Emotional Support Snake?

[tttaylorrr]

Ok. Thank you guys. I shouldve used common sence and just not consider it, but thank you so much guys. ☺

i think it was important that you considered it, and that you were receptive to people's advice and concerns. hopefully this thread brought some clarity to you about all this ESA hullabaloo and what their true function is.

i've been very open about my struggles with mental health, and how my snakes have helped me. they've reminded me to care for myself, and to keep my responsibilities. this does not mean i rely on them to function in society or care for myself daily.

i like to make the comparison of the ESA conversation to fidget spinners (bare with me! i promise it makes a little bit of sense): fidget spinners have been invaluable to kids with autism and other higher-functioning mental or learning disabilities when it comes to classroom settings or other areas where they need to focus. fidget "toys" have existed for a long time and have legitimate uses. once the Fidget Spinner patent ran up, everyone began producing them. then everyone had one. every other news story was about another school banning them. my aunt is a social worker at a school and works specifically around kids with learning and mental disabilities. she told me the fight she had to go through with administration to allow the kids who truly benefited from fidget toys them to keep them in school (because administrations are lazy and 'no tolerance' is the only administrating done nowadays). she eventually was able to convince the administration on behalf of her kids, but for almost a month some kids were unable to focus or continue to make progress, all because a large enough population abused something not meant for them. in the wake of all the crazy ESA stories, there is a whole group of people being forgotten about, and their means to a better life is mocked on the national stage.

like when you see those commercials for a gadget that puts your socks on for you without having to bend over, or a fork that automatically twirls your spaghetti. a normal person would think: holy crap who actually NEEDS to buy that?? i think: well, old people! or people with physical disabilities, or arthritis, or someone who has a metal rod for a spine!

my point is: these things have their place, but it is important to understand just how much people can NEED something like this that might seem so trivial to a normal person. do you truly, without-a-doubt NEED Geno? probably not. but that's okay, and that's a good thing! imagine being in a place where you truly could not function without your pet snake, where taking him out of his home every day was the only thing keeping you from failing to function daily. you would never want to do that to your snake, and that's not a place i would ever wish to be mentally.

i'm very sorry for the rant, but i needed to get this out of me. lol. ty.