Animal assisted interventions on therapy farms for those with autism.

Abstract

Animal interventions are becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder symptomology (ASD). However, there is a lack of information regarding which animal and animal-specific factors provide the most advantageous therapeutic benefits to effectively address ASD symptoms. This study examined the observations, and values of practitioners who provide therapeutic interventions to individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using farm animals. The purpose was to gather information regarding impressions of species-specific factors observed to be the most effective for treating ASD symptomology. It is hoped that the observations reported by providers might help determine focused recommendation to increase effectiveness of treatment, helping to fill the increasing knowledge we are accruing on animal assisted interventions and ASD. Results of this study give insight into specific animal species factors that contribute to ASD symptomology reduction.

Animal-Assisted Green Care Farming for Patients With Mental and Physical Disorders: A Narrative Review

“…A study conducted in the United States focused on experiences of patients with autism spectrum disorders while interacting with farm animals (Barnhart et al, 2020). Overall, the interaction with the animals helped to improve socialization skills and self-esteem of the patients.…”

Introduction to this special issue on human–animal relations.

“…In our next section, we present two research reports pertaining to animal-assisted therapy. The first by Barnhart et al (2023) examines the interventions on therapy farms with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their study aims at offering insight into specific animal species factors that contribute to ASD symptomology reduction.…”

“…In our next section, we present two research reports pertaining to animal-assisted therapy. The first by Barnhart et al (2023) examines the interventions on therapy farms with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).…”

Neural Trigger of Speaking Skills in Autistic Children: An Intervention-Based Study

“…Children with autism often face challenges in developing their speaking skills, which can have a significant impact on their neural processing of the speaking motor system. The problem of the motor system is a neurophysiological issue, and to rectify this, specific interventions (Barnhart et al, 2023;Esposito et al, 2023;Bertoncello et al, 2021) and approaches (Nisar & Haris, 2023;Bozhilova et al, 2023;Veenstra et al, 2023) are adopted to develop children's various skills, but there is still a lack of comprehensive evaluation of autistic children typically residing in Pakistani Region and no such related research that examines the effectiveness of the interventions in developing the speaking skills of autistic children. Therefore, the present study aims to trigger autistic children's neural processing that tends to develop smooth speaking skills and to identify the most effective approach to develop speaking skills that implicate applied linguistics as an intervention to boost the neural process of speaking.…”