masterThesis
Terapia asistida con perros en niños con autismo revisión sistemática
Fecha
2013Autor
Isaza Narváez, Ana Milena
Muñoz Chilito, Doumer Adrian
Institución
Resumen
Introduction: Autism is an early and massive developmental disorder which affects social interaction, language development; also there are rituals and stereotypes. There is evidence that the interaction with a dog is associated with positive effects on child health, which extends to the therapeutic field where the dog company encourages communication skills to connect with the outside world and break the isolation that makes it refractory to conventional forms of treatment. The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review summarizing information on the effect of dog-assisted therapy in autistic children between two and twelve years. Methods: Systematic Review of the literature of articles obtained from primary databases, systematic reviews and evidence Meta-search which provided evidence of dog-assisted therapy for autistic children. We described characteristics and results of studies obtained. Results: Two articles met inclusion criteria. Four children were evaluated in these studies. The presence of the dog decreased aggressiveness, ritualized and obsessive behaviors. Furthermore, it improved the positive behaviors such as eye contact and social communication. Discussion: dog-assisted therapy provides great potential intervention in autistic disorder. Take into account relevant factors such as: long-term effects, the dog to use and autism spectrum heterogeneity that may influence future research. Conclusions: It is important to accomplish research studies of greater methodological rigor that strengthen the evidence on the outcome of dog-assisted therapy for children with autism.