Impact of AAI Dogs on Performance and Behavior of Children with Autism

Summary

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder usually diagnosed in early childhood. Children with ASD exhibit social communication and interaction problems, which may cause deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, problems with developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, and abnormal nonverbal communicative behaviors such as impaired eye contact and body language. Some children with ASD have severe behavioral problems, such as stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, and extreme distress at small changes. ASD is a complex and individualized disorder, which creates challenges in treatment.

Animal-assisted education (AAE) programmes have been introduced for children with special needs in other countries such as the United States and Australia. PAALS (Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services) in the United States have introduced the Pet a PAALS Dog programme, which assists stressed students at USC (University of South Carolina). Assistance Dogs Australia has provided an Educational Support Dog Echo to Kalinda Support School, for children with a wide range of disabilities. Existing literature indicate the benefit of animal-assisted therapy on physical, behavioral, and cognitive disabilities, especially in social and communication disorders. Formally trained human-dog teams in animal-assisted interventions (AAI) can play a unique role in social and communicative development that schools, and caregivers may not be able to provide. Interacting with animal-assisted intervention dogs can increase children with ASD\'s social interaction, communication, and effective connection. Dogs can also provide emotional support in stressful situations such as calming the child down when they have a tantrum. Moreover, animal-assisted therapy has shown to decrease stress levels, anxiety, and restrictive and repetitive behavior patterns. Dogs as pets can also bring significant improvements to caregivers of children with ASD and improve conflict management.

Based on a successful pilot trial in 2019 with 8 children showed that AAI program has a positive effect on the performance of children with ASD, The investigator proposed an observational study that tracks the effectiveness of an animal-assisted intervention programme in a local school for children with ASD and developmental disabilities.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Interventions

OTHER

Animal Assisted Intervention

Animal-assisted intervention (AAI) is a therapeutic approach that involves animals as part of a treatment plan to improve physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functioning in individuals. Animals such as dogs, cats, horses, and even dolphins are commonly used in AAI due to their ability to provide comfort, companionship, and motivation. AAI can take many forms, including animal-assisted therapy (AAT), where a trained therapy animal works with a licensed healthcare professional to achieve specific treatment goals. Animal-assisted activities (AAA) involve interactions with animals in a more casual and recreational setting, such as visits to hospitals or nursing homes to provide companionship and emotional support.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Dr. Wilfred Wong, p.hD. In Public Health · Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-04-01

Primary Completion

2025-06-30

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• Hong Kong

Study Locations