Pets can help children overcome problems such as aggressive behaviour and attention disorders, Regula Fehr, an educator and therapist from France.
Ms. Fehr is now working with the ‘I Care, I Share’ (Society for Human Animal Relationship and Education) project in Geneva and helps children overcome behavioural problems through pet therapy.
She was in the city to participate in the three-day 8th International conference on School Psychology being organised jointly by the Department of Psychology, AU, and the Indian School Psychology Association (InSPA) that began on Friday.
“When I tried to interact with such children, they refused to take help and were not even willing to talk. I took my trained dog along as part of the ‘integrative zoo therapy in homes for children and adolescents’, when I visited them the next time. My dog acted as a mediator between me and the children,” Ms. Regula told The Hindu, on the sidelines of the conference.
Cognitive skills
“The children became fond of the dog in no time. The dog is trained to play with children. The children learn to be nice to dogs, learn social and cognitive skills and overcome their inhibitions,” she said.
However, Ms. Fehr said that the animal must be healthy and treated well. “Dogs are more developed emotionally than humans. It has been observed that autistic children also open up and their cognitive abilities develop with pet therapy,” she said.
Speaking at the programme, AU Psychology Department HoD M.V.R. Raju said pet therapy could work wonders in the treatment of the children suffering from emotional, behavioural or neurological issues. Prof. Raju had done a research on the subject as part of the collaboration between Andhra University and the University Hospital of Geneva.
“Pet therapy is being used extensively in the West, but in India it’s a long way to go. In India, parents of mentally retarded children do not wish to take their children out to play at public places or to social gatherings. This is due to social phobia and inferiority complex. A trained dog can keep the child engaged ,” Prof. Raju added.
