Back to Search
Start Over
Increasing the Social Communication of a Boy With Autism Using Animal-assisted Play Therapy: A Case Report.
- Source :
-
Advances in mind-body medicine [Adv Mind Body Med] 2015 Summer; Vol. 29 (3), pp. 27-31. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Context: Although research has shown that animal-assisted play therapy (AAPT) is associated with increased positive social behaviors in children with autism, the related literature on AAPT and autism is very limited.<br />Objectives: The study tested the effectiveness of AAPT in increasing the social communication of a boy with autism. The treatment's effects on specific types of social communication were also investigated.<br />Design: An A-B-A single-subject design was adopted to examine treatment effectiveness. Follow-up assessments were made at 1 mo posttreatment.<br />Setting: The videotaped treatment sessions were held in the multipurpose room of the participant's school.<br />Participant: A 7-y-old boy who had a diagnosis of autism and mild-grade intellectual disability participated in the study.<br />Intervention: AAPT was implemented in 20-min sessions held 3 ×/wk. The 14 AAPT sessions occurred in 4 phases, covering child-dog relationship building and interaction in the presence of the therapist, with the diminishing presence of the dog occurring in phase 4.<br />Outcome Measures: Naturally occurring social behaviors were measured in 3 baseline sessions, during the 14 AAPT sessions, during 3 posttreatment sessions, and again during 3 follow-up sessions. Momentary time sampling was used to estimate the frequency of target behaviors, using a 15-s interval. Behavioral categories were checked at every interval during each 20-min session in all 23 sessions.<br />Results: The study showed that the boy's social communication increased during treatment and remained higher than baseline at follow-up. An analysis of specific types of social communication showed that the benefits of AAPT were most apparent in the joint-attention and waiting behaviors.<br />Conclusions: The findings provide support for using AAPT as an intervention to facilitate the social communication of children with autism.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1532-1843
- Volume :
- 29
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Advances in mind-body medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 26026154