Horses, Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, Guinea Pigs, Dolphins
Is animal assisted therapy really the cat’s meow? asks the June 2008 Scientific American and takes a hard look at the use of dolphins, dogs (whose benefits as therapy animals for autistic children have been more and more noted), and other animals (a topic also under discussion with the US Department of Justice):
To show that AATs [animal assisted therapy] work, however, researchers must demonstrate that animals produce enduring effects on people’s psychological health, not merely short-term changes in mood, such as pleasure, relaxation or excitement.
So if school districts can just approve therapy/service animals being allowed in the classroom with autistic students for long enough, maybe it’ll be possible to demonstrate and document such “enduring effects”……
Tags: Animals, asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities blog, disability, dogs, dolphins, Family, family blog, horses, Parenting, pdd-nos, pets
3 opinions for Horses, Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, Guinea Pigs, Dolphins
Bonnie
Jun 23, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I have to say that from my own experience, my son has never really connected to any animal. They had therapy dogs at school that would visit the entire school, and he actually mentioned one of them in passing but never really seeks out attention from animals. He does love riding horses though!
mike stanton
Jun 23, 2008 at 4:21 pm
To show that AATs [animal assisted therapy] work, however, researchers must demonstrate that animals produce enduring effects on people’s psychological health, not merely short-term changes in mood, such as pleasure, relaxation or excitement.
This sort of attitude really annoys me. Why cannot something be worthwhile because it elicits short term changes in mood? I teach children with really flat affect. Any change is worthwhile if the child enjoys it at the time.
Regan
Jun 23, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I agree with Mike S.
Pleasure and relaxation, and excitement (which I think falls under the umbrella of “behavioral activation”) seem to be significant goals in psychological health.
(FWIW, the public comment period about the proposed changes are open until August 18.)
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