Pet Therapy for Aspergers Syndrome

Dogs are not only social animals but also keen learners. Therapy dogs are useful to perform many tasks to help Aspies.

They can overcome social barriers, prejudice, and language considerations to communicate and act according to the way they have been trained.

Therapy Dogs Help in Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Needs of People with Asperger’s Syndrome

When a child or an adult has a difficulty in responding to social cues, communicating with peers, friends, or family members they are often diagnosed with a behavioral irregularity, known as Aspergers Syndrome. In kids, such a behavior can result in isolation, fear, loneliness, and unhappiness.

What these Aspie kids need is a friend who can understand their feelings, stand by them at all times, and also help them to assuage their shortcoming.

How about a common friend helping these kids to ease their troubled minds? A therapy dog trained to help Aspergers kids in many ways are available in the market to be owned and kept by the Aspie kid.

Problems Faced by Aspergers Syndrome Kid or Adult

Some common issues where an Aspie will need help are:

• Getting over intense emotions, such as fear, anger, frustration
• Getting over loneliness and sadness
• Seeking communication help at restaurants, social gatherings, schools, and parties

Therapy Dogs to Ease Out Emotions

To treat anger and depression of the kids, many experts have suggested using pets. Although all pets are entertaining, some pets are little more social and playful. Dogs for instance, can easily learn few tricks and get trained to be therapy pets.

Therapy dogs are trained to help Aspie kids to overcome their anger, frustration, depression, and loneliness. Surveys show that they help kids to rekindle fond memories from the past, become more alert and responsive, and perform tasks better since they are stress-free. The dogs also ease out tension and low-feeling. They are able to divert attention, especially kids who are emotional.

Assistant Dogs as Social Lubricants

Often, a child has to perform some tasks on his own. For instance, visit to the nearest shop for buying few things, go for short errands that require communicating with another person. Some dogs can be trained to perform certain tasks. They can act as a social entity between the Aspie child and another person.

A child is more stable once he knows that his pet is around – it is not required for the dog to perform certain jobs all the time. During melt-downs the dog remains calm and endures the child’s reaction only to help him settle down. From visiting restaurants to tracking kids who have simply wandered off, the dogs can be trained to do many kinds of chores.

Common Breeds Usually Trained as Therapy Dogs

Some breeds are far more social and ease to train than others. Therapy dogs must be trained to withstand noise, reactions, and crowd in restaurants, schools, and in a busy park. Considering all situations, therapy dogs are generally of the following breeds:

• Labrador
• Labrador x
• GSD
• Shepherd x
• Golden Retriever
• Golden Retriever x
• Australian Shepherd
• Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
• Poodle
• Poodle x
• and many more breeds

Do you require a therapy pet dog for your kid? Write to us if need one or want to know more about these specially trained dogs.