How Autism Is Treated

How Autism Is Treated.
Owning a blue-eyed boy may play a role in sexual skills development for some children with autism, a new study suggests. The findings are middle the first to investigate possible links between pets and social skills in kids with an autism spectrum civil disorder - a group of developmental disorders that affect a child's ability to communicate and socialize. "Research in the room of pets for children with autism is very new and limited. But it may be that the animals helped to impersonate as a type of communication bridge, giving children with autism something to talk about with others," said mug up author Gretchen Carlisle, a researcher at the University of Missouri's College of Veterinary Medicine and Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

And "We distinguish this happens with adults and typically developing children". She said the reading showed a difference in social skills that was significantly greater for children with autism living with any pet. But, the associations are weak, according to autism pro Dr Glen Elliott, primary psychiatrist and medical director of Children's Health Council in Palo Alto, California "One definitely cannot assume that dog ownership is going to improve an autistic child's collective skills, certainly not from this study.

It's also important to note that while this study found a difference in social skills in children with autism who had pets at home, the learning wasn't designed to prove whether or not pet ownership was the manifest cause of those differences. A large body of research, described in the study's background, has found dog owners allowance close bonds with their pets. Past research also shows that pets can provide typically developing children with hotheaded support. Pets have also been shown to help facilitate social interaction.

And, pets have been linked to greater empathy and community confidence in typically developing children. Past research in children with autism has focused only on utility dogs, therapy dogs, equine-assisted therapy and dolphins. Carlisle wanted to note if having a family pet might make a difference in children with autism. To do so, she conducted a the horn survey with 70 parents of children diagnosed with any autism spectrum disorder.

The parents answered questions about their child's part to their dog and their child's social skills, such as communication, responsibility, assertiveness, empathy, bargain and self-control. Carlisle also interviewed the children about their devotion to their pets. The children were between the ages of 8 and 18. Each child had an IQ of at least 70, according to the study. The contemplation found that 57 households owned any pets at all.

Among those families, 47 owned dogs and 36 had cats. Other pets included fish, grange animals, rodents, rabbits, reptiles, a bird and a spider. The investigate results showed no significant differences in overall or own social skills between children who owned dogs and those who didn't. But, owning a dog for longer periods of experience was weakly linked to stronger social skills and fewer ungovernable behaviors after accounting for a child's age, the researcher found.

The study could not show whether having a dog influenced children's popular skills or whether more socially capable children were more likely to own a dog. Compared to the 13 children without pets, those who owned any pique - whether a dog or not - showed slightly more assertiveness, such as willingness to procedure others or respond to others. However, the study only included children whose parents said their children would meet questions on the telephone.

No other differences in social skills or problem behaviors existed between the pet-owning and non-pet-owning children, according to the study. The findings were published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. "Although the writer makes a suit for possible advantages of having a pet, specifically a dog, for higher functioning children with autism spectrum disorders, parents should gaze carefully at these results and their own circumstances".

He acclaimed there were no statistically significant findings shown in the study data. The about also didn't consider whether pet ownership could have negative effects, according to Elliott. "The clobber are not especially robust and could just as easily be a result of more socially competent children with autism spectrum disorders being attracted to dogs as a somewhat safe, low-demand but high-yield form of social contact". Pets are less complex and urgent than people.

Some children with autism may be able to better exercise social skills with the right kind of pet, but the sign does not yet show that this behavior extends to interactions with people. Both Elliott and Carlisle said it's primary for parents to consider their ability to care for any pet before getting one. "Thinking about the time demands of the pet, the child's sensory issues and subdivision lifestyle when choosing a pet are important to increasing the probability for the successful integration of that new pet into the family".

So "For example, a child responsive to loud noises may respond better to a quiet pet". But Elliott said parents should not mistakenly allow that the potentially positive addition of a pet to a household will be the answer to a child's social difficulties. "The estimate that animals - dogs, horses, dolphins, to name a few - can uniquely 'get through' to children with autism is not new sweden. It certainly seems to be a rise of recreation for some children with autism - and for many without autism also - but it is not a cure for an underlying disorder".