I Want This Book!

I was trying to research some activities that one can use within the classroom with a classroom pet for AAT purposes, and I stumbled upon this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Assisted-Therapy-Activities-Motivate-Inspire/dp/0976696584

It seems like an awesome book that can be used by educators wanting to use AAT within their classrooms, as well as therapists that use animals for therapeutic purposes. It just seems like a very helpful resource that can be right at your fingertips, so that you don't have to do a ton of research on the Internet...I wonder if there are more books out there that are just as helpful on this topic??

News Clip

I wanted to find another good video clip that discussed AAT and its importance :) I feel like I am posting too many articles, so I'm trying to spice things up a bit...Anyway, this is what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbBguMj7bEg

It discusses different cases of animals working with children with disabilities to encourage independence. I found it extremely interesting and inspirational :) I really want to be part of an AAT program so that way I can include it within my classroom from time to time.

I also found this website when researching animal assisted therapy and its use in a classroom:

http://www.chimoproject.ca/s_5.asp

The site lists ways that animals are beneficial in a classroom environment. There were two things that stuck out to me on this site. A child that has disruptive tendencies can be seated to a calming classroom pet to help distract the child and soothe their behaviors with its calming personality (i.e. a rabbit, fish, etc.). The other thing that caught my interest was the fact that an animal can encourage children to be more social. A teacher can assign a shy or withdrawn child to be the animal's "guardian" so that other children will socialize with the particular child about the classroom pet :) These are some very great ideas to use in the classroom with class pets! Sometimes children with disabilities can be withdrawn and shy when interacting with their peers-so I find these methods to be very beneficial in creating a more cohesive classroom environment...

Why is AAT So Important for Children with Disabilities?

Found another good article with some interesting stories inside about the benefits of AAT with children with disabilities:

http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.42

The article stated that the three most common pets were cats, dogs, and aquarium fish...I really wish I could have found more on therapy involving fish :( Anyway, there was a cute story about three rats visiting a special education classroom and the positive interactions that the children with autism had with the animals. They were very engaged and gentle when working with the rats and anticipated the weekly visits. The article also discussed some of the concerns that parents may have when it comes to animal-assisted therapy (asthma, allergies, or other potential diseases). However, if precautions are taken-these things can be avoided :) Anyway, I am glad I am finding some stories and information about the use of animals within a classroom setting-that just proves to me that it isn't such a far fetched idea...Leaving you with an adorable picture:

http://www.kushtush.com/pets.jpg

Good Article

http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.42

Here is an awesome article I found while searching through some journals on the UC library site. There was a segment that discussed how a little girl with dyslexia benefited from working with Willie, a Labrador that helped boost her confidence by being a non-judgmental audience member for when she read aloud. I think this is a great idea. This is the sort of things I wanted to come across in my research, because I really wanted to see animal-assisted therapy being used within a school setting. However, I know most classrooms would not be able to have a dog full time within the classroom...But a volunteer can maybe come once a week, or even once a day during reading time or during some other subject that it would be beneficial for certain students.

Again, the article lists the benefits of AAT, but adds to my earlier posts with decreasing loneliness and anxiety. There was another story about a boy named Bruce that grew up in an abusive household, and how AAT helped him become more nurturing, empathetic, and respectful-as well as gain self worth and acceptance. Anyway, I thought these were some great positive stories that involved AAT. I just honestly feel as if educators should look more into including animals within the classroom as a strategy, instead of viewing a class pet or pet visitor as being a hassle. If they plan for a classroom pet or pet visitor accordingly, there shouldn't be too many issues with fitting it into the curriculum :)

Another Interesting Article

I was researching animal-assisted therapy and its use of snakes and other reptiles but came upon this article instead:

http://http://www.catholicnewworld.com/archive/cnw2000/0709/anim_0709.htm

It started off discussing how the Grove Animal Ambassador Program brought a variety of animals to a workshop hosted by Catholic Charities. I was really hoping to find more about snakes, and it did discuss them a small bit. However, the article only went into detail about how snakes were something that Alzheimer's patients find interesting as well as others. When the article discussed children with disabilities, it went into more detail about the use of dogs (the most common AAT animal that is used). It did discuss something interesting: dogs can help encourage children that do not speak to start speaking because they want to interact with and communicate with the dog. This definitely makes sense!

