Animal Therapy for Autism, ADHD and Anxiety

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

🦎🐍🐸 *For more info on The BioDude's amazing product line, please visit:* www.thebiodude.com/ or www.youtube.com/@TheBioDudeJoshHalter

[@6strings735]

She said in context - "Neurodivergent people often make the best keepers.." Amen to that. Thank you Shira for your insights, and thank you AAH for featuring her.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That enjoyed it, thank you so much for watching!

[@Snake_Therapy]

😊❤️

[@kismitj]

constantly learning how to continually upgrade care is one way i keep the dopamine rolling without feeling the need to add new animals to the menagerie. deciding my limits based on "if i have a severe flare up of a chronic condition, how much am i paying someone else to step in" helped me make a clear headed decision of Hard limits. and on bad days, i remind myself-i can't give up today, i promised my kids they wouldn't have to worry about inheriting the spiders.

[@6strings735]

Lol ".. i promised my kids they wouldn't have to worry about inheriting the spiders." I know you meant that seriously, but that is a great way to look at it with a little humor to it. I agree wholeheartedly with your logic.

[@Snake_Therapy]

@kismitj I love so much about this comment 😂🥰

[@SeagraveSerpentarium]

As someone who is hoping to do in-person snake education and experiences some day, Shira's channel has been an amazing resource for helping me think about ways I can use my background in biology to help people just like me (I'm autistic and have ADHD) in addition to my primary goal of spreading knowledge and love for snakes while dispelling harmful misconceptions. It's an excellent concept that should absolutely be explored further. On a tangentially related note, FREE DARIUS MCCOLLUM! LET HIM DRIVE THE TRAINS!

[@StarlitesExotics]

I tell people all the time that my ball python is my emotional support snake, and by gollie is she great as such. Whenever I have a bad day, I just take her out when not going into shed or digesting a meal and will have her sit on my shoulders. Instantly calmed down after the fact. And she hit the nail on the head about how reptiles, snakes in particular, have such a unique calming effect on those with neurodivergencies and those who need help with their mental health. It's amazing what reptiles do for people

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yeah, it’s fascinating! Glad you enjoyed the episode, thank you for listening!

[@Snake_Therapy]

I love this! ❤️

[@StephanieRenaeReptiles]

As a member of the community that is autistic and ADHD is greatly appreciate this video❤ my animals have been so therapeutic for me. I’ll have to check out her channel!!

[@StephanieRenaeReptiles]

I recently changed jobs and no longer work from home. I’m reworking my systems to ensure I can care for them the way they need to and have also drawn a line in the sand for myself as well. It can catch up to you quick if you aren’t careful.

[@scidia9745]

I love Shira's content! Such a good interview, the reptile community tends to attract people with neurodiversity, trauma, and mental health struggles. I'm very glad that this aspect is being looked into!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching!

[@Gaspingindeath]

I relate so much to Shira's experiences. I've been following her for about 7 months and I find her content fascinating and her perspective is refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I love the scientific content and some of the "pet tube" style stuff, but this is a singular perspective that needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

[@Snake_Therapy]

❤️❤️❤️

[@honeybeeart9382]

What a wonderful person!!! This was a great episode and I think what Shira is doing is adding such a valuable, poignant presence to the world and I want her voice to be heard everywhere because everything she has to say is so insightful and beneficial to both the animals and the people who keep them. ♥

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Well said, Vicky! :)

[@Snake_Therapy]

🥹 thank you so much, what a beautiful comment.

[@ingeniouspixie]

Love Shira! Glad she's finally getting the recognition!

[@Snake_Therapy]

🥹🥹🥹❤️

[@tdmveenstra7590]

I can fully agree 🤗👍

[@mobydickii8407]

I am just 2 minutes in the episode and I just wanted to say that when I bought my Brazilian Rainbow Boa (did lots of research before choosing a BRB), I told the breeder that she would be kind of an emotional support pet (we are 3 autistics at home). He told me that a Cornsnake would be more appropriate for that purpose. I knew that I would only have one snake so we chose a BRB for the colors, the iridescence (visual stimming), her muscles can feel like a deep pressure massage. She keeps us grounded, calm. We have to take the time to care for her and the vivarium. They bring me joy. We also have two cats and a dog. They all provide love and support, each in their own way.

[@Snake_Therapy]

I’m glad you chose the animal that you knew would be best for *you*, and that you would be most engaged with, rather than listen to someone else’s suggestion! The more engaged you are the better the relationship and the more you can get from it! ❤ that’s really valuable insight you shared.

