Can Teaching Children With Autism How To Interact With And Train Dogs Help Improve Their Social Communication Skills? Study Says, Yes.
Dogs are not just companions for cuddling, they can also help improve autism spectrum disorders.
Research has shown that dogs can help in autism by improving social communication skills or the ability to use language within social situations. The study focused on the effectiveness of a dog training intervention in autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Studying 73 autistic children, scientists have pointed out how children with autism spectrum disorders can benefit from the addition of dog therapy to traditional ASD-specific interventions, improving both socialization and communication skills.
In a new study published in Autism, researchers examined the effectiveness of a “Dog Training Intervention” on adaptive skills, autism severity, and anxiety using a controlled crossover design. Seventy-three participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (Mage = 4:10 ± 1:0) were divided into two groups that received the dog training intervention during half of the school year in addition to standard-of-care interventions. The dog training intervention, in which the children were taught how to interact with and train dogs, was given twice weekly for 4 months within autism spectrum disorder–specific special education school.
From the results, study participants that received the dog training intervention first showed significantly increased adaptive social and communication skills compared to the controls, and the gains were maintained after the dog training intervention. Belonging to the first dog training intervention group, higher pre-intervention adaptive skills, higher baseline cognitive ability, and less severe autism severity predicted better adaptive social and communication skills. The controls improved in adaptive skills only during their receipt of dog training intervention after crossover.
The researchers suggest that dog training may serve as an effective model for establishing social interaction. Dog training intervention appears to be an effective adjunct treatment to interventions provided in special education schools for children with autism spectrum disorder.
The study is important since children that lack social communication skills as a result of ASD may find it difficult to make new friends, maintain friendships with peers, and engage appropriately with unfamiliar individuals.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which is a complex developmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication, and restricted/repetitive behaviours is usually first diagnosed in childhood. It is estimated that one in 59 children in the United States have autism although it is three to four times more common in boys than in girls, with many girls with ASD exhibiting less obvious signs compared to boys. But, what makes the study even more crucial is that children that received the dog training intervention first showed significantly increased adaptive social and communication skills compared to the controls, and the gains were maintained after the dog training intervention.
So, if the study shows that dog training intervention appears to be an effective adjunct to the interventions provided in special education schools for young children with autism spectrum disorders, then you should consider introducing a furry friend to your home.
Since this is a new study that is limited by poor ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, of course, the best, most effective way to help a child with autism spectrum disorders to improve social communication is to work collaboratively with preschool, preschool staff and speech therapists. But we still love research that could give autistic children even more options for using language within social situations.
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