Canine Therapy Research Paper

This chapter will discuss how canine therapy is used with children with autism spectrum disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a “complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others” (Burrows, Fine 2008). Children with autism also known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD have social, communication and language problems. They also have restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities such as flipping objects, echolalia or excessive smelling or touching of objects. Canine therapy opens up the opportunity for the family to go shopping
The about education website states that it is “important to have an understanding of child development because it allows us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early adulthood”.
Over the course of time it has been noted that pets may have a special role in the healthy development of children. This is given the changing demographics, including divorce rates and the decreasing size of families in many developed countries; pets may take on even greater social and emotional importance within families. One startling statistic is that children are more likely to grow up with a pet than with a father in the home. (WALTHAM ® pocket book of human-animal interactions (2015) (Ch, 2 p,
For individuals with visible disabilities who may frequently be socially avoided by others, and in settings such as nursing homes, the role of animals as social catalysts is especially important”. Research undertaken on elderly people living in mobile homes; found that those who walked their dogs in and around their local area found conversations focused in the present rather than in the past than those people who walked without their dogs (Cran et al (1999) cited in The Health Benefits of Companion Animals (2007, p.7). It has also been noted that disabled individuals in wheelchairs accompanied by service dogs during shopping trips received a median of eight friendly approaches from strangers, versus only one approach on trips without a dog (Robinson et al (1008) cited in The Health Benefits of Companion Animals (2007, p.7). Not only do dogs act as social catalysts, they can also be used in helping with visual hazards, reminding people to take medications, impending seizures and they can also help in seeking help in emergencies. However Eddy et al (1988) cited in The Health Benefits of Companion Animals (2007, p.7) suggests that dogs can also promote improved psychological well-being and reduce the number of assistance hours required by disabled