| dc.description.abstract | Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) – a goal-directed intervention in which an animal that
meets specific criteria becomes an integral part of the treatment process – can be a beneficial
treatment option for individuals in many settings. Yet, research is not readily available for use of
AAT in pediatric speech-language therapy sessions, specifically pragmatic language sessions for
autistic children. This study combined AAT and speech-language therapy for autistic children to
examine motivation, participation, and attention/on-task behavior along with any impacts on the
child’s overall goal attainment. A multiple baseline across participants study was conducted to
explore the effects of AAT in speech-language therapy sessions in relation to the child’s on-task
behaviors in their sessions. Results showed a positive impact on on-task behaviors and
participation within sessions when therapy dogs are present versus when they are not. In terms of
overall goal attainment, the children made continued gains towards their individualized goals
when the therapy dog was used to supplement their reinforcement schedules. These results
support the need for further research on the use of AAT in speech-language therapy with autistic
children as the positive impacts noted provide preliminary evidence for the benefit of the
presence of therapy dogs in reinforcement schedules within speech and language therapy
sessions for autistic children. | en_US |
