Does petting and playing with animals help with meltdowns?

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Playing with a cat or dog can really brighten my day.

Having an animal can give you a good rezone not to meltdown. I have a chinchillas & they are timid creatures & are kind of high-maintenance compared to other rodents. She can be a good distraction but she hates being held

Animals help with everything.

Animals tend to bring out the best in me. A local cat visits me most days, and I can almost see the benevolent smile break out on my face as he does his funny stuff. Dunno about helping with meltdowns, as the only thing like a meltdown I had was in an animal-free area.

A guy I know had a huge row with his partner - he has a filthy temper - and the only thing that calmed him down was when we got him talking about their animals. He told us a little bit about each cat and dog in their "collection," and by the time he was done, he was fine again. Animal magic.

Horses and people with forms of Autism have A LOT in common. Based on my limited knowledge of horses, most everything that troubles Autistic people, also troubles horses. They are very sensitive to invasions of their space, and they hate being touched in many cases. Looking a horse in the eyes is very troubling to them, and can scare or anger them. Sudden noises, unidentified movements, or bright lights can panic a horse.

There may be a special understanding between horses and Autistic people, although I am not so experienced as to say there is a strong connection, beyond some limited personal experience.

Being very new to coming to a full understanding of my Asperger's, I have a lot to learn. I don't know exactly what a "meltdown" is, but speaking for myself, I would interpret it as that point at which it's just too much, and I need to cut everyone off NOW, and go disappear for a few minutes to a couple hours. Or is a meltdown that point where I have the instinct to clench every muscle, and shudder? I can control that pretty well, but I do feel it. If it's worse on most other people than it is on me, then it makes sense to call it a meltdown.

Charles

I love being with animals. One time at work I got really upset and was about to go into a meltdown when the cat which visits the office regularly plodded gently into the room and curled up on my lap. It was like it knew!

Generally, I find rabbits quite relaxing. I have two rabbits and I am fostering a third. Jenifer used to relax me by jumping on my chest and licking my tears off my face. Ralph lets me snuggle right up to him. Millie is... hyperactive. Unfortunately, Millie also cuts my skin regularly so I look like a self harmer!

Jenifer hasn't been well recently so she hasn't been as cuddly as normal and I am sad.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Yes, I think it helps. I have a cat and he makes me really relaxed.

if I have a hectic day (most days) and I come home and pet my dog it calms me down alot

yes, my guinea pigs certainly helped relieve my stress; I just couldn't have a meltdown in front of them; it just broke my heart whenever they even looked like they were scared...adorable little things.

I so can't wait to eventually get more.

I do very much enjoy animals.

I love animals and find calm animals very soothing and kind of therapeutic but it doesn't always apply to every animal I've ever met. My mother currently owns a very high strung dog that can cause a panicked meltdown when he assaults me with 90lbs of flying feet and tongue and I'm talking about full blown screeching/flapping meltdown which is not at all typical for me and my reaction sends him into a panicked meltdown also. That situation had caused some family tension about going in her house until I finally ended up getting one of those novelty shocker hand buzzers to "train" him which probably isn't a recommended training method but it didn't harm him and was effective.