Yet Another Reason to Love Dogs: Therapy Dogs Might Help Children with Disabilities

About a month ago I (somewhat) unexpectedly got a puppy and, when she's not running around and wreaking havoc on my apartment, she is an incredible source of joy. Dogs are known for the positivity they bring to people's lives, and research has generally shown that they decrease owners' anxiety and stress. I was already on a serious dog kick, so I began looking into more recent studies on how dogs affect us humans, and I came across some interesting work by a a team in the Netherlands who focused on the impact of dog-assisted therapy (DAT) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Down syndrome (DS)-genetic disorders that affect cognitive and social-emotional development. First: a little background on ASD and DS, and why dogs might be helpful. Read More