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Animal assisted therapy: Riding high

<P> Animal therapy can bring much joy to children with special needs, as well as help to improve physical co-ordination, writes Jackie Cosh </P>

Animal therapy can bring much joy to children with special needs, as well as help to improve physical co-ordination, writes Jackie Cosh

Six-year-old Jack reaches out and strokes the dog with his left hand. Not an unusual sight, except that following an illness at the age of four, Jack's left hand has been paralysed. For Jack, the simple action of petting a dog is a major achievement - more progress than his family had ever dared wish for.

Jack is just one of many children who have been helped by Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). There are several organisations in the UK set up to help children such as Jack. One charity, which has been running since 1978, is The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys. Affectionately named the Donkey Centre, the trust has three riding therapy schools for children with special needs, and is widely recognised for its therapeutic benefits to children with physical and mental disabilities.

Donkey power
At two-and-a-half, Victoria is one of the Donkey Centre's youngest visitors. 'Eighteen months ago, I saw a programme on television about the Donkey Centre,' says her mother, Isabelle. 'Victoria has a condition called microphthalmia, which means she is visually impaired and has one glass eye. We thought that visiting the donkeys might help her co-ordination, which it has.'

Sometimes children can feel a little apprehensive and unsure about the donkeys at first. 'Not Victoria!' explains her mum. 'She took to the donkeys straight away, and now even has her own favourite, called Tinker, which she likes to ride.'

Victoria visits the Donkey Centre once a week for 20 minutes. The sessions are structured to help improve her co-ordination, and involve sitting on the donkey, putting coloured bean bags into buckets, putting hoops on to poles and matching letters to the correct letter boxes.

The Donkey Centre caters for children with all forms of disability. Debbie Coombes, principal of the centre, says, 'The children who attend have a range of disabilities. Some have learning difficulties, others are physically disabled or have behavioural problems, brain damage or sensory impairment. The donkeys seem to have an empathy with all children with special needs, and improvements are soon noticed, whether the needs be physical, learning or behavioural.'

Animal Assisted Therapy is slowly gaining recognition throughout the world. In the United States, its popularity is now so great that there is growing pressure for it to be recognised by insurance companies as a medical expense to be reimbursed. Ongoing research in the USA has attempted to quantify the healing power of AAT. Kathy Heimlich, a graduate student in community health at the University of Illinois, recently conducted research with her dog, Cody.

Getting attention
Kathy explains how the research was conducted. 'Educational goals were predetermined and Cody was used to get the children's attention, as well as to motivate them to interact with their environment - which he did.

'Cody wore a backpack with zippers that held his toys, and things, inside. The disabled children learned to manipulate the zippers to get his things. They weren't interested in manipulating zippers on their coats or trousers, but they would do it so they could play with Cody.'

Kathy found that when trying to engage and interact with children with severe disabilities, therapists would often achieve better results when an animal was present. Rather than replacing the therapist, the animals appear to act as co-therapists, breaking down barriers and encouraging the children to interact.

Cody's cousins on this side of the Atlantic also play an important part in supporting children who are spending time in hospital. Pets as Therapy (PAT) visits 100,000 people every week in hospitals, hospices, care and nursing homes. There are 4,500 dogs registered with Pets as Therapy and an increasing number of cats. They visit the children's wards, helping the youngsters take their minds off their problems and illnesses.

For children who are in hospital long term, a visit by a PAT dog helps bring a bit of everyday life into the ward. Often they really miss the pets they have left at home.

'Disabled children normally react immediately to PAT dogs,' says Maureen Hennis, northern director of Pets as Therapy. 'The one constant act is that their faces normally light up with smiles, and they immediately relax. We find that children with limited disability use their limbs to stroke the animals. With disabled children, the feel of the dog's coat is very important.'

At the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy, weekly riding sessions are provided for children up to the age of 12. The children attend from a number of specialist schools in the area and have a variety of disabilities. Tom and Harry are two little boys that visit from a local playgroup.

Harry is two years old and has Down's syndrome. His playgroup suggested that he try riding therapy to help him with his walking. Riding the horses means that he exercises his back without realising, working his pelvis and helping muscle control. At first, Harry didn't have enough balance to free his hands while riding, but he can now ride quite happily without holding on.

So what does Harry think is the best thing about the riding school? 'Sammy!' he enthuses. Like Victoria, Harry has a favourite animal. He likes to ride Sammy whenever he can.

While Harry was apprehensive on his first trip to the Fortune Centre, his friend Tom fell in love with it straight away. Tom is two-and-a-half, and due to a condition called Angelman's Syndrome, he can't walk yet. It was thought that weekly sessions at the riding school would help his balance and co-ordination. A year later, Tom has come on tremendously. Both the boys' mothers hope to see the boys continue at the riding school well into the future.

Relaxing influence
Denise Thompson is a physiotherapist at the Fortune Centre and a member of the ACPTR (Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Therapeutic Riding). Before taking on any new children, Denise speaks with the referring physiotherapist to get a good understanding of each child's physical ability. This helps her to structure the sessions according to each child's individual needs.

'Both Harry and Tom have come on a great deal since they started with us,' says Denise. 'Harry's balance has improved and, although at first he was a little unsure, he is now quite happy to leave his mum and go for a ride on the horse.'

'Tom has always been fearless around the horses, and at first he did have a tendency to launch himself at them, which he no longer does. He has gained a lot from his sessions - improved balance, better concentration, and a longer attention span.'

So why is Animal Assisted Therapy so successful? One reason that has been suggested is that interaction with animals can reduce blood pressure and stress. Animals relax us, making us forget our troubles. Whereas a physically-disabled child may be used to people treating him differently, an animal won't make such a distinction. Tinker the donkey and Sammy the horse may not know it, but they are making a lot of children very happy. NW

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