Exceptional Visit at The Exceptional Foundation...

Yesterday I went on a visit to the Exceptional Foundation.  According to their mission statement, the Exceptional Foundation strives to meet the social and recreational needs of the exceptional population in Birmingham. The definition of “exceptional” is broad, but the participants that I met were children and teenagers that had autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental delays. There were three Hand in Paw teams at this visit: Beth and Rosie, Andrea and Ludo, and Greg and Ivan. This visit is a part of the “wind down” period at the end of the day (5:00 pm) before the participants go home. The participants told me that they like to pet the dogs, walk them around the gym, brush their fur and watch them perform tricks. I really enjoyed interacting with these exceptional people and watching their enthusiasm over small joys- like the little girl who asked to take pictures with my camera and laughed with delight as she snapped away.

Andrea with Ludo, Beth with Rosie, and Greg with Ivan

The volunteers at the Foundation told me that several of the participants become much more social and engaged when the animal teams are present. The pet partners shared that over time (the same teams come to the Exceptional Foundation twice a month) they had formed bonds with certain participants and that those connections had grown from the animal interactions.  Greg shared with me that at one visit, a young boy with autism had stayed away from he and Ivan and the other participants. Greg surmised that the child might be afraid of the dog, but acknowledged that the child was watching them closely. Eventually, when Greg brought out Ivan’s brush, the boy came over. He did not want to pet the dog or interact with Greg, but he brushed Ivan’s fur for the remainder of the afternoon. When Greg told the child’s mother about this interaction, she told him that she was surprised, because it was unlike the boy to come over and engage in an activity like that. I think that story sums up the benefits of the animal visits at the Exceptional Foundation. The participants come together to visit with the animals and social interactions are the result. Some of the interactions are with the animals, some with each other and some with the pet partner. Though many of us take social interactions and engaging with other people for granted, for the exceptional population, these interactions are an important part of development. Hand in Paw is truly beneficial to the Exceptional Foundation by helping meet the goals of their mission statement- improve the social and recreational needs of the exceptional people that participate there!