Dogs are emerging as a great treatment option for autistic children. Earlier this year, I wrote about Kaleb, and the autistic twins that he is helping. And now a study has been released by Université de Montreal and published in Psychoeuroendicrinology that found that dogs "had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels." They tested he cortisol levels in the saliva of 42 autistic children before a service dog was introduced, during a visit with the dog, and after the dog was removed. They found a dramatic impact for the time which the dog was present.This was the first study of its kind, and according to the lead scientist, Sonia Lupien, "Our results lend support to the potential behavioural benefits of service dogs for autistic children." Let's hope so!
Image courtesy of PhotoBucket
This is really interesting- thanks for sharing!
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