Another group discussed was the Canine Companions for Independence, which includes dogs with very special skills to help those with disabilities such as blindness or deafness. The organization provides dogs for free to those who can prove that a dog would benefit the disabled individual and make a difference in their daily lives. I think this is a wonderful concept, considering trained dogs with these particular skills can be hard to afford for some families that already have a number of expenses due to having to meet the specific needs of their child with a disability. With the way things are looking, dogs seem to be the most beneficial animal to use when it comes to AAT...I am still trying my best to find more, though :)

Toledo Training Facility

I was wanting to look up some things about fish that have been used for animal-assisted therapy, however, I came across a site that has information about different facilities throughout the United States that train animals for AAT. I went through and found a good site about a place in Toledo, Ohio that trains dogs for therapeutic reasons.

http://www.toledodogtraining.com/deltasocietytherapydog.asp

The Delta Society is the only national registry that requires volunteer training and screening of animal/handler teams-which I find to be very interesting :) There is a lot of information about what they train dogs to do and what to handle. Anyway, thought this was interesting-but I couldn't find a site for the Cincinnati area...I will keep looking :) I still want to find more of fish, though...

Birds!

Oh my goodness! I have searched and searched and have found so little on the use of birds for AAT. It's not that it isn't being used-people just are not posting much about it! Anyway, I found an interesting article about the use of birds at a program called the Deveraux Children's Center near Georgetown, Washington for children with behavioral disorders.

http://www.petpublishing.com/birdtimes/articles/pickles.shtml

Pickles, a 2 year old greater Indian hill Mynah bird is one of the children's favorites to visit :) The bird is an iridescent bird with a bright orange and yellow beak. She can speak, and the children love to hear her talk and enjoy interacting with her. I wish I could find more! I'm going to research some articles on ebscohost or something...I really want to find more about birds. This was a pretty cute article, though.

Interesting News Clip

Laura provided me the link to another youtube video that was off to the side of the ones I had previously posted in related links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wId54ElSMbU&feature=fvw

This news clips discusses how a Washington County community chipped in and got a $13,000 service dog to help a little 7 year old boy that has been diagnosed with autism. However, the boy's school will not let the service dog inside the building when the parents come to pick him up for school or drop him off. The young boy is lacking in social skills and has many outbursts, and the service dog has been helping him with controlling these outbursts and provides a friend for the 7 year old. The school claims that the dog cannot be let in the building due to some children being allergic or afraid of the dog. The father of the boy brings up that they are being discriminated against, considering if the dog was a service dog and was helping an individual that was blind-the school would allow it.

The family does not want any special privileges, such as allowing the dog to accompany the boy throughout the school day. They just want the approval to have the dog in the entrance area of the school. The dog is a trained animal that has proved his positive benefit on the child. I just think it's absolutely disheartening that the school is discouraging something that is obviously helping the child. I just thought I'd post this up and see what all of you thought about it, because I was worried you may not see the link that Laura posted in my comments...Anyway, this sort of shows that some schools really do not promote the use AAT-which I think is a shame...Especially because there have been many studies completed to show how it can help.

Details About Some Animals Used for AAT

Hello! I got my laptop back this evening :) Now I can keep on top of blogging again...I found this website:

http://www.bluedominoes.com/content/therapeutic-effects-animals-use-animals-therapy

This gives really great details about three different types of animals that are used often for AAT with children with disabilities (dogs, horses, and dolphins). The website goes into specifics with how dogs can benefit children with autism, dyslexia and delayed reading disabilities, and children with ADHD. Horses also have a similar effect with children with autism and ADHD.

Dolphin assisted therapy began in the the 1970's with psychologist David Nathanson, whom believed interaction with dolphins improved children's' attention span and enhanced their cognitive processes. It is believed that dolphin therapy works well with improving speech, behaviors, and motor skills.

There are also some book recommendations toward the bottom of the page :) It's a great website that really pinpoints the exact benefits of each of these animals.

