The Effectiveness of Treatment with the Help of autism-assisting Dogs on Improving the Communication Skills and Stereotyped Behaviors of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with the help of autism-assisting Dogs on improving the communication skills and stereotyped behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders.

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest and posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all children with autism spectrum disorders in Tehran in the first half of 2020 who had referred to the centers of autism in order to receive treatment with the help of autism-assisting Dogs tical population was selected and randomly divided into two groups of experimental (n= 10) and control (n= 10). The experimental group received 10 sessions of 1 hour plus one session per week with the help of autism-assisting Dogs. In order to collect data in the pre-test and post-test stages, the Behavioral Problems List and the Autism Social Skills Profile were used. The obtained data were analyzed by analysis of covariance using the SPSS software (ver. 22).

The results showed that treatment with the help of autism-assisting Dogs had a significant effect on improving communication skills (p<0.01) and reducing stereotyped behaviors (p<0.01) in children with autism spectrum disorders.

In general, the results of this study confirmed the effectiveness of treatment with the help of autism-assisting Dogs on improving the communication skills and stereotyped behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, this therapeutic method can be used to treat communication problems and stereotyped behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders.