Introduction: There is evidence of the benefits of animal-assisted interventions (AAT) for people in general and specific children, but there is a dearth of specific research on how animals, especially dogs, can be used to increase social and communication skills and decrease repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities in children with autism or PDD-NOS (Alison, 2010). This paper describes how AAT facilitates the development and maintenance of social skills in a sample of Puerto Rican children diagnosed with autism.
Methodology: A sample of five children (4 boys and 1 girl) between the ages of 8 and 10 years old, diagnosed with autism, received ten sessions of AAT once a week for one hour. The mothers completed a pre and post test to determine the progress of their children. This study used a multiple case design incorporating quantitative and qualitative approaches. Some of the measures used were: socialization domain of the Vineland II, semi-structured interviews and clinical video recording. To analyze the quantitative data frequency distributions, central tendency analysis, bivariate analyzes, and independent t tests were used to evaluate if there were significant differences between social executions and the different measures taken. The Wolcott model was used to analyze the qualitative data.
Main Results: The average performance for the sub-domain of interpersonal relationships in the pre-test was estimated at 38.2 points, compared to an average of 51.4 in the post-test which indicates greater mastery of interpersonal skills. Through the evaluation of social skills in three times, there was an increase in the social interactions of the children with the researcher (e.g. asking for help). One mother acknowledged that the child was more expressive and communicative after the AAT.
Principal conclusions and implications: These findings suggest that children with high functioning autism had significant gains in social skills after participating in AAT. A dog allows the child with autism to handle in a concrete and tangible way the information that surrounds him, thus reducing meltdowns and facilitating social interactions. The dog fulfills the function of motivating children with autism to participate in the therapy process.