AAT Videos

So sorry I haven't been on here much this week! My laptop (which is the only computer I use for homework) has a virus. It is in a shop currently being worked on...3-5 business days, apparently. I am bumming off of my parents' desktop computer right now :) Anyway, I found these really interesting videos that show the effects of animal-assisted therapy on a child with autism. There are 5 in total.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb6Qv0NDDXk (1st one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow2lkHn58zk (2nd one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbXVxheEL8 (3rd one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLn5DZJ2fAc (4th one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKyT2-3pFpw (5th one-just some clips of therapy-kind of a conclusion)

The videos start off with introducing the study with the autistic child, Zachary, and the dog used for therapy (Henry). Zachary has no interest in Henry at first, but by the end of the videos, he sees Henry as a friend and enjoys interacting with him without being told the type of activities to engage in. Henry is a great motivator for Zachary, as well. There was a situation in which Zachary had absolutely not interest in cutting with scissors. After being introduced to treat giving as a motivator and cutting out treat shapes-he started to pick up scissors without being asked to. He became very self competent. It's just amazing to see this in action! Let me know what you think :)

Scientific Take on AAT

http://www.animalangelsfoundation.com/about-aat/scientific-aat.php?height=695

This website has a ton of interesting information :) I mostly read through the part that I posted the link to, but if you click on the links in the left column of the page-there are a number of links with neat information as well. The Biophilia Hypothesis discusses how in early human history, humans needed to know about plants and animals for survival purposes. It is because of this, people can learn skills and recover faster when animals are used in therapy, rather than only having a therapist present. Children with disabilities may not respond well or relate to other humans, thus creating a bond with animals instead. I'm not saying that this is the case for every individual with a disability-this scientific theory just discusses why some may relate to animals better than other humans :)

The second scientific theory on why AAT works is the Yerkes-Dosdon Law. This predicts an inverted U-shaped function between arousal and performance. This basically says that AAT is effective because a human therapist may cause increased stress and arousal on the child, and an animal can counteract the stress with its relaxing and playful nature. I found all of these theories to be pretty interesting-click on the link posted to read more in-depth. The site also has a lot about the positive aspects of using AAT and why it should be used. Check that out too! Animal-assisted therapy has such a positive effect on children with disabilities that tend to be withdrawn and uncommunicative...I want to find more information about cases where it has worked and if it has ever been used in a classroom...Wish me luck! It's hard to find new information about this topic...Anyway, hope you enjoyed the scientific take on AAT!

New Term Affiliated with AAT (Animal-Assisted Therapy)

I was trying to find information about animal-assisted therapy and children with down syndrome, and I stumbled upon this instead: http://www.censhare.umn.edu/AAT.html

There is a difference between Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) and Animal-Assisted Therapy. AAA is where volunteers take their pets to visit certain places for the social benefit of petting and playing. AAT is what I have been researching, where health care professionals or certified therapists use their animal for treatment purposes. I was glad I found this :) I was under the impression that one did not need to be certified in order to work therapeutically with children and animals, and that really made me a little nervous-because so many things could go wrong!

"They need to like people, be controllable, be trained, well mannered, and of the utmost stable personality." This was in the article, regarding the personality of the animal being used for AAT. However, the animal handler needs to "be able to communicate with his/her animal in a gentle, positive manner; recognize their animal's particular signs of stress; and know how to help their animal." These things will help prevent any dangerous situations from arising :) When working with children, we must keep their safety in mind! This site provides a lot of information as to how one can become a volunteer with their animal for therapeutic reasons. Though the site is for Minnesota, it is still very informative.

Elephant Assisted Therapy

Hello all! This is the link I found about elephant-assisted therapy for children with disabilities:

http://www.equine-therapy-programs.com/elphant-assisted-therapy.html

Elephant assisted therapy is mostly practiced in South Africa and Jerusalem. Psychologist Dr. Swanepoel originally started off with studying dolphin assisted therapy and moved on to researching the therapeutic qualities that elephants could have on children with disabilities. Elephants are overprotective and gentle with their young and seem to sense when they are near an individual with a disability.

There was a particular story on this website that involved a ten-year old little girl that was born without eyes. She couldn't perform daily tasks on her own and was very fearful to attempt anything out of the norm. After being introduced to an elephant named Boelie, she became very interested in the elephant's size and texture. Within three months, the little girl was able to go tot he restroom on her own, clothe herself, walk up and down stairs, and read braille. Most of all, she gained a significant amount of confidence! I just really enjoyed this a lot-I have never heard about elephants (or even dolphins, for that matter) being used for animal assisted therapy sessions. Absolutely amazing! Now imagine bringing that into your classroom :) Animals have such amazing powers...

