Zootherapy in social rehabilitation of children with special needs

In: Social'naja politika i social'noe partnerstvo (Social Policy and Social Partnership), Heft 10, S. 660-669

Abstract

Children with special needs experience significant difficulties in organizing their educational and communicative activities and behavior due to their developmental characteristics, as well as somatic diseases. Such children have problems in socialization and psycho-emotional sphere (they are anxious, vulnerable, painfully react to changes in life circumstances, and prone to frequent mood changes). They also have limited ideas about the world around and underdeveloped higher mental functions. The purpose of social rehabilitation is to restore skills, lost or not acquired during socialization, and abilities to perform social functions, relationships, and roles. One of the means of social rehabilitation is zootherapy, which is based on the interaction of a person with an animal. Zootherapy includes various areas: hippotherapy, canis therapy, dolphin therapy, feline therapy, etc. Therapy with animals has a positive effect on children with special needs: it stabilizes the emotional state, reduces the level of anxiety and stress, and promotes the development of communication skills, as well as the development of moral qualities.