Oli and Flo: Life with a Bearded Dragon ESA

Episode transcript

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hello can you start by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your Essa uh what kind of animal do you have
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and what is their name so I'm olly and my animals right here she's a bearded dragon her name's flow and so she's a
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bit unusual for a emotional support animal and she's not a cat or a dog but she works for
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me how has having a Esa impacted your daytoday life and mental well-being it makes it a lot easier if
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I'm going somewhere like an appointment that I would normally get quite anxious at just knowing that I can take her if I
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need to cuz she calms me down and just having that option now just makes day-to-day life a lot easier mhm could
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you share a particular story or instance where your Essa provided Comfort or support during a challenging
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time yes so anytime that I been to the doctors for example just gives me a lot of anxiety and so obviously we call
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ahead and make sure that it is okay um because yeah and then she just gives me
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a lot of comfort and you know just even just stroking her calms me down a lot so mhm okay what are the some of the
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biggest benefits you've experience since getting your Esa definitely um just knowing that
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she's there like I say and um just being able to um take her knowing
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that you know she is allowed to be there and it's not just you know taking her for fun so okay she helps me a lot have you
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encountered any challenges or obstacles uh with having an Essa especially in public places or specific establishments I mean occasionally there
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will be people around that are a bit scared because she's you know not your normal cat or dog but um it's a good
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opportunity to educate people as well because she's she's not as scary as she might look um but I've never been like
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declined going in or anything but yeah so I just make sure everyone's comfy no that's good how do you feel that having
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Anessa has helped you connect with people in your community or has it affected your social life I think it's helped me connect to people
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because um you know a lot of people around me know her now and um again it's not it's an opportunity to educate people on her cuz people who are scared
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of lizards and stuff like that most of the time is just because of misinformation so I I have an opportunity what's the most surprising thing you've learned
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about ess's since getting one um probably just how many places you know I
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can take her if I need to or want to and I see how accepting most people are of
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it good are there any misconceptions about emotional support animals that you would like to clear up for our
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viewers um I think a lot of the time people think especially with lizard you know it's how like how can she help you
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you know you're not just taking her out for fun or for an excuse just to you know show her off but she genuinely does
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you don't even just joking her like this just it's nice to have how does your Essa help you manage
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specific symptoms of your uh hidden disability or condition um I'd say sometimes you know
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cuz like I do have hidden disabilities but as well just with general anxiety around them it is mainly an anxiety
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thing and you know I've tried you know fidget toys and everything like that when going out but nothing helps as much as you know being with her cuz animals
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are what I really love so mhm how receptive has businesses as service providers in your city or town being
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towards your Essa have you found certain places more accepting than others obviously everywhere's been pretty
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receptive um obviously I do get some funny looks when I say it's a lizard but um every course been pretty receptive
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and the places that are sort of frequent now know her and yeah so I found it
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quite good great um if you've traveled with Essa what was the experience like and did you have any challenges I
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haven't traveled with her yet just because obviously she just need Heating and lighting and everything it's not quite as simple as putting a dog in the
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car but if I do in the future then hopefully that all go okay what advice would you give to someone who is
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considering getting an emotional support animal I'd definitely say go for it cuz it's been you know really amazing and really freeing again now that I have
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that choice to take her out if I am feeling particularly anxious so yeah it's definitely made going to places that make me
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anx a lot more you know comfortable do you have any tips for managing the care and well-being of
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Vanessa especially for people with disabilities or mental health challenges um I think I mean it's quite
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specific to bearded dragon which is what she is but um just
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like I don't know cuz it's it's hard to say cuz she's obviously not yeah unique yeah but just her day-to-day routine
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taking care of her helps me as well cuz that's just something I love taking care of animals so great lastly what's the
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one thing you would like people to understand or appreciate about 's that they might not realize definitely just that even you
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know because I don't have have any um like visual disabilities like I'm not taking her out just for the fun of it um
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I do feel like probably even though people don't vocalize it people probably do say it's just an excuse but it's definitely not and she definitely calms
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me down and I'm very lucky to have her as my Essa great okay that's it thanks
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so thank you
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