting something to Canada will make you feel any better. I appreciate the offer, but will look it up! I feel like I have a copy of a film called the same. Do you know if it was made into a movie?
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:17 am
That is so sweet. When our dog died of cancer, gosh, 3 years ago? My then 7 yr old son declared, “I can’t be a boy…without a dog.” Timing was’t good to get a new dog at that point (and I was not emotionally ready, since I had had our dog for 12 years) but I am definitely thinking about it again. Posts like this just cement the idea that we need a dog! (hope the two cats don’t mind!)
T.
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” ~ Gilda Radner