CyndiLJ Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Our 9 year old 4th grader gently dissected things when he was 5, he is a total biology kid from the word "go" and we are thinking he is headed into medicine/EMT work, something along those lines. He has a ton of gifts, and a super tender heart. So, how can I get him to see an autopsy? And no, clearly he will not be upset by it...he just has an uncanny ability to look beyond the human aspect and is so utterly fascinated with how the living body of any kind of animal works, that he is mesmerized. Or maybe not a human autopsy, but something similar with an animal. Our problem is, liability insurance keeps us from finding a way for him to be present. We even tried to get him in to a taxidermist, but no go. Ideas anyone? And yea, mom has to find the stomach for it as well...UGH!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillian Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I don't mean to sound tasteless, but have you tried your local coroner's office? I know in LA County, they not only offer field trips (although I think usually to high school age kids), they are assigned to juvenile offenders of certain crimes (drunk driving) with parental permission as punishment, and they have a gift shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Our library had a good documentary with the dissection of a giant squid that was awesome. Not quite like having your hands it, but the comparative anatomy lesson was good. I believe there were also some made of the dissection of a camel and a lion. Baring actually being present, that might be interesting for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 It may not be legal, but I'm not sure. My dh is a medical student, and there are all sorts of privacy laws about who can even see the cadavers, much less work with them. So they may not actually be allowed to be videotaped? The closest thing I can think of is taking him to the Bodies exhibit. There are also some dissection apps for iPads or iPods that might be of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have feelings on this based on a few friends that have been through medical school. While you may think he's ready, it is very different in person. I had a close friend go through medical school and was at the end of residency in pathology that ended up leaving a month before the end of his 4th year in residency to pursue something different based off a cadavar brought in :( Mentally I would never suggest this to a child, no matter how well you think he would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I am not sure if they still do this but in high school I belonged to Medical explorers which was a special interest part of the Boy Scouts. Our local hospital sponsored a group of us. We saw and did a lot. No autopsies. I was one of the only people who never passed out during an activity! So a fair amount of blood I guess. Of course people did pass out looking at cat scans??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassiemc Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 In highschool during either Biology or Anatomy our class took a field trip to our local chiropractic university. The bodies had been donated to science. Not sure if you have one near you, but I thought I'd mention it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I have feelings on this based on a few friends that have been through medical school. While you may think he's ready, it is very different in person. I had a close friend go through medical school and was at the end of residency in pathology that ended up leaving a month before the end of his 4th year in residency to pursue something different based off a cadavar brought in :( Mentally I would never suggest this to a child, no matter how well you think he would do. ITA. If he really is interested in med school, he will have plenty of opportunities to work with bodies at that time. Also, if for some reason he does view an autopsy/cadaver at a young age and flips out, he will never be able to get that picture out of his head. I agree with finding a human bodies exhibit or virtual autopsy/dissection online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 Thanks for all the input! We have already done the Bodies Exhibit that travels around the US, he saw it in Denver last year. We have found a couple of autopsy apps for the iPad. Just looking for other ways to keep up his interest. He will be doing upper middle school life sciences/biology next year. I too have thought about the possibility of him being disturbed by seeing something that is beyond his ability to process,and am letting him guide me in this. However, I also don't want to limit him because I am personally creeped out! 2 years ago he went to a friend's house who called him over after duck hunting, and he worked with Josh to take apart the duck. He carefully cut out the intestines and stretched them out to measure them, making notes. He held the heart in his hands and squeezed it to see how the blood circulated. All our other kids queasily stepped back in the house to get away from it, while Josh asked if they could see what the brain looked like i and how it was connected. I would prefer that it not be a human autopsy, but wondered what beyond the standard dissecting kits we could do. He is still very young to work on high school biology stuff that is going to require a reading level and vocabulary development that is beyond him right now. I will look for some of the videos you all have suggested here. If anyone has other ideas, I am all ears and would really appreciate it! Lab work maybe as he loves the microscope? I was also thinking about perhaps a prosthetic manufacturer as well. Just trying to get him exposure in as many areas as I can to see what he might be drawn to. Thanks, Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I'm going to still stick to my guns. I was the same way growing up and would not have been ready looking back despite what I thought. My kids are young. We are avid hunters for our food and live on a farm. They have seen way more animal death than most. I am still cautious, but they dove into a pile of deer guts with gusto recently and rather than draw what squirrel tracks looked like on a sheet decided to grab a stamp pad and use the foot that was cut off. Many children are drawn to these things. A human exhibit is still not the real thing notated how real it looks. My kids helped have helped butcher and process chickens, turkeys, deer, rabbits, squirrel, cows, and pigs. Most we've raised. It still just isn't the same. I know firsthand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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