The effects of Animal Assisted Therapy in improving attention among Autistic children

Objective. This study examines the effect of Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) towards improving attention among Autistic children. Method. A single case study using ABA design was used to measure duration of attention and errors omitted using Mesulam Continuous Performance Test (CPT) across three phases among 4 participants. Task Behavior/ Completion section in School Function Assessment (SFA) was given to teachers to rate student performance before and after intervention phase. Results. Results from this study showed that AAT did not improve attention and task behavior among 4 participants. However there is noted slight increase in attention among participants during the intervention phase. All participants also had slight decrease in attention during withdrawal phase. Decreases in numbers of errors omitted in CPM were noted in all participants during intervention phase. Conversely, all participants except participant 4 had increase in numbers of errors omitted during withdrawal phase. Result from Task behavior also showed no improvement. Conclusions. The findings from this study demonstrate that AAT did not improve attention and task behavior among Autistic children. However, the findings suggest that AAT can be one of treatment approach among Autistics children. Further study with longer timelines is needed to demonstrate a much better outcome as well as to ensure that the impact of the interventions really give an effect to the sample.