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 :(
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I enjoyed reading the article above. It was very interesting to me that it mentioned that, "It's been shown that people who spend time with pets live longer, get sick less, and have lower blood pressure. Petting and talking to animals lowers stress in people and the animals they are interacting with. It can also be a great way to lift people out of isolation and loneliness. Pets are wonderful listeners and provide unconditional love." In working with a local food pantry, I regularly deliver food packages to elderly people, many of which live alone. It really got me to thinking about those that have pets. There is one woman in particular that invites me in everytime and wants to show me what she has taught her bird to do or say. That bird seems to give her such enjoyment. It really does make sense!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to follow your blog and discover how this can be filtered into the classroom!
That is so sweet! I live in the village of Batavia, and there is an older gentleman that has a parrot (he is very well known!) that I just know relies on his bird very much for comfort and a friend. I definitely could not live without my cats (I hope I do not sound like a crazy cat woman!)
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