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A Dog May Be a Child-With-Autism's Best Friend
Filed under: Medical Conditions, In The News, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Tweens
Fido is an even more valuable member of the family than you realized. Credit: Getty Images
A revolutionary new treatment may help reduce tantrums, anxiety and other symptoms associated with autism.
It's call a dog.
The Daily Telegraph in London reports Canadian researchers found that children with autism in 42 homes seriously mellowed out after getting a dog. The kids had fewer emotional meltdowns and didn't freak out at the sound of household appliances. (Many kids with autism go into orbit just at the sudden sound of the vacuum cleaner.)
Researchers confirmed their findings by measuring stress hormones in the kids' saliva and interviewing their parents before and after a dog came to the house.
By the way, the families got to keep the dogs after the study.
On average, the Telegraph reports, parents counted 33 problem behaviors before the dog arrived -- and only 25 while the dog was around.
"Our findings showed that the dogs had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels," Sonia Lupien, the senior researcher and a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, tells the Telegraph.
"I have have not seen such a dramatic effect before," Lupien says.
Dogs have long been thought to be an autistic child's best friend, Lupien adds. Now there is clinical evidence to back that up.
"Until now, no study has measured the physiological impact," she tells the newspaper. "Our results lend support to the potential behavioral benefits of service dogs for autistic children."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2010 @ 4:50PM
Parker said...I think if you can afford to have pets for your children and can make the time to care for them (and teach your children to help care for them), pets are a great thing for kids to grow up around! =) I can see how a good dog could be a best friend for an autistic child, but really for any one of us. There are some nice pet food freebies at Http://bit.ly/petcrazy We've gotten everything from little sample packets to coupons for free 5 pound bags of food. It's a nice way to save a little money.
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10-24-2010 @ 7:32PM
PRASHANT said...Working in hospitols, i have noticed children with severe problems like autisms. The average person has no idea, how emotionally and physically draining is for the parent, non stop 24/7 selfless actions from the mothers specifially.
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4-07-2011 @ 9:06PM
bellagem said...Mother's of austic children are like clocks...running 24/7 non-stop day and night. My beautiful little grandson has PDD-NOS and my daughter has aged so much in the last year. He goes to Thursdays Child everyday and has speech and home therapy everyday. She is constantly worried about his future and getting him the best help ever. The worry is eating her up. He is a beautiful little 3 year old. He is doing much better with therapy.
4-08-2011 @ 2:41AM
colleen said...We are rasing our 3 yr old grandaughter, whom has severe anxiety & stress problems which cause something called "stimming" which is a repetitive movement that can become problematic. She also has been Dx with SPD We believe she is probably somewhere on the spectrum & is being evaluated. Last month we got an ESA (emotional support animal). An untrained young dog. Several things have happened 1. shockingly enough potty training has gone smoother & she is day trained. 2. we have opened up to include other foods in our diet. 3. stimming behaviors decreased by 75% within 2 DAYS ( dog goes away & the stimming returns) 4. sleeping problems have been cut in half. I dont know how it works, but it DOES work
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