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A yellow-and-brown boa constrictor covers itself around David de Oliveira Gomes’s neck like a headscarf, however the 15-year-old Brazilian with autism is interested, not scared.
For him, this is treatment.
“His name is Gold. He’s cold. He consumes mice,” Gomes informs his therapist at a treatment center in Sao Paulo, carefully holding the big snake as it crawls around him.
That is precisely the sort of sentence his therapist, Andrea Ribeiro, is attempting to generate.
She focuses on dealing with individuals with specials needs, autism or stress and anxiety, utilizing an uncommon approach: reptile treatment, which she says assists clients unwind and enhance their interaction, motor abilities and other capabilities.
“He’s dealing with speech and memory development,” the 51-year-old language-speech therapist says of Gomes, sitting at a table with him and the big snake.
Ribeiro has actually originated this approach over the previous years at the treatment center, which includes an outdoor space where clients communicate with lizards, turtles and a “jacare”—a type of alligator belonging to Latin America that prevails in Brazil, consisting of in the Amazon rain forest.
The treatment is not clinically shown.
But “it’s been clinically shown that when individuals can be found in contact with animals, it launches neurotransmitters such as serotonin and beta-endorphins that provide a sense of enjoyment and wellness,” says Ribeiro.
“That makes (clients) feel good and wish to learn.”
The reptiles “allow us to attain much better, much faster results,” she informed AFP.
Step aside, dogs
Ribeiro utilized to utilize dogs in her treatment sessions.
But she discovered their continuous efforts to play and communicate made some clients anxious, specifically those with autism.
So she relied on reptiles.
It’s a class of animals that makes many individuals squirm.
But individuals with autism tend to approach them “without bias,” she says, The animals stimulate their interest without making them uneasy.
The reptiles, for their part, “are indifferent,” she says.
“They do not look for attention the method some mammals do.”
Ten-year-old Gabriel Pinheiro is cuddling a little alligator, attempting to mimic Ribeiro’s syllables by opening his mouth large 3 times: “Ja-ca-re.”
“It’s wet,” he says, his eyes focused on the animal from behind his glasses.
The alligator’s scales are “hard,” its stubborn belly “soft,” he says, as the therapist assists him deal with revers.
He and Ribeiro then sing a tune about the jacare to practice acoustic memory abilities.
Pinheiro’s mom, Cristina, credits 4 years of this treatment with assisting enhance his listening, interaction and motor abilities.
“He’s constantly happy when we come,” she says.
Reptilian massage
Another client, 34-year-old Paulo Palacio Santos, suffered extreme mental retardation in a mishap that left him paralyzed and speechless.
Ribeiro covers his confront with a thick snake, whose weight and cold temperature level help reactivate Santos’s swallowing reflex, she says.
She then utilizes a smaller sized boa constrictor to work the muscles around his mouth.
The handling of these types is managed by Brazil’s ecological authority, IBAMA.
Ribeiro works side-by-side with biologist Beatriz Araujo, whose job is to keep track of the animals’ tension levels and guarantee clients stay safe.
There has actually never ever been a mishap in ten years of treatment, the center says.
The reptiles, which are raised on website, are accustomed to human contact. No toxic snakes are utilized.
“I’m constantly here, simply in case (an animal) responds suddenly,” says Araujo.
“The risks are the exact same when it comes to close contact with any animal.”