[@mobydickii8407]

@@Snake_Therapy I am near the end of the video. It's fun to see other people think like us. I had a coral reef aquarium in my twenties. I think I was the only girl at the university (not a big one, I live in Quebec) with a reef in my living room. No tv, just a big aquarium. My son was hyperfocused about ants since he was a toddler. So we had colonies at home when he was a teenager. Now it is a snake, isopods and a vivarium. I keep every shed and would like to make some jewelry with some. I will go see yours and do the survey.

[@peanut4745]

This is such an amazing podcast. Recently I got a taste of what equine therapy can do for those with ADHD, autism etc…. Hopefully this builds more awareness about possible reptile therapy! What a great story

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Absolutely, thank you very much for watching!

[@mrderekwelsh]

Shira is a good longtime friend. So inspired by her ! So glad you had her on your show Dillon. Absolutely love both your shows. 🙏🏽

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you so much for watching! 🙏🏻

[@miliniumo147]

This had so many great points i never thought about, really glad i listened to it. It had so many things i could relate with, not wanting a super needy animal, low maintenance, having a connection over feeling weird/outcast in society, and also the hyper focus 😂 I have actually spent 30+ hours in the last few weeks alone just learned about everything related to Uromastyx and reptiles in general. I'm hoping all this learning will equip me to provide my future Uro with the best care and environment i can 😁 Thank you for all of your extremely helpful content; it's a joy to listen and learn from

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That’s awesome, glad you enjoyed the episode. Thank you very much for listening! Good luck with the rest of your Uro research! 🙂

[@sunnylilfox]

Thank you for posting this, lately I feel like my royal pythons (That's all I can call them now.) have been my emotional support animals along with my actual registered ESA who's a dog as seen in my photo. They keep me going and have helped me so much with my Anxiety and ADHD, so thank you so much for this podcast, I needed this so much and would love to learn more about it as it gets explored.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you very much for watching, glad it resonated with you. I’m sure we will do more on this topic in the future, but make sure you subscribe to Shea’s channel as well as she will be diving into it much deeper and on a regular basis!

[@mitchmccline1614]

Amazing episode! Thank you both

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you, Mitch!

[@Snake_Therapy]

❤️

[@dacisky]

Since I was a kid,before I bought a pet,I researched it and I still do. I get so annoyed when someone on Reddit buys a reptile and first post is:"I just bought a _________ any tips?" I find this so weird. Anyway,I've been following her channel even though I don't have a snake. Anyway,Animals At Home just gets better and better!!!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

So glad you enjoyed this episode, thank you very much for listening as always!

[@jendubay3782]

I'm ND. I got my 1st royal python. Within a year got a 2nd. And 3rd. I got my 4th AND final this year. So 4 snakes in 2 years. Thats my limit. I dont have space for more. I dont have the energy daily to care for more. When I feel like, 'gee.... Maybe another snake...?' i instead pull one of my precious snakey angels out and appreciate them , watch them in their playpen, its amazing. The more you interact with the animals You Currently Have the more you discover who they are behavioral wise and personality wose 💖

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Very well said!

[@jackleith3502]

This was a really good episode and a great guest! I think one thing that’s often missed with people who are ‘different’ when they’re kids is that you know you’re different, and animals like snakes, spiders, lizards etc. are something ‘different’ like you. Most people are cats and dogs, and that’s ok, but some of us are snakes and spiders and scales and creepy crawlies, and that’s ok too.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Exactly, well said!

[@Lizardliker]

I enjoyed that one, thank you, well done 👍.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@leesreptilesandaquatics6368]

I have sever panic attacks and anxiety plus I have other medical issues and my iguana is like my serve animal she knows when something is wrong she will climb up my back and start to lick my face and rub her face on mine she helps keeps me calm unfortunately my snakes are to squirmy to try to use to help with calming but what she doing is awesome with having therapy snakes.

[@Ron-snakesinthegarage]

What a great upload! 👍💯

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks, Ron!

[@RAAxotics]

Man I love this pod great episode!!! I definitely relate to a lot of that

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Snake_Therapy]

😊

[@jonathanyoungblood8676]

I love this episode

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@LetsTalkHerps]

You said, “how did you get to the point where you were willing to actually put it in your hand, though?” And I laughed. Because I’m a 9 year old. 😂 always love the podcasts, Dylan. Another great interview

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

😂😂 when I took that section and turned it into a KZbin short, KZbin marked it as inappropriate at first 😆. Thanks for watching, Steven!

[@LetsTalkHerps]

Hahahaha. I love that.

[@questtherebelgaming]

Shira is Awesome!! i love watching her channel!

