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Pets May Help Kids With Autism

by Louise Chang, pets.webmd.com
August 1st 2012 
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Pets May Help Kids With Autism

Study Shows Bonding With New Pet May Improve Socialization By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News Reviewed by
Aug. 1, 2012 — By just about any measure of accomplishment, Danny Gross would be considered a successful young adult.

The 25-year-old is a popular graduate student in cinematic arts at the University of Southern California, and his mother, Patty, calls him an all-around great kid.

He is also on the autism spectrum.

His mother is convinced that his childhood golden retriever, Madison, who joined the family when Danny was 7, played a part in his success, and a new study backs up the claim.

Pets May Help Some Autistic Kids

Although there is plenty of anecdotal evidence linking pet ownership to better socialization in children with autism, the study is among the first to explore the connection.

Researchers in France tested behavior and intelligence in 260 children with autism who did and did not have pets — mostly dogs and cats.

They found that those who became pet owners after the age of 5 performed better than children without pets on two key measures of social functioning — offering comfort and offering to share.

The extent to which the children bonded with the new pet was a major determinant of whether pet ownership influenced social interactions.

Having a pet from birth did not appear to influence the socialization behaviors, leading the researchers to conclude that the arrival of a pet when a child is old enough to recognize the addition may be critical.

The new study appears in the August issue of the journal PLoS One.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time that a study has demonstrated that the adoption of a pet is linked to social improvements for individuals with autism,” says researcher Marine Grandgeorge, PhD, of France’s Hopital de Bohars.

Large Pet Studies Needed

The study was small and Grandgeorge says larger, more rigorously designed studies are needed to confirm the findings.

And she warns against getting a pet without considering whether the move is appropriate for the entire family.

Alycia Halladay, PhD, who is director of environmental research for the education and advocacy group Autism Speaks, agrees.

“We certainly don’t want families who are already stressed to get the idea that they need to add a pet to their family if that pet is not really wanted,” she says.

She says the new study offers some of the first scientific evidence to back up the anecdotal stories suggesting that pets help some autistic children learn to interact with the world, but she cautions that the benefits were limited.

Patty Dobbs Gross, Danny’s mother, says parents should not get a pet for an autistic child unless the child shows some interest.

“Families with children on the autism spectrum try a lot of different things, but this is not something you do just to check it off your list,” she says.

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hi, im wondering if any of your parents can help me with some advice about my 4 year old daughter. she has always been willing and happy to learn, she could count to 10 write her name and knew her shapes before nursery and when she started reception she was doing really well but it came as a shock yesterday at a parent teacher meeting that she is struggling with sitting alone to write sentences and her teacher said she doesnt seem to get it yet she is very happy and brilliant at her reading ( as they have started the beginning of independant writing tasks)

they arent asking her to write long paragraphs but as a mum of 4 i have never had a report like this from teachers and i know not all children are the same and do things at different rates but i know my daughter is a s bright as a button and her head is very much there for learning she just seems to struggle with getting it to the paper and her concentration/attention spans drops very quickly.

i buy the work books for her and she has many flash cards with phonics and all the new things she is learning in reception class and i dont make her sit for long periods and i do try to make it fun for her but i just dont know what to do on top of this.

her attitude has changed alot ( and thats not for the good) since she started staying at her dads on a weekend and i just dont know if its something to do with this or if its just she wants the attention to be on her at school as she wants a teacher to sit with her for her wtiting. i do admit i feel like im failing her in some way but cant see anything else that i can do other than what ima lready doing…Any advise?

I have a son with autism he is getting older my husband and I protected him from words like speical ed. Retard the harsh words. Over the weekend our son daughter and a couple of his cousins were talking about spelling. Our procedes 2 tell them he is not very good at it. I guess they laughed. Anyways we was driving home I asked him if it hurt his feelings he tryed 2 avoid the question finally he said a little.I tryed 2 tell him how perfect he was and that he could do things some people couldn’t. I told him he was our speical little and he finished with speical ed. When I was in fact going 2 tell him he was our speical boy.he caught me off gaurd I didn’t know what 2 say I had 2 hide the tears. How do I let him know he is different without it hurtting either of us. We are now in waters we have never crossed. I hate the fact he is growing older its so hard 2 protect him from this cold world.