‘They ask no questions and pass no criticism’: A mixed-methods study exploring pet ownership in autism

Abstract

Many autistic people cite a strong attachment to animals, and some studies suggest they may even show a bias towards animals over people. This mixed-methods study explored companion animal attachment in the adult autistic community. In a quantitative study with 735 people, we found that autistic adults were equally attached to their pets as neurotypicals but were less likely to own them, even though pet ownership corresponded with better mental health outcomes. Substituting pets for people also served as a compensatory mechanism for social contact in the autistic sample. In a second qualitative study, we explored the lived experiences of 16 autistic pet owners. The interpretive phenomenological analysis highlighted the benefits and the barriers to animal companionship. Together these mixed methods findings underline how pets improve the lives of their autistic owners. We conclude with specific recommendations for increasing animal companionship opportunities for autistic adults.

Autistic people outperform neurotypicals in a cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes

“…This continued development may explain why studies on very young autistic children show impaired performance in both human and nonhuman face recognition (Chawarska & Volkmar, 2007), while studies on older autistic children, adolescents and adults show an intact or even relatively enhanced ability for nonhuman performance (for a review, see . Autism research is rife with studies showing that autistic people enjoy engaging with the nonhuman and may be doing so increasingly throughout development, whether it be through animation (Holmgaard et al, 2013), contact with pets (Atherton et al, 2022), animal-assisted therapy (O'Haire, 2013, or even embodying the nonhuman during online game-play (Stendal & Balandin, 2015) (for a review, see . This type of engagement may allow autistic people to develop social expertise and derive social pleasure in ways that do not rely on human specialization, which may function as an extension of how autistic people begin to see themselves as more than human (Davidson & Smith, 2009).…”

“…Autism research is rife with studies showing that autistic people enjoy engaging with the nonhuman and may be doing so increasingly throughout development, whether it be through animation (Holmgaard et al, 2013), contact with pets (Atherton et al, 2022), animal‐assisted therapy (O'Haire, 2013), or even embodying the nonhuman during online game‐play (Stendal & Balandin, 2015) (for a review, see Atherton & Cross, 2018). This type of engagement may allow autistic people to develop social expertise and derive social pleasure in ways that do not rely on human specialization, which may function as an extension of how autistic people begin to see themselves as more than human (Davidson & Smith, 2009).…”

“…How to cite this article: Cross, L., Piovesan, A., & Atherton, G. (2022). Autistic people outperform neurotypicals in a cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes.…”

Autism, pets, and the importance of seeing human

“…Thus, we hypothesize that those on the spectrum anthropomorphise their pets in line with neurotypicals and may show evidence of increased anthropomorphism out of a need for non-traditional social outlets (as suggested by Atherton et al, 2022). An intact or even increased tendency to anthropomorphise pets would further support research on animal companionship that suggests pet ownership serves an important social function for those on the spectrum.…”

“…Qualitative research on the autism-animal bond describes people whose joys in life are made possible through the bond with their pets (Malcolm et al, 2017;Solomon, 2010). Furthermore, recent work by Atherton et al (2022) showed that not only are autistic individuals just as likely attached to their pets, but pet ownership also corresponded with improved mental health and social outcomes.…”