Children with autism learned tasks better when opportunities for success were mixed with challenges.
Three children (3 to 5 years old) participated in this study. Children were asked to correctly identify letters, numbers, or pictures of animals. A token was given for a correct answer. The children needed to earn 12 tokens during a session in order to play at a child-selected activity after the session. First, children were asked questions that they did not know the answer to. There were 10 to 25 sessions with this method. The numbers of correct responses did not increase very much. Next, the researchers added an interspersal procedure. This procedure mixed questions that the child clearly knew the answer to (success) with others that they might need to learn the answer to (challenge). All 3 children learned to give correct answers most of the time using the interspersal procedure (5 to 20 sessions). They continued to give correct answers after the use of token rewards was decreased.
Autism Therapy: animal-assisted therapy (AAT)
No Factsheets to Display
- Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Benavides, CA, and Poulson CL, published in 2009, summarized Oct 28, 2009
- Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, by Barakova, E., Gillessen J., and Feijs L., published in 2009, summarized Jul 30, 2009
Robots and technological toys may help teach social skills to children with autism.
Researchers used special blocks that worked like mini-robots. The blocks changed color depending on which other blocks they were close to. The blocks were used as a therapy tool with twelve children (3-5 years old) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The children were taught specific rules about the blocks. One simpler game focused on interactions between blocks. The second game was more complex and used blocks for symbolic play. Some blocks were "animals" and some were "food" or "water" that children "gave" to animals by moving that block close to the animal block. Pairs of children worked together to make the "zoo" run smoothly. Children needed to learn to pretend a block was an animal or food. Most of the children learned the rules of the first game. Five out of six pairs of children worked well together in the second game. The authors said that if children with autism can understand how to play with a block as if it is food (metaphor), they may be able to learn more complex social skills.
- Psychoanalytic Psychology, by Topel, EM, and Lachmann FM, published in 2008, summarized Dec 30, 2008
Ant farms may be a useful tool for helping people with Asperger syndrome learn about social structure.
This article is a case study of two people with Asperger syndrome who were given a treatment program of animal therapy combined with psychotherapy. At the start of the study, neither patient knew how to relate to others. One patient was a man who came from a strong and noisy family. One patient was an eight-year-old boy who came from a quiet family. Ants were helpful to both of them as a symbol and concrete presence to move psychotherapy treatment forward.
- European Journal of Pharmacology, by Frank, E., and Landgraf R., published in 2008, summarized Sep 26, 2008
Drugs that target the vasopressin system of the body may some day be helpful in the treatment of autism.
This reviews article describes the role of the brain chemical vasopressin in autism. When vasopressin levels were changed in animal studies, the animals sometimes showed signs of autism. Human gene studies have shown that some of the genes that are linked to autism encode for the protein that binds to vasopressin (vasopressin receptor). In people with altered vasopressin receptor genes, it seems that vasopressin levels are normal, but the brain has trouble responding to the levels of vasopressin in the body. There are many studies underway to learn how vasopressin may cause changes in behavior.
Therapists, educators, and others in Costa Rica who work with children with autism are receiving training in animal-assisted therapy (AAT). AAT uses animals as a part of the therapy for people with emotional and developmental challenges. This type of therapy, many times involving dogs, encourages social, emotional, and cognitive functioning. Marjorie Navarro, the coordinator of Fundación Bacalán in Costa Rica, explains that therapists may seem less threatening when they have an animal with them. AAT allows for a non-judgmental bond between the person and the pet.
Read original article: Dogs in Aid of Emotionally Challenged in Costa Rica
The Adventist Paulson Pediatric Rehabilitation facility has joined with the Hinsdale (IL) Humane Society to provide canine-assisted therapy for kids with special needs. Sometimes called service dogs, the dogs provide pet therapy. The canine-assisted rehabilitation (CARe) teams use the dogs to help kids relax before therapy, learn to socialize, and as a reward for completing some tasks. Many times, the animal participates with the child during therapy. Therapy teams are registered with Delta Society, an international group that organizes the volunteers, pet owners, and vets. Carla Pister, manager of the pediatric rehab facility says, "The animals have made a big difference in reducing patients’ anxiety – sometimes their presence alone can be comforting.”
