Autistic children and pets: What types of interactions? A parent survey

International audiencePeople and pets are able to establish bonds. These bonds are currently used in animal-assistedtherapies to improve social skills of people with communicative difficulties as autismspectrums disorders (ASD; a cognitive disorder, with social withdrawal). However, clearscientific bases proving such effects are still lacking. As a first step, the present studydescribes the interactions between 186 subjects with ASD and their pets, and investigates thepossible influence of the subject's age and of the pet species. On the one hand, only parents ofadults with ASD reported visual interactions with dogs. They never talked about play betweentheir 6-to-9-years-old children and the dogs. The 6-to-12-years-old children are described asinteracted by physical contacts with the cats. On the other hand, some environmental factorsand pet characteristics seemed to modulate the relation described; for example, the relationbetween 6-to-9 year-old children with ASD and their dog seemed to be related to dog size andthe purchase’s reason. Such study could be considered as a first characterisation of therelation that subjects with ASD could develop with their pets. Pet’s adoption could beconsidered in the light of some factors (i.e. purchase for subjects with ASD, subjects’ age,pets’ characteristics). We hypothesize these bonds with pets might be extended by subjectswith ASD to their peers