Engaging Adolescents With ASD in Animal-Assisted Therapy: Benefits of Human-Animal Bond

Title

Engaging Adolescents With ASD in Animal-Assisted Therapy: Benefits of Human-Animal Bond

Creator

Narvekar, Hemangi Narayan

Description

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder lack social competence. Considering the chronic nature of the disorder, it becomes essential to focus on this critical developmental phase. For people with ASD, animal- assisted interventions appear to help enhance social functioning. This chapter aimed to explore whether therapy animals could help adolescents with ASD become more socially adept through research utilizing an AB single- case experimental design with two adolescents. The participants were measured on social competence, attention, and memory. Over a month, the intervention was given twice a week for 45-60 minutes, resulting in 8 therapy sessions. With the assistance of a trained dog, a licensed clinical psychologist delivered the AAT sessions. Results show that AAT helps improve social competence alongside fostering better attention and memory. The chapter highlights the role of human- animal interactions in the developmental period of adolescence with ASD. 2025 by IGI Global Scientific Publishing. All rights reserved.

Source

Clinical Applications of Pediatric Neuropsychology from Infancy to Adolescence;pp.371-389

Date

01-01-2025

Publisher

IGI Global

Coverage

Narvekar H.N., Christ University, Bengaluru, India

Rights

Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library

Relation

ISBN: 979-836939691-9; 979-836939689-6;

Format

online

Language

English

Type

Book chapter

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9689-6.ch018

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004518950?origin=resultslist