Read original article: New Canine-Assisted Rehab in Hinsdale
A couple of years ago, we highlighted a program where prisoners in Oregon trained service dogs for children with autism and other disabilities. It appears as though another state, Colorado, has has a similar program. Although Colorado prisoners have trained shelter dogs since 2002, it’s only recently that a prisoner, convicted killer Christopher Vogt is training a dog specifically to work with a child with autism. Vogt relates so well to animals and to the child, that prison officials let them meet face-to-face. Vogt mimics the child’s frustration and other behavior issues and teaches the dog how to respond in order to comfort the boy.
Read original article: Prison Inmate Trains Dog to Help Autistic Boy
Shelly Beaver, a certified recreation therapy specialist, wanted a camp just for kids with developmental delays; one that could accommodate their special needs. Through Penn State Altoona’s Kids College, she created Sense-ational Endeavors. The week long camp will focus on each of the six senses and will include: bowling, soccer, musical therapy, dancing, art therapy, and pet therapy. In addition, campers will learn some life skills while organizing a lunch one day for families. Staff for the camp include therapists, special ed teachers, and supervised student nurses.
Read original article: Penn State Altoona Program Offers Accessible Camp
Please comment on animal-assisted therapy (AAT) or other autism therapy topics.
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Responding to animal-assisted therapy (AAT)
Jun 2, 2011 by AnonymousThank you for this article. It is such a great reminder of how invaluable of a resource AAT is for children! We've seen such great responses to our program and we're just in training stages. Children in speech/occupational/and physical therapy are just in love and work extra hard to communicate. It's just amazing. AAT is just a treasure that many people aren't familiar with.
Dorshan
President/Founder of Pawsitive Therapeutic Consulting Services
Your partners in creating BiG PaWsabilities through Animal Assisted Therapy & Activities
Meet Berlin our Great Dane in AAT/AAA training (click here)
Responding to generalized imitation/sounds that goes with words besides oink with pig, moo with a cow, etc.
Feb 12, 2010 by Anonymousexample teaching the language therapist to dote on words that have long and short vowel meanings of two or more syllables, practice this step over and over with an essay and read aloud using breaths and syllable enunciations and differ them with nasal noises and use pictures of animals with sounds and nature that makes sounds of wind, raindrops, person makes sounds of things, stuff use familiar auto car sounds, honking and go over breathing normal with opinion of english syllable usage and preference of ongoing speech used as casual communicatives. Thanks kathy. p.s. syllables are great and have that ambience and effect on toning things down when we see a crisis arriving at the door, don't we? okay my favorite is chry san thi mum wow a mouthful and I do have to take a breath after forcing that word around.
Responding to generalized imitation/sounds that goes with words besides oink with pig, moo with a cow, etc.
Feb 12, 2010 by Anonymousexample teaching the language therapist to dote on words that have long and short vowel meanings of two or more syllables, practice this step over and over with an essay and read aloud using breaths and syllable enunciations and differ them with nasal noises and use pictures of animals with sounds and nature that makes sounds of wind, raindrops, person makes sounds of things, stuff use familiar auto car sounds, honking and go over breathing normal with opinion of english syllable usage and preference of ongoing speech used as casual communicatives. Thanks kathy. p.s. syllables are great and have that ambience and effect on toning things down when we see a crisis arriving at the door, don't we? okay my favorite is chry san thi mum wow a mouthful and I do have to take a breath after forcing that word around.
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
Nov 12, 2007 by AnonymousAnimal assisted therapy (AAT) pairs specially trained therapy dogs with children with autism. Social interaction and speech is increased. One resource, Animal Angels is in Pune, India.