TY - JOUR
T1 - Sit, Stay, Support! Exploring Canine-Assisted Activities with Individuals with Disabilities
AU - Edmonds-Behrend, Christina
AU - Papalia, Anne O.
PY - 2021/3/5
Y1 - 2021/3/5
N2 - Research describing animal-assisted activities (AAA) and their impact on young children have been documented, albeit sparingly, in the research base. This emerging base includes AAA efforts with “reluctant readers” (e.g., Lane & Zavada, 2013) and developing readers (e.g., Linder, Mueller, Gibbs, Alper, & Freeman, 2018). Scorzato et al. (2017) reported evidence from their pilot study on the behavior, communication, and social skills with adults with severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Fung (2017) noted that most animal-assisted related research to date has been focused on more therapeutic purposes, being delivered by health-care professionals. However, there has been more literature prevalent in the past few decades describing canine-assisted reading programs in public libraries; yet, there are few controlled studies which show clear measures of outcomes. Additionally, efforts have generally taken root in more urban areas (i.e., see www.sitstayread.org). Fung continued, making a case for canine-assisted activities (CAA) which focused on reading with participants being students with disabilities. She noted that canines could be used as a non-judgmental audience, as a speech elicitor, as a comfort companion, and as a younger sibling, allowing the child with a disability to become a caretaker to build self-esteem. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a description of law, the hierarchy of CAA, and research regarding animal-assistance strategies and programs. Target Audience : Educators
AB - Research describing animal-assisted activities (AAA) and their impact on young children have been documented, albeit sparingly, in the research base. This emerging base includes AAA efforts with “reluctant readers” (e.g., Lane & Zavada, 2013) and developing readers (e.g., Linder, Mueller, Gibbs, Alper, & Freeman, 2018). Scorzato et al. (2017) reported evidence from their pilot study on the behavior, communication, and social skills with adults with severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Fung (2017) noted that most animal-assisted related research to date has been focused on more therapeutic purposes, being delivered by health-care professionals. However, there has been more literature prevalent in the past few decades describing canine-assisted reading programs in public libraries; yet, there are few controlled studies which show clear measures of outcomes. Additionally, efforts have generally taken root in more urban areas (i.e., see www.sitstayread.org). Fung continued, making a case for canine-assisted activities (CAA) which focused on reading with participants being students with disabilities. She noted that canines could be used as a non-judgmental audience, as a speech elicitor, as a comfort companion, and as a younger sibling, allowing the child with a disability to become a caretaker to build self-esteem. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a description of law, the hierarchy of CAA, and research regarding animal-assistance strategies and programs. Target Audience : Educators
UR - https://thekeep.eiu.edu/eiunity/eiunity2021/eiunity2021/4
M3 - Article
JO - Default journal
JF - Default journal
ER -