Animal Assisted Therapies and Activities for Children with ASD: A Literature Review

Abstract

This work includes a review of the literature published from 2010 to 2019 that addresses the intervention of Animal Assisted Therapies and Activities as an intervention with children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A bibliographic search was conducted in the databases PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, ProQuest, ERIC and Google Scholar, using the terms [(animal assisted therapy OR animal assisted intervention OR dogassisted therapy OR equine-assisted therapy OR dolphinassisted therapy) AND (autism OR ASD)]. 245 studies have been identified, of which 40 have been selected based on different inclusion criteria, such as that the interventions described have a psychoeducational approach and are evaluated using rigorous instruments. The variables analyzed, the evaluation instruments used, the characteristics of each intervention and the results obtained have been reviewed in each of them. Results suggest that the most used animals are the horse and the dog; and this type of intervention has positive effects for children and adolescents with ASD in areas such as interaction and social communication, behavior and motor development, among others. It is concluded that it is a beneficial intervention for children and adolescents with autism, although just as a complement to other types of treatments.