More Dog Information

I am finding a ton about dogs as being one of the most common animals used for animal-assisted therapy :) Although, I did find an article about elephants being used as well (I will post this later!). Anyway, I found this website with a small article that went into more detail about what kinds of therapy techniques are used with children with special needs and dogs. I particularly liked this quote:

"Children are often extremely trusting and easily achieve a level of intimacy with animals. This special bond contributes to pets’ effectiveness as co-therapists."

I just really feel that this explains all too well why animals are such a fantastic benefit to those with disabilities. Children are very trusting and really seem to bond with animals quite well :)

Here is the article: http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/articles/animalassistedtherapy.htm

There was one therapy technique that was used with dogs by St. Mary's Hospital for Children that involved children recovering from traumatic brain injuries that had difficulties with dressing or grooming themselves. The children would be given a brush with a special handle and would be asked to brush or pet the dog. They may also place a wrist weight on the child to help strengthen their muscles. This makes achieving the therapy goals quicker and more exciting for the children...Read more of the article if you want more specific details :) I didn't want to write the entire article on here.

Also, I want to apologize about the last link in my previous post! I forgot that if you find articles on ERIC on our school website that you have to log-in to view the links-so just log in and you will be able to see it :) I tried it out. Sorry, again! Elephants are in my next post, so stay tuned!

Exploring Animal-Assisted Therapy Programs

I found this interesting article that explored animal-assisted therapy programs (mostly about dogs) within school settings: http://journals.ohiolink.edu.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/ejc/pdf.cgi/Friesen_Lori.pdf?issn=10823301&issue=v37i0004&article=261_eapwcisatc

At the beginning of the article, there was a scenario with students working with a speech therapist. Each time they pronounced a word correctly, they got to flip over a card, and if it contained a bone-they would get to go pet the pet dog and say the word "sit" (to practice to 's' sound) and give the dog a treat. The children loved this game and explained that the dog was a "great listener". I found this to be a great motivator :) I had to go through speech therapy from Kindergarten through third grade, and I feel I would have enjoyed it much more if there was a pet involved!

The article goes on more to discuss the research aspect of using animals within the classroom and the pros and cons in doing so. I found it interesting at what some studies have found about the effects of using a dog for therapeutic reasons. Studies have found that children are more attentive and responsive in a classroom where a dog is present. They are a huge benefit for children physiologically, emotionally, socially, and physically. In therapeutic situations, dogs have increased alertness and attention spans. Now I know this goes a little beyond just focusing on children with disabilities, but 'disability' is such a broad term for all of the different symptoms that can occur depending on the type of disability...Anyway, I hope you all find this interesting-I know that I did :) Now I want to look up more about dogs and what sort of disabilities are most compatible with them...I am emailing Animal Planet to see if they can find me a copy of the video with the child with autism bonding with the bird :)

Animal-Assisted Therapy for Children with Disabilities

I was watching the Animal Planet channel about a year ago, when I witnessed a show about a bird wildlife rescue center that participated in an animal therapy program to help children with disabilities. Specifically, it focused on a child diagnosed with autism, and how a particular bird helped soothe his temper. It was extremely interesting, considering I am a huge animal lover, and it got me wondering about a number of things...Throughout this quarter, I am going to research the topic of animal-assisted therapy for children with disabilities. I want to research how beneficial and therapeutic animals can be for children with disabilities, what types of animals are considered to be best for animal assisted therapy, what type of disabilities certain animals seem to be most compatible with, how an educator can incorporate the use of animal therapy in their classroom, and a number of other things as I come across them :)

I am actually really excited about this! I know a lot of teachers do not really enjoy having a classroom pet (my mentor HATED rodents), but I really feel animals can be extremely beneficial in a classroom. In addition to being therapeutic to children (and adults) with disabilities, animals can assist patients in hospitals, disaster victims, elderly people in nursing homes, hospices and retirement homes, and prison inmates. Petting animals can lower stress, and I highly believe in this (I have two cats of my own-and they help tremendously when I am in a foul mood!). Here is a quick site that I found when trying to dig up the video I mentioned about the child with autism befriending a bird: http://animal.discovery.com/roar/getinvolved/pettherapy.html This site discusses the topic of animal-assisted therapy in a nutshell. The site is ran by R.O.A.R. (Reach Out. Act. Respond), which is an organization that is dedicated to help animals and making a difference :) Thought I'd post this as a sort of introduction to all of the research that will follow that will be more on topic with how animal-assisted therapy can help children with disabilities. I will try to find that video...I'm having a tough time finding it :(