Abstract

MARINHO, Jéssica Riedi Souza  and  ZAMO, Renata de Souza. Animal assisted therapy and neurodevelopmental disorders. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2017, vol.17, n.3, pp.1063-1083. ISSN 1808-4281.

This article aims to evaluate, through theoretical and scientific papers, the benefits that Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) can provide to children who have some neurodevelopmental impairment. The benefits of human-animal contact has been known since antiquity, but studies around this area are starting to grow only currently. Therefore, we performed a critical review of the literature by analyzing the data collected using content analysis. The results showed the potential benefit of this type of intervention to children with social, cognitive and physical disabilities. The most commonly used animals were dogs and horses for treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disabilities. Thus, there are possibility for psychologists and other professionals of health areas use or referee this kind of intervention to their patients. Still, we can conclude that there is a lack to more empirical studies using AAT.

Keywords : AAT; animals; children; disorders; Psychology.

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