Special needs group visit!

[matt41gb]

My special needs friends came to visit me and the tortoises today! I worked with all of them at a day camp for special needs for many years. I have also coached most of them in various sports for Special Olympics of Texas. They are all like family to me. The group planned a field trip to my house and they had a great time!

-Matt

 

[dmmj]

That's awesome looks like the giant one is a big hit. My cousin (also special needs) had her first prom, she had a blast I took lots of pictures for her. they all seem to have had a great time at your place.

 

[matt41gb]

Very cool! I hope that she had a good time. My mother still works there and she's the one who set up the visit. They have been talking about it for a week now, ha! We had to keep the visit short because of the extreme heat and humidity today. I snapped as many pictures as I could.

-Matt

 

[Zouave]

Yet more proof that Tortoise people are some of the kindest, most caring people around.

 

[October]

You rock Matt! My older sister has Down's Syndrome and always always love the outings that she gets to go on with her friends. Thank you for doing this.

 

[jackrat]

Matt,you are the Man!! I've always wanted to do something like that. I'm going to started checking around my area.

 

[Missy]

Thank you for posting. I love working with special needs people that come through the ER. Happiest people on earth and they always make me smile

 

[jaizei]

This was awesome of you.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's pretty special that you allowed a "hands-on" approach. I'll bet it meant a lot to them to be able to actually hold and touch a tortoise.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Great job!

 

[Candy]

I liked this thread very much. What a wonderful day they shared at your home with all of your tortoises. It's always nice to see people smiling and sharing joy in each others lives. Good for you Matt and good for them to have you and your mother in their lives.

 

[N2TORTS]

That's pretty special that you allowed a "hands-on" approach. I'll bet it meant a lot to them to be able to actually hold and touch a tortoise.

"Well said"..Yvonne ............ Very cool Matt~

JD~

 

[DixieParadise]

I applaud you and your torts...They looked like they had just as much fun eating the watermelon as your visitors. Great pictures, thanks for posting them.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

OMGosh, look at all those happy faces. That's just what I needed after the insults on another thread. Those pictures make me smile...

 

[Laura]

very nice.. but does your sulcata obey that fence?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

very nice.. but does your sulcata obey that fence?

I have a friend in Montana who has 4 Sulcata kept with a fence weaker looking than that one. Not all Sulcata are destructive...

 

[matt41gb]

Thanks for the nice replies guys! I've known these kids for a long time and they thought it was so cool to come see all these tortoises I've been talking about . It's really neat to see that others have family with special needs, or just love people with special needs. They are some of the greatest people on Earth! Most of them grew up together at the same schools, so we're all one big happy family. I think that everyone should volunteer at Special Olympics at some point in their lives. I know that once you do it, you'll always want to do it.

---

very nice.. but does your sulcata obey that fence?

I have a friend in Montana who has 4 Sulcata kept with a fence weaker looking than that one. Not all Sulcata are destructive...

That fence looks flimsy, but it has just enough bounce to keep him from going through it.

-Matt

 

[Sky2Mina]

They all look so happy. I know I would be happy If I could see and touch an adult sulcata.

Mina

 

[dmarcus]

Thats awesome that you and your tortoises made them all very happy, I am sure there families appreciated that a lot..

 

[sara]

Loved all the smiles and happy faces! After a terrible week of work, just looking at these pics made it all go away! I have worked with a few special needs kids with my horses, and i swear the horses knew these kids were special and were always at their best. Thanks for shareing!