RJ at the zoo

This weekend I chose to start my research in a more interesting way than to sit in front of my computer reading jargon-filled scholarly articles. I wanted first-hand experience with an autistic child and I decided it would be most interesting (and relevant to my research) if it was in a setting that involved animals. So I met up with RJ and his mother and we went to the zoo for a day.

On the way to the zoo, RJ took a little nap, so I had a chance to learn a little bit more about how RJ's life is different because of autism. She told me that RJ, and most autistic children, have sensory problems, which means that they are sensitive to the textures of the food they eat and often won't eat certain foods; RJ, for example, won't eat mashed potatoes because of their mushy texture, but rather prefers chicken nuggets from McDonalds that are crunchy, but not too hard. Another common thing that autistic children face is a very abnormal sleep schedule caused by the body's inability to recognize the difference between night and day. To counter this, Sasha keeps RJ on a very tight sleeping schedule by putting him to bed and waking him up at roughly the same time each day, and limiting his naps throughout the day.

But the hardest part about living with autism for RJ is his limited vocabulary. At 2 years old, RJ should be able to put full sentences together and effectively tell Sasha what he wants or needs; however, it is very common for autistic children to start talking later than children without autism. This was very evident to me, because when I first met RJ, all I knew was that he was very excited to be in the car with me. As I spent more time with him, it was a little easier to figure out what he wanted, especially through facial expressions, which he used quite well.

When we got to the zoo, it seemed like RJ wasn't too sure at first what to expect. He couldn't figure out what we were doing there, so he spent more time staying close to mom. The first exhibit we saw was the monkeys, which happened to be RJ's favorite. Immediately he was running up to the glass, and you could see his little eyes light up. From there we moved from building to building, looking at everything we could possibly see, and with each building RJ was more and more excited. 

By the time we left it was evident that animals made RJ very happy. Even though he didn't know me very well, he wanted to hold my hand and drag me from exhibit to exhibit. When he couldn't see well enough he would put his arms up and say "up!" to tell me he wanted me to pick him up and show him what he was missing. I felt like I learned a lot from RJ in the few hours we spent together. I think spending time with him at the zoo will be helpful when working on my research because I understand autism better and I can relate what I read with what RJ taught me. I'm sure RJ and I will continue to be great friends. I look forward to spending more time with both him and his mother.

As always, here are some pictures I snapped while we were at the zoo...

A very excited RJ in between exhibits

Amazed by the lion walking around

He thought the giraffes were so cool!

Who is Luigi and what the heck am I talking about?!

In a world filled with prescription drugs and over diagnosed problems, how can we counter the use of self-medication but still help ourselves feel better? The growing popularity of holistic medicine has sparked interest in a different kind of medicine -- animal assisted therapy. 

You may not think Fido is good for much else besides pooping out your keys after he ate them yesterday, but research has shown that animals of all kinds are beneficial to our health. I, myself, have a cat which I consider to be a therapeutic helper when my hyper-active anxiety runs wild.

And here is! The feline of the hour, my loving and wonderful, Luigi. Aside from being cute and cuddly, Luigi is also very intuitive of my emotions; he comes to me when I am upset or stressed out and cuddles me until I'm forced to smile. He helps me through the bad days, and is a fun friend for the good days as well.

Luigi was always a part of our family, but wasn't allowed to live with us in Duluth due to rules in our apartment building. That is when Luigi had the chance to become more than just a simple house pet. After discussing my issues of anxiety with my doctor, and informing my reluctance to take prescription drugs, we came to the conclusion that Luigi would help calm me down without putting potentially harmful chemicals into my body in the form of a pill. And thus, Luigi came to live with us once again.

With my new found somewhat anxiety-free life, I have come to think about how Luigi has helped me overcome my problems, and how he could potentially help other people, perhaps with other ailments. Since I'm not a doctor, I'm not able to run any tests, or attempt to help anyone with the use of my cat. I am however able to research animal assisted therapy, so that I can suggest it to people who don't like the thought of using chemical drugs to improve their lives, people like me! And thus, Luigi become inspiration number one for my research. 

But anxiety, while a very common problem for many people, is a somewhat simple ailment compared to what others experience, and furthermore, I already know first hand that an animal can help counter the feelings anxiety brings. I also know about the more commonly practiced ways that animals help people, like seeing eye dogs. So what about other problems? Ones that are less easier solved through alternative methods? Ones a little less understood and a little less common? I want to know that an animal can help a person with the types of disorders that I will never be able to fully understand myself.

Enter RJ. Or rather, enter Sasha, RJ's mother, as I haven't yet had the privilege of meeting RJ. I befriended Sasha through a mutual friend, and later learned that she has a son who is autistic, named RJ. After seeing pictures of him, I felt that the impossibly adorable RJ would be inspiration number two for my research on animal assisted therapy. 

And thus, the topic is born. Animal assisted therapy with autistic children. Normally, this would be the time when I would pose a research question to adapt my research to, but I find this topic too fascinating to limit myself. Instead, I want to know as much as possible, letting questions arise as I learn, and then writing about the most significant information.

I will hopefully be able to meet little RJ next weekend. I hope to spend time with him, learning more about him, and about autism. Essentially, I view getting to know RJ as the first step to understanding how animals might be able to help children with autism, because in order to understand potential treatment, you must first understand the disorder. 

Until then, I will leave you with some pictures to enjoy!

Luigi Napping 

Me and my handsome little man!

"What are you doing, Mom?"