It’s incorrect to label to autism as one thing. It’s a spectrum of disorders and every child is different
Animals help sufferers cope with negative emotionsA friend of mine has a daughter with autism and I have watched first-hand the highs, the lows, the trials and tribulations of bringing up a child with the condition, which, so far, has no cure.
What has saved my friend, and her marriage, is that she and her husband have never defined their daughter (I’ll call her Tanya) through her condition.
They never refer to her as autistic. She’s a very bright, quirky, funny child so they concentrate on her great qualities and try to cover for her failings.
For my friend it was difficult from the moment Tanya was born. She noticed Tanya wouldn’t make eye contact with her (or anyone) and when she tried to cuddle her she would wriggle, trying to escape, until she was put down.
It’s incorrect to label to autism as one thing. It’s a spectrum of disorders and every child is different.
So a more accurate name is autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and ranges from Asperger syndrome (the mildest form) to full-blown autism.
The whole spectrum affects more than half a million people, around one in 125, who find social interactions problematic, and have difficulty working out the motivation and meaning of people’s behaviour. As a result, they can get aggressive with frustration.
When Tanya was first diagnosed, there was a strong bias towards boys but now more girls are being diagnosed as now we know how girls with ASD behave.
Because girls are born able to read expressions, are faster than boys to talk and more able to mimic how other people act in social situations, they’re able to hide their autistic traits.
My friend’s daughter was solitary, obsessive, lost in her own world and difficult to have a conversation with. So they made a family decision to get a dog, which proved to be somewhat of a miracle.
She became inseparable from her dog which brought out her tender side and she started to recognise her emotions for the first time.
My friend decided after such success with their dog, to go one step further and introduced her daughter to a pony.
Well, she has flowered. We know being with a horse changes our brainwaves and it has changed Tanya.
She has calmed down, become sociable, more focused and in touch with her emotions. Horses are very empathetic, and her pony has helped her cope with negative emotions.
It’s wondrous to see.
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