Hello, I’m Jennifer Lynn and,  a seamstress for Cirque du Soleil and mother to a child on the autism spectrum.

My daughter has O.D.D. and ADHD.

As such, she has since an early age had uncontrollable rage fits and tantrums thar would terrify all care takers. Her fists punched; her feet kicked. There was no medication that seemed to help.

One day during lock down we saw a hawk diving after a white pigeon. It was like watching a car accident.  There was nothing we could do. We couldn’t help and it looked very horrible.

Therefore, it seemed like a miracle when the next day we saw the pigeon or one exactly like it hidden behind the wheels of our car. We coaxed him out and realized he was injured.

I owned quail, so I knew how to help, and I had supplies on hand to help. It was a frightening process as the pigeon seemed shocked, had starvation symptoms,  and was terrified of us.

I told all of this to my daughter. She genuinely for the 1st time in her life seemed to understand something about the birds’ fear. She spoke softly and sat quietly with him.

A child who had at least one major tantrum a day, who punched holes in walls, and dug her nails into her own skin, was sitting quietly and soothing a small white bird.

For weeks we looked for the birds owner. Them my daughter said “His wings look the same as an angel’s”. So, Angel he became.

That was almost three years ago. We traced down (what we assumed) his previous owners.
A photo studio that rented him out to weddings, funerals, and later put him in a cage at a pigeon hunting range. When the pandemic hit, the business closed and the owners just released their birds.

We were heartbroken for Angel. How could anyone ever do this? It was horrible.

However,  that said. My daughter was different. No longer did she rage. No, yelling scared Angel. She would sit with him. Talk to him. She read him stories and told him about video games.

This child who had issues explaining her emotions sat still as stone and told her feelings to a bird that still to this day is terrified of humans.

Yet, he flies to her.
He sits next to her.
He is content to perch on the top of her upturned foot as she sits splay legged and plays her video games.
It’s an unspoken bond. I sit here with you and you don’t do anything that makes me afraid.

We’ve joked that perhaps he really is an angel. Maybe he loves her because he knows she loves him? I don’t know what it is. I only know that the doctors have all agreed that animals, especially birds, can help ground children with autism.

Pigeons especially are calm and sensitive to children that have ASD. They are the oldest animal that has been tamed by man. As such, deep inside every single pigeon is an ability to accept us as friends.  To this day Angel flies away from us. But, he always returns to her and she never yells or has a tantrum around him. Not ever.

That is a miracle.