What are the effects of pets on children with autism?

Children with autism often have difficulties initiating and maintaining interactions with other children and, among the helps to improve their social skills, it has been found that one of them is the company of a pet, which has shown very positive results and also promising.

Several studies on the effects of pets on children with autism have obtained very positive results, highlighting an improvement in their social skills at a general level and a decrease in their activation physiological in social contexts, as well as a decrease in their social interactions with other kids.

In this article we will see in greater detail what these effects are at all levels: social, psychological and physical.

• Related article: "Top 8 Theories About Autism"

Social anxiety in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

At a general level, children with ASD tend to have certain difficulties when it comes to interacting socially and communicating with other people due to a series of deficiencies when it comes to perceiving verbal and non-verbal signals from other people

, to approach other people, to respond to certain social contexts, as well as to maintain eye contact.

All of this can cause difficulties for children with ASD when initiating and / or maintaining social interactions with other children, so after having suffered some other difficult attempt, it could trigger them to develop anxiety in situations social.

However, today there are enough studies that have shown that these children can progress in the development of social skills that allow them to initiate and maintain social interactions quite successfully, including finds the support of a pet. That is why some studies that have shown the effects of pets will be discussed below. in children with autism, who have shown quite positive results, as well as promising.

• You may be interested in: "The 4 differences between autism and the schizoid personality"

The beneficial effects of pets on children with autism

Various studies that have studied the effects of pets on children with autism have found the following general benefits.

1. Social benefits

There are numerous studies in this regard that have shown that the mere presence of a pet is directly related to the improvement of social skills in children with autism. Next we will take a closer look at the effects of pets on children with autism.

One of those effects of pets on children with autism is that the mere presence of an animal has been shown to help reduce the physiological effects of social anxiety, results that were similar in nurotypic children with social anxiety.

Another benefit of having a pet in children with autism is the help it provides them in improving their social skills, so that they have greater predisposition to initiate and maintain social interactions, as well as it has also been shown that there is a decrease in negative interactions with others kids.

Having a pet in the classroom with children with ASD also demonstrates the effects of pets on children with autism, as it facilitates success when it comes to maintaining social interactions with other classmates, helping them to have less social inhibition, so that be more predisposed to be the ones who initiate interactions, as well as having less social anxiety and, therefore, fewer negative social interactions.

• Related article: "The 10 basic communication skills"

2. Psychological benefits

Among the benefits of having a pet on a psychological level, the following have been found in people with autism:

• As we know, it improves your social interactions and thereby helps increase your self esteem.
• It favors the impulse of the development of their autonomy, responsibility, and feelings of feeling useful.
• It stimulates their language, their attention and their memory.
• It can reduce or prevent states of anxiety, depression and loneliness.
• It can help in impulse control, being able to decrease the levels of hyperactivity and aggressiveness.
• The company of an animal can facilitate their predisposition when it comes to attending and collaborating in sessions with the psychologist.
• It can also help you stay motivated to achieve treatment goals.

• You may be interested in: "The 7 benefits of having a pet at home"

3. Physical benefits

Beyond the psychological, the following benefits of having a pet on a physical level have also been found in people with autism:

• It encourages an increase in the child's physical activity.
• As a consequence of physical exercise, their motor skills, balance and coordination improve.
• Having a pet at home lowers your stress levels and, with it, your heart rate and blood pressure.

Studies conducted on the effects of pets in children with autism and in children with social anxiety

Several studies have been conducted on the effects of pets in children with autism, as well as in children who They also have social anxiety, obtaining very positive results in all of them thanks to the presence of a pet with their side.

Yes, too it is important to consult a specialist when giving a pet to a childSince there are numerous socialization programs with animals that serve both children and adults, as well as some that are focused on people with autism.

1. Effects of having a dog at home as a pet on children with autism

In a study conducted with children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), some of the effects of pets in children with autism, highlighting that the presence of an animal in the home helped significantly reduce their stress physiological.

To carry out the study, a sample of 42 children with autism, whose ages were between 3 and 14 years old, were used. They were given a dog that they had to live with for a while. At 4 weeks, cortisol (stress hormone) levels were already noticeably lower compared to those who they had at 2 weeks, there being an even greater difference with respect to the levels they had at the beginning of the experiment.

Therefore, this study has shown that a companion animal can help lower physiological stress levels in children with autism.

To carry out this study, physiological activation levels were directly tested. continues in children with ASD in social contexts with the presence of the dog and also without him to make a comparative. The levels of physiological activation were evaluated by the conductance of the skin, since it is one of the most studied physiological activation signals and that have proven to be a robust and effective test for its task.

• You may be interested in: "The 4 types of autism and their characteristics"

2. Effects of having a guinea pig as a pet in the classroom on children with autism

A more recent study of 192 children ages 5 to 12, of whom 64 were children with ASD, claimed check the improvement of the same in their development in social situations having a guinea pig as a pet of class. The factors that were studied in these children throughout the study were the following: social anxiety, deficit of social skills, social isolation, activation at a physiological level and negative interactions with their mates. The results showed that children with ASD obtained global improvements in their social skills after 8 weeks with the guinea pig as a pet in the classroom.

• Related article: "Developmental Psychology: main theories and authors"

3. Effects of the presence of pets in children with autism when playing with other children

Another study carried out with 99 children (33 of them with ASD) in which an observation of their behavior by performing various tasks: playing with toys and then playing freely in the presence of animals. The results clearly demonstrated that children with ASD were more participatory and with fewer negative interactions with other nulls when animals were present.

This study showed that the presence of an animal helps children with ASD, encouraging them to be less socially isolated, have fewer negative interactions with their peers and, on the whole, improve their performance in situations of a nature Social.

4. Effects of the presence of pets in social situations in children with social anxiety

There are other studies that have shown that the simple presence of an animal changes the perception of neurotypical people with problems of social anxiety before a social situation, making them perceive it in a less stressful way and ask to face it more optimism. While it is true that the accompaniment of other trusted people is very beneficial, the presence of a pet, in some cases, has been seen to produces greater effects in reducing stress in social contextss.

In 2012, an experiment was carried out in which 47 neurotypical children between 7 and 11 years old participated, who presented anxiety in situations of a social nature. These children had to carry out the task of presenting a brief speech in the presence of a group of unknown adults, changing certain aspects of the context (p. g., having only adults, having a toy on hand and being accompanied by an animal).

The result was that when an animal was present in the company of the children who had to speak in public, these showed lower levels of anxiety than if only adults were there or if they had a toy, the results may be due to the perception by the children of not feeling judged by the animals and see them as unconditional support, while people can be perceived as a source of social judgments.