It was inevitable that some day it would happen.  Reality would set in.
I've kept a close eye out for it.  I knew that some day Sean would grow
older, get friends, and start to leave home more.  Now that Sean has a
house, a safe yard to play in, and friends, he spends much of his time
outside.  Well this is normal and good.  It's what we've always wanted
for him, especially with his disability.  But it's not so good for Rocky.
 
Sean still cares for the ferrets, and does much of the cleaning, feeding,
watering all himself (and thats three cages, six ferrets) each morning.  He
also plays with them a good hour by hisself and talks to them each day.
But alas it's summer.  No more sitting and watching sunrises with Rocky.
When school starts, I hope to see that again.  For now though, he sleeps
in.  Sean used to watch lots of tv with Rocky.  Well not now as Sean is
watching less TV.
 
In short that is much less time together for the two of them.  Sean needs
this extra socialization and this is good... but he still needs to be
responsible for Rocky, and Rocky still needs his company.  So what is the
answer?  Well the answer lies in a talk with Sean in explaining that Rocky
is his "friend", not a pet.  That Rocky wants to know where his little boy
is all the time.  That if he were Rocky he would be so lonely and wouldn't
understand.  We went through some role playing.  And we did a social story
for him to understand better.  I told him that fresh water each day, a pat
on the head, and clean cage are not enough.  So we set up a Rocky and Sean
time.  This is a time each day where no kids are allowed in the house, etc.
This is after he eats lunch.  He must play with Rocky or sit and talk to
him, or watch cartoons with him ,etc.  This structured, manditory time set
aside has helped greatly.
 
See with an autistic child.... an emotional plea means nothing.  A request
for more time is confusing.  It is to vague to grasp.  Things must be drawn
out, tangible, and structured.  Then they can approach it and embrace it.
:) I have to wonder if this would be good for normal children who start to
show the signs of being too busy for their pets?  That is the first step on
a long road to neglect afterall.  Another key thing we have done is plenty
of praise for what he does do.
 
I praised Sean for treating Rocky with respect... for treating him like a
companion rather than some pet to control.  Of course I had to do it in
"Seanese language" for him to understand that.  :) Other than that things
are well on the Sean and Rocky front.  I just thought this was a good
topic to address here.  Sean and Rocky are flesh and blood afterall, not
a perfect fairytale.
 
Wolfy
 
Please visit:
http://www.geocities.com/wolfysluv/
for information on ferret deafness:
http://www.geocities.com/wolfysluv/deaf.html
[Posted in FML issue 3495]