Special needs kids and aquariums

[RandomIowan]

As I mentioned in my intro I have a special needs son (8) with asd and ADHD. The fish tank in general as helped him loads with various things. Some days I've even caught him talking to the fish! When he spotted the hitchhiking danio that came with the guppy grass he was delighted beyond anything..danios are now his favorite fish. Out of curiosity has the hobby helped any one else's kids with or w/o special needs?

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Random teenager here (started in middle school), and yes absolutely, it's definitely given me something to do during lockdown, and just something to be excited about for the past 3 years, as well as taken my mind off the events in the world (which has been a massive benefit). Apart from that it's almost definitely helped with my interest/grades in biology classes as going into them I've already had a "base" of knowledge. Happy holidays!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/3/2022 at 5:25 PM, RandomIowan said:

As I mentioned in my intro I have a special needs son (8) with asd and ADHD. The fish tank in general as helped him loads with various things. Some days I've even caught him talking to the fish! When he spotted the hitchhiking danio that came with the guppy grass he was delighted beyond anything..danios are now his favorite fish. Out of curiosity has the hobby helped any one else's kids with or w/o special needs?

@Doc_Ho11iday recently mentioned hers…any opinions?

[Doc_Ho11iday]

Hello friends!

My son is 3, non-verbal with ASD. We are only a few months into our hobby but I can certainly say that he finds the schooling fish most enjoyable. He’s a sensory seeker who goes berserk (in a good way) at the overstocked goldfish tank at Petco. I certainly wouldn’t recommend that but the setup we have now fits his sensory needs. We have dark substrate, dark background with 10 albino Cory’s and 9 rummy nose. When he’s overstimulated I like to hold him tight and sit in front of the tank while he focuses on their movement. So far it’s been working great and even my family members can get him settled easier with the tank too. It’s definitely not as exciting as the PETCO fish tank so he doesn’t interact with the tank when he’s bored. My daughter (6) loves science and watches the aquarium co op videos with me when we clean our tank. It’s been a great educational tool and gives us a chance to bond over our little fish family.