What are the effects of pets on children with autism?

Here's how interacting with a pet can benefit children with autism.

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

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

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

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

On a general level, children with ASD usually have certain difficulties when interacting socially and communicating with other people due to a number of deficits in perceiving other people's verbal and nonverbal cues, approaching other people, approaching other people, and communicating with other people.This can lead to difficulties for children in perceiving other people's verbal and nonverbal cues, in approaching other people, in responding to certain social contexts, and in maintaining eye contact.

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

However, there are now 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, among which are the support of a companion animal. That is why some studies that have demonstrated the effects of pets on children with autism, which have shown quite positive results, as well as promising ones, will be presented below.

The beneficial effects of pets on children with autism.

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

1. Benefits at the social level

Numerous studies have shown that the mere presence of a pet is directly related to the improvement of social skills in children with autism. Below we will take a closer look at the effects of pets on children with autism.

One of these effects of pets in children with autism is that the mere presence of an animal has been seen to help reduce the physiological effects produced by autism. reduce the physiological effects produced by social anxiety.The results were similar in nurotypical 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 a greater predisposition to initiate and maintain social interactions, as well as it has also been demonstrated that there is a decrease in negative interactions with other children.

Having a pet in the classroom with children with ASD also demonstrates the effects of pets on children with autism, as it facilitates their success in maintaining social interactions with other classmates, helping them to have less social inhibition, so that they are more predisposed to be the ones to initiate social interactions with their peers. more predisposed to be the ones to initiate the interactions, as well as to have less social anxiety.The study also found that the number of students with social anxiety is lower and, therefore, they have less negative social interactions.

2. Benefits at the psychological level.

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

• As we know, it improves their social interactions and, with this, helps to increase their self-esteem.
• It favors the development of their autonomy, responsibility, and feelings of being useful.
• It stimulates their language, attention and memory.
• It can reduce or prevent states of anxiety, depression and also loneliness.
• It can help in the control of impulses, being able to reduce the levels of hyperactivity and aggressiveness.
• The company of an animal can facilitate their predisposition to attend and collaborate in sessions with the psychologist.
• It can also help to maintain motivation to achieve therapeutic goals.

3. Physical benefits

Beyond the psychologicalThe following benefits of having a pet at a physical level have also been found in people with autism:

• It promotes 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 decreases their stress levels and, with it, their heart rate and Blood pressure.

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

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

Of course, it is also it is also important to consult a specialist when giving a pet to a child, as there are numerous socialization programs available.There are numerous animal socialization programs that can be used for both children and adults, and there are also some that are focused on people with autism.

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

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

To carry out the study, a sample of 42 children with autism between the ages of 3 and 14 years old was used. were given a dog with which they were to live for a period of time.. At 4 weeks, cortisol (stress hormone) levels were noticeably lower compared to those at 2 weeks, with 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 stress levels. can help lower physiological stress levels in children with autism..

In order to carry out this study, the levels of continuous physiological activation in children with ASD in social contexts with and without the presence of the dog were directly tested for comparison. The levels of physiological activation were assessed by skin conductance, as it is one of the most studied physiological activation signals and has proven to be a robust and effective test for its task.

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

A more recent study carried out with 192 children from 5 to 12 years of age, of which 64 were children with ASD, aimed to prove their improvement in their performance in social situations by having a guinea pig as a classroom pet. The factors studied in these children throughout the study were the following: social anxiety, social skills deficits, social isolation, physiological activation and negative interactions with peers. 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..

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 was made by performing different tasks: playing with toys and then playing freely in the presence of animals. The results clearly showed that Children with ASD were more engaged and had fewer negative interactions with others 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, overall, improve their performance in social situations.

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 social anxiety problems in a social situation, making them perceive it in a less stressful way and ask to face it with greater optimism. While it is true that the accompaniment of other people of trust is very beneficial, the presence of a pet, in some cases, has been seen to produces greater stress-reducing effects in social contexts.s.

In 2012, an experiment was conducted involving 47 neurotypical children aged 7 to 11 years, who were anxious in social situations. These children had to perform the task of delivering a short speech in the presence of a group of unfamiliar adults, changing certain aspects of the context (e.g., having adults only, having a toy at hand and being accompanied by an animal).

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