University of Missouri. US: Dogs, cats and other animals may improve social skills of children with autism.
Dogs
and other pets play an important role in individuals’ social lives, and
they can act as catalysts for social interaction, previous research has
shown. Although much media attention has focused on how dogs can
improve the social skills of children with autism, a University of Missouri researcher recently found that children with autism have stronger social skills when any kind of pet lived in the home.
“When
I compared the social skills of children with autism who lived with
dogs to those who did not, the children with dogs appeared to have
greater social skills,” said Gretchen Carlisle, research fellow at the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.
“More significantly, however, the data revealed that children with any
kind of pet in the home reported being more likely to engage in
behaviors such as introducing themselves, asking for information or
responding to other people’s questions. These kinds of social skills
typically are difficult for kids with autism, but this study showed
children’s assertiveness was greater if they lived with a pet.”
Pets often serve as “social lubricants,” Carlisle said. When pets are
present in social settings or a classroom, children talk and engage
more with one another. This effect also seems to apply to children with
autism and could account for their increased assertiveness when the
children are living in a home with pets, Carlisle said.
“When children with disabilities take their service dogs out in
public, other kids stop and engage,” Carlisle said. “Kids with autism
don’t always readily engage with others, but if there’s a pet in the
home that the child is bonded with and a visitor starts asking about the
pet, the child may be more likely to respond.”
Carlisle also found that children’s social skills increased the
longer a family had owned a dog, yet older children rated their
relationships with their dogs as weaker. When children were asked, they
reported the strongest attachments to smaller dogs, Carlisle found.
“Finding children with autism to be more strongly bonded to smaller
dogs, and parents reporting strong attachments between their children
and other pets, such as rabbits or cats, serves as evidence that other
types of pets could benefit children with autism as well,” Carlisle
said.
Carlisle surveyed 70 families who had children with autism between the ages of 8 and 18.The children were patients at the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Almost 70 percent of the families that participated had dogs, and about
half of the families had cats. Other pets owned by participants
included fish, farm animals, rodents, rabbits, reptiles, a bird and even
one spider.
“Dogs are good for some kids with autism but might not be the best
option for every child,” Carlisle said. “Kids with autism are highly
individual and unique, so some other animals may provide just as much
benefit as dogs. Though parents may assume having dogs are best to help
their children, my data show greater social skills for children with
autism who live in homes with any type of pet.”
“The Social Skills and Attachment to Dogs of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Sigma Theta Tau-Alpha Iota provided funding for the project.
ReCHAI is a collaboration between the MU Sinclair School of Nursing
and the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, and its mission is educating
and conducting programs and studies about the benefits of human-animal
interaction.
The MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders is
a national leader in confronting the challenges of autism & other
developmental conditions through its collaborative research, training
and service programs.