Friday, February 10, 2012

ADHD & "Pet Therapy"

We're parents on a mission to raise a busy guy. There's no claim to fame on knowing the ins and outs of all possible courses of therapy. But facts are facts. The more time we spend keeping our guy busy, the better-off everyone is. The busier the day, the better he sleeps that night. We've had a variety of pets over the years:

The fairly usual family pets~ dogs, cats, fish & guinea pigs.
Some farm animals ~ bummer lambs, baby goats, baby chicks & bunnies.
(Right now we've got 2 bummer lambs that were just hours & days old when they were given to us. We bottle feed them every 5 or 6 hours & Bobby LOVES his baby lambs. We'll sell them this summer to cover our costs, basically.)

All the animals have been fun & allowed our kids a chance to learn basic caring skills. This winter Dad & Bobby have spent every bit of their spare time reading up on bee-keeping. They've searched for good deals in equipment & suits to wear. They are set. As soon as winter is over they'll begin this venture. It has been an amazing experience watching as Dad & son bond through a love for something new & exciting!

We aren't kidding anyone. Our son isn't just "busy." He has been diagnosed with a real disability that sometimes wreaks havoc on the child, family & all around them. We have chosen to have Bobby take medication in addition to all of the behavior "plans" we embark upon.  We've found that having pets, for us, definitely IS a successful treatment/therapy. We aren't following a set program developed specifically for ADHD kids by health care professionals. We get to live in the country on a few acres with a couple animal pens & we use what we have to help our youngest child. It works. Sure love you, Bobby. Thanks for keeping us on our toes & out of trouble!
Mom & Dad

4 comments:

Grace said...

I believe that this kind of idea regarding pet therapy for ADHD is fun and educational as well but I doubt its effectiveness to different children and teens. Despite that, I really love the idea.

Charlotte said...

For our family, anything that's fun and educational for a child translates to effective. I admit you may be able to find a child here and there who doesn't enjoy hanging out with animals but I haven't met any yet.

Phyllis Stockton said...

I love this! I have a ten-year-old with ADHD, and she loves animals. I'm allergic, so we don't have any besides a few fish. But I love the idea of getting her involved at a local farm (her dad can take her)! I think that anything that keeps her busy, while teaching her skills, is a wonderful thing. I also wanted to share a site that's been really useful to me as a mother with and ADHD child: http://onlineceucredit.com/edu/social-work-ceus-td Hope to see more posts from you soon! This is a great one.

Charlotte said...

She'll probably LOVE visiting a farm! Are you allergic to chickens? They are so much fun for kids. There's plenty to keep them busy...feeding, raking out pen, watering & gathering eggs. (Selling them too!) This has been a favorite!
Good luck with the "pet therapy!"