Occupational Therapy Incorporating Animals for Children With Autism: A Pilot Investigation

"...children demonstrated significantly greater use of language and significantly greater social interaction in sessions incorporating animals when compared to sessions using exclusively standard occupational therapy techniques."

 

Children with Autism Who Live with Pets Have Better Social Skills, Study Finds

"...researchers found that children with any kind of pet in the home were more likely to engage in behaviors such as introducing themselves, asking for information, or responding to other people’s questions than children without pets."

 

Animal-Assisted Therapy for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

"Results show that children exhibited a more playful mood, were more focused, and were more aware of their social environments when in the presence of a therapy dog."

 

Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Meta-Analysis

" [Animal-Assisted Therapy] was associated with moderate effect sizes in improving outcomes in four areas: Autism-spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioral problems, and emotional well-being."

 

Social behaviors increase in children with autism in the presence of animals compared to toys

"...participants demonstrated more social behaviors such as talking, looking at faces and making tactile contact when in the presence of pets compared to toys."