I posted a few months ago about my adopted son (who is now nine), and I'm glad to say things have definitely improved since then! He's such a lovely little boy.

He no longer has such a furious temper and short fuse, and I know that my family members have finally started to see him as my son, rather than just a crazy kid we got stuck with.

Anyway, for Christmas DH and I got him this stuffed raccoon and a teddy bear, and since then he's been completely obsessed with them. I wasn't into stuffed animals as a kid, so I wouldn't really know what's normal behaviour or not, but his therapist has suggested we try and wean him off. The only problem is....I don't agree with her!

Racoon and Sergeant Bear (very imaginative, I know!) have become our son's best-friends. They go everywhere with him, and I think if either of them went missing it'd be like WWIII. But ever since he got them it's been...weird? I don't know how to describe it, but I think he believes they can both actually speak. DH had a toy as a kid, but he said he always knew that it wasn't actually alive.

The therapist is saying it's not healthy for LR (that's what I call him: Little Russian) to converse as if his toys are real, that he's depersonalising his anxieties and traumas onto his stuffies. But, and I know I'm no therapist, to DH and I it's been a honest-to-God miracle. When LR doesn't want to do something he has issues telling us, but since Christmas he's been saying it's his toys who dislike the idea. I see it more as a way for him to convey his thoughts and feelings, without the fear or punishment or anger. Like he can blame them if something goes wrong.

Take for instance, lunch yesterday: DH suggested we get pizza after we visit the park, but LR told us that Sergeant Bear wanted hot dogs instead. We both knew that it was LR that wanted hot dogs, but that he was scared to tell us. We spoke with Sergeant Bear (via LR, of course; neither me, nor DH, speak Bear) and agreed on a plan, and ultimately I thought it was a very positive experience. LR got to express his opinion without the pressures of us getting upset or angry with him, and he got to see that we're willing to listen to his ideas and suggestions. But then his therapist totally destroyed any happiness I had about the trip: she said that LR was being emotionally stunted by his need to talk through his animals and that we should take them away.

Now, I know I'm not a professional in any respect, but I do know my son, and I know that taking his friends away will any traumatise him more. DH agrees with me, but I thought I'd take to the internet to get another opinion before I decide what to do.

Sorry for the long ramble, and thanks for any advice. ^-^