Boy’s Best Friend
July 29, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
My son Charlie remains wary, if very curious—fascinated, even—-about dogs. In a new book, Nuala Gardner tells of how a golden retriever named Henry (after one of Thomas’ friends) helped her now 19-year-old autistic son, Dale. Notes the July 29th Times Online:
Why did Henry succeed when so much else had failed? Dale, who has written the last chapter of the book, says: “Henry was just really gentle, friendly and sociable . . . he had a wise look and I always trusted him.” Autistic children find it almost impossible to understand facial expressions but the dog made it easier. “I could understand his feelings from looking at his eyes and face,” says Dale. “Henry’s face only had slight changes with his expressions so I understood them.”
Sounds like Henry is a friend—a boy’s best—indeed: Charlie seems content right now to watch his four-footed friends from a distance, but maybe someday he’ll feel ready to get up close and personal to a dog and tell me “Mom, I want!.”
(But will I, who grew up petless, ever be ready for a canine member of our family………)
Photo courtesy of skycaptaintwo via Flickr.
My son benefits so much from our dogs. They are absolutely his bestest friends in the world. I used to worry about him being alone but once we got the first dog we no longer felt that way anymore. We now have a pit bull (very sweet and gentle despite the myth), a shar-pei, and a dacshund. The pit is his favorite and she is his mother. She is like Lassie in telling us if he needs something.
I thought of Charlie, too, when I read Kristen’s post the other day. Here’s the url:
http://fromherethereandback.blogspot.com/2007/07/puppy-love.html
Nik doesn’t really notice our own cats much (being the aloof creatures they are) but he likes our neighbor’s “mutt” named Rex. When we go outside and Rex barks, Nik will make a soundin response; this is not something he does with people yet! He likes it when Rex nuzzles and licks him.
This reminds me that I need to ask my doctor about allergy treatment. I am allergic to dogs. If Amigo is to have a seeing eye dog, we’ll need to figure something out. We had dogs next door (two elderly pit bulls!), and he bonded with them.
We held off getting a dog until recently, and then researched the various breeds in order to find the perfect companion for my son. We ended up with an english bulldog, 7 months old, and she’s perfect. She’s big enough so that he can’t pick on her, and gentle enough so that she doesn’t want to pick on him. They are adorable together. And we are working with a dog trainer, since an obedience class would be a little tough for my son! Our baby bulldog is definitely our boy’s best friend!