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ISSN: 2230-9926 International Journal of Development Research

Vol. 08, Issue, 03, pp.19566-19569, March, 2018

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLEORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

ACTIVITY ASSISTED BY DOGS IN THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

SPECTRUM DISORDER - A COMPARATIVE STUDY UNDER THE PERSPECTIVE OF
THE PARENTS
* Antonio Carlos Rodrigues, Rosendo Freitas de Amorim, Giselle Maranhão Sucupira Mesquita,
Wanderlei Gomes Filho, Erika Maria Rocha Leite, Alexandre Pinheiro Braga, Zélia Maria de
Sousa Araújo Santos, Aline Veras Morais Brilhante, Mirna Albuquerque Frota, Marinina Gruska
Benevides, Paula Dayanna Sousa dos Santos and Francisco Ricardo Miranda Pinto
Master in Collective Health from the University of Fortaleza, Brazil

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History: Introduction: The treatment of autism spectrum disorder, due to its difficulty in diagnosis
Received 17th December, 2017 through clinical exams, presents challenges regarding the inclusion and maintenance of treatment
Received in revised form procedures and effective therapies.
16th January, 2018 Objective: The study aims to apply a checklist to the parents of autistic children in two moments
Accepted 04th February, 2018 in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Assisted Activity by Dogs in addition to other
Published online 30th March, 2018 treatments for autism given to their children.
Methodological Path: This is a quantitative-qualitative research of a comparative nature. The
Key Words: research was carried out at the Casa da Esperança Foundation, in Fortaleza, Ceará, from May to
Autism; Evaluation; July 2016, after approval by the Ethics Committee of Opinion No. 1540551/2016. An Autism
Treatment Procedures. Treatment Assessment Checklist (ATEC) was used as an instrument at an initial time and the
application of the same form was repeated two months later for a comparative analysis of data.
The sample consisted of ten parents of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Results and Discussion: After completing the second form by the parents / mothers of the
children with ASD, we obtained the final results that were compared with the first results. All
children showed a significant decrease in the score of the second ATEC form (T1) when
compared to the form applied in Time Zero (T0), which characterizes an evolution in the
treatment, because the lower the score, the better. A mean decrease = 8.3 points was obtained.
Final Considerations: In this way, it concludes that it is important to encourage professionals to
maintain the therapies and procedures performed in Early Intervention, since they have shown
efficient results, according to the parents' evaluation.

Copyright © 2018, Antônio Carlos Rodrigues et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Citation: Antônio Carlos Rodrigues, Rosendo Freitas de Amorim, Giselle Maranhão Sucupira Mesquita, et al., 2018. “Activity assisted by dogs in the
treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder - a comparative study under the perspective of the parents”, International Journal of Development
Research, 8, (03), 19566-19569.

INTRODUCTION behavioral skills. The prevalence in the population was 1:68

in the year 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control
The issues related to autism have, to a certain extent, become
and Prevention (CDC), being more common in males. This
more commented in recent years, since the theme has been research was carried out in 11 American states, representing
stereotyped in national media, such as soap operas, television 8.5% of the population of children up to 8 years of age in the
programs, among others. It is emphasized that common sense United States that year (SURVEILLANCE SUMMARIES,
still prevails, as do the questions that approach the subject. 2016). According to Varella (2014), although Brazil does not
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro developmental
have a similar study register, these data can also be used in
disorder that affects early communication, socialization, and Brazilian reality. To date there are no tests that can diagnose
*Corresponding author: Antônio Carlos Rodrigues,
autism. The diagnosis is based on clinical observations and
Master in Collective Health from the University of Fortaleza, Brazil. comparisons with criteria established in the International
Classification of Diseases (ICD 10) and Diagnostic and
19567 Antonio Carlos Rodrigues et al. Activity assisted by dogs in the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder - a comparative
study under the perspective of the parents