[@Snake_Therapy]

🥹❤️

[@learningformyreptiles1195]

Someone told me reptiles can't love like we do, I explained that it would be harder, but their is nothing neurological that would suggest that, but I think we need to look back at love in people, how many people marry for love to just get divorced? Why can you fall in love and out? Maybe we should be questioning that instead if reptiles can love.

[@tdmveenstra7590]

"I'm not changing the world" yes Shira, you are. One snake at a time!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

🙂

[@Snake_Therapy]

@tdmveenstra7590 🥹💕🐍

[@Familiarspirits]

Thank you for a great podcast as always! I love the idea of snakes helping people ovecome fears etc. Although I'm super sceptical of 'snake therapy ' as I think that the animals don't gain much from being handled and carried around by lots of people, some who are even really scared of them. I do own different kinds of snakes and none of them would be happy being carried around by strangers a lot. Even if some might tolerate it. This is no criticism, I'd just like to know what people think about it.I'm a social worker and work with kids and grown ups with lots of different diagnoses and addiction problems and would love to include my animals in therapy, but I'm to afraid to stress them out and that helping people might hurt the animals in the long run. The last time I brought this up, they were upset for me having this opinion, but like I said, I just want to have a friendly conversation about it 💚

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching the podcast, glad you enjoyed it! It’s a very good point you make. I think there’s definitely a trade-off and a balance here. I think there’s no doubt that some individual snakes, can learn to tolerate being handled without any negative consequences, and on the other hand, some individual snakes will never cope with being handled. I have an episode coming out in a few weeks that covers welfare and training, and specifically discusses increasing an animals ability to cope with “stress”!

[@jendubay3782]

I have 4 royal pythons, of them only 1 would be an animal I would take places and let people hold. I think it REALLY super depends on the animals personality and tolerances for sure

[@Familiarspirits]

@AnimalsatHomePodcast looking forward to this episode! I try to practice force free handling if possible, but that would be too hard in a therapy setting. Even my friendliest, most inquisitive boa does not just climb on different people on her own. It's a lot different from therapy with dogs for example, who can clearly show that they want interactions and even enjoy them.

[@kiaraortiz3693]

That is tru reptile help wit mental healt my animal help me alot its been 2 years mi firs reptile 😂😂is a New me no drug for over 2 year is amaising this animal can do for us reptile came plant to is other ting allow me to heal...

[@snakemannn1744]

A ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Very well done ,,,, we are one ,,,,,, Yes she would be a wife but she is taken ' ,,,, Great One ,,,, All what she said and talked about is Queen n deed ' ,,,, " Hands Down Bro ,,, keep it rollin ' "

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you, my friend! 🙏🏻

[@hefoxed]

LGBT + autism/neurodiversity: Trans people are 6x more likely to be autistic compared to cis folk While there may be social reasons for that, there may be overlap in biological mechanism during fetal development. There's some obscure studies linking increased trans children to unusual hormone levels/endorcrine disruption during fetal development, and some not-obscure study finding increased estrogen and testestrone in samples of fetuses that later were diagnosed with autism. There;'s also theory that hormones may effect sexuality development, so possible overlap there also -- basically, hormones effect brain development, and all three are probably a brain development thing. ... based on googling/looking at studies, and even a physical book that mentioned those obscure studies.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That is very interesting!

[@Snake_Therapy]

@hefoxed that’s super interesting- I’d definitely heard a little on that, but now I want to check stats again on survey participants. Last I looked, the majority of answers were from cis females, but I’ve definitely seen an uptick in LGBTQ+ responses lately. Not that my little survey is a real marker for the relationship between neurodiversity and gender identity, but it’s just interesting to think about.

[@1mrcow143]

♾️ Autism Acceptance ftw ♾️

[@Cold_Blooded_Gems_]

Trump 2024 🙌🏻🫡

[@Duranj_24]

All the way brother !!!🇺🇸🫡

[@Duranj_24]

Glad to see another fellow conservative reptile keeper 🐍

[@jendubay3782]

😅 that's got nothing to do with the podcast.... What?

[@Cold_Blooded_Gems_]

@@jendubay3782 except for the brief rant about how bad her life was during the Trump era 🤷🏻‍♂️ . Anyways ……

[@Cold_Blooded_Gems_]

@@Duranj_24 amen ! 🫡🇺🇸 people cry about Trump like he ruined their lives 😂 our country was never doing as good! We had global respect! Biden has turned us into a freak show joke ! What gets me is how mad people get and the assumptions people make when someone believes in the very country that gave them the right to be free! In what other country could someone march down the street chanting death to their country without being at very least put in prison for treason !?! They love freedom of speech when you’re saying what they wanna hear 🤔 . I’m with ya ! Zero shame about it either 🫡🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🏻🤙🏻