Can Pets Help with Social Skills for Children with Autism?

People can receive many benefits from interactions with animals. These can include relief of stress, companionship, and unconditional love. Animals can also facilitate social interactions between people. Whether these benefits apply specifically to people on the autism spectrum has not been well-researched, but studies are starting to be done on this topic. Many of the studies have shown some benefits for children with autism interacting with dogs that have been specifically trained as service dogs. The benefits were primarily in social interactions, challenging behavior, and stress relief. Of course, researchers acknowledge that service animals or pets may not be appropriate for all children. Read more here: http://positivelyautism.weebly.com/blog/can-pets-help-with-social-skills-for-children-with-autism