Therapeutic Animal Summary

Another application of AAT with the intention that the animal could get through to the client better than the therapist was one that involved guinea pigs. Using direct observation the effect of a small therapeutic animal with nine autistic children was studied. The hypothesis/goal the observers wanted to prove was that the “…presence of a small therapeutic animal can positively influence the quantity and quality of the social behavior of autistic children” (Kršková et al. 139). Autism is a neurodevelopmental syndrome with a deficit in social skills. The three basic categories of social problems in autism are social avoidance, social indifference, and social awkwardness. When able to work with ‘pocket pets’ the autistic children gained a sense