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). This a different combination of program and services suited to their
diagnosis should occur preferentially in early childhood, where individual learning and social profile (Autism Consortium,
therapeutic interventions are most effective and inadequate 2013). Therapies can be a bridge between the child with
behaviors are not yet in place. The later the diagnosis is made autism and the pedagogue, where both have the opportunity for
and the interventions are proposed, the course of treatment will an approach between two distant worlds. Considering the
no longer be as effective and the interventions will often only importance of therapies applied to early intervention in the
provide a more comfortable quality of life for the person with treatment of autism spectrum disorder, this study aimed to
autism and his or her family (Munoz, 2014). Initially autism understand the parents' perception of the developmental
manifests itself in limitations of non-verbal communication, progressof their children.
imitation, imaginative ability, visual contact, socio-emotional
reciprocity, and the development and maintenance of Methodological Route
relationships (Freire, 2014). In a more advanced situation it is
possible to identify signs such as the stereotyped use of the It is a qualitative study and quantitative tools to characterize
body or objects, resistance to changes, fixation of interests and identification data and knowledge about the reality and
hyper or hypo sensitivity to sensorial stimuli. development of children with ASD, with a methodological
complementarity that allowed a more effective approximation
In addition, TEA is often associated with intellectual disability to the comprehension of the complex reality studied. The
and delayed language development (Klin, 2006). Because of relation between quantitative and qualitative, between
its precocity and chronicity, ASD can be a major impact for objectivity and subjectivity, is not reduced to a continuum,
the family (Schmidt and Bosa, 2003). After receiving the therefore; it can not be thought of as contradictory opposition.
diagnosis, the family needs to change its habits to adapt to a Thus, "the quantitative study can generate questions to be
new dynamic that demands effort, coping skills and resilience qualitatively deepened, and vice versa" (minayo and sanches,
(Barbosa and Oliveira, 2008). The severity of symptoms such 1993, p 247).The research was conducted at the Casa da
as agitation, aggressiveness, irritability, social avoidance, Esperança Foundation, in Fortaleza, Ceará, specifically in the
language delay, cognitive impairment and child dependence Early Intervention sector, from May to July 2016.
are stress factors related to the degree of impact (Fávero and The Casa da Esperança Foundation was made possible through
Santos, 2005; Andrade and Teodoro, 2012). The TEA has numerous and decisive partnerships and currently offers the
always been the object of curiosity, questions and interest in following services to patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder:
the area of Health. Its phenomenological and behavioral Health Care Center, Early Intervention, Therapeutic
diversity, the discussions about its possible causes and the Workshops, Specialized Educational Assistance, Family
different treatment proposals motivate the research in several Attention Center, Courses and Seminars. The Early
fields of knowledge (Mercadante et al., 2006). The Guidelines Intervention rooms are for children one to six years old who
for Attention to the Person Rehabilitation with ASD (Brasil, receive intensive care from a multi professional team, about
2014) guide the multi professional teams of the attention four hours a day, with emphasis on the development of
points of the SUS Network for the health care of the person communication skills and emotional regulation. Individual and
with ASD and his / her family in the different points of group sessions of speech therapy (two hours per day), sensory
attention of the Network of Person Care with Disability. The and cognitive behavioral therapy with occupational therapists
multi professional team should be prepared from the initial and psychologists are carried out. All the children assisted in
identification to the conclusive diagnosis of ASD. this service are accompanied, also, by the medical and social
teams of the organization.
The timing of the diagnosis should be carefully prepared as it
will be very distressing to the family and will have an impact The participants were ten fathers / mothers of children between
on their future adherence to treatment. The presentation of the three and five years of age, with autism spectrum disorder,
diagnosis should be complemented by the suggestion of having been adopted as inclusion criteria students enrolled for
treatment, including all activities suggested in the singular more than two months and diagnosed with autism spectrum
therapeutic design. The referral to the professionals who will disorders mild to moderate. For the information collection, a
be involved in the care of the case must be done in an checklist of Autism Treatment Assessment (ATEC) was
objective and immediate way, respecting, of course, the time applied to the parents of the participating children in two
necessary for each family to elaborate the new situation. After moments: before and after the introduction of the project of
diagnosis and communication to the family, the treatment and Assisted Activity by Dogs, which lasted two months.
habilitation / rehabilitation phases are started immediately.
New forms of care have been added to the treatments already The AUTISM RESEARCH INSTITUTE (2007) is a scale
proven, in order to improve ways of stimulating the abilities developed specifically to evaluate the effectiveness of
affected by the TEA and to ameliorate its symptoms (Berger, treatments for autism, proposing to be more sensitive to
2003). Although each child with ASD is different, all children improvements in the child's condition than the diagnostic tools.
present difficulties with communication and social interaction. A form that is already translated and validated presents a scale
They may also have difficulties with non-verbal inversely proportional to the subject's improvement, divided
communication, such as looking in the eyes, facial into four subscales that cover all areas affected by autism: (1)
expressions, and gestures (such as pointing). speech / language / communication (14 items), (2) sociability
items), (3) sensory / cognitive perception (18 items) and (4)
Play skills develop late and may seem repetitive and unusual. health / physical aspects / behavior (25 items). Psychometric
Behaviors and sensory sensitivities also vary. Al though some analyzes, performed by researchers, showed high reliability of
children are easy to reach and accessible, others may have a the ATEC in the parameters test-retest and internal consistency
difficult temper and little tolerance for change or frustration. (Freire et al, 2013). The ATEC form was developed in 1999 to
Like the dots strengths and problems vary, each child will need help researchers evaluate the effectiveness of various
19568 International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 08, Issue, 03, pp. 19566-19569, March, 2018

treatments for autistic children and adults and to help parents procedures performed in Early Intervention, including the
determine if their children benefit from a specific treatment. project of Assisted Activity by Dogs, since they have shown
Parents and teachers use ATEC to monitor or monitor the efficient results. The fact that some children do not present a
development and course of treatment of their children and significant evolution when compared with the other children is
students, respectively, over time, even without the introduction justified because, during the Assisted Activity by Dogs, it was
of a new treatment. This form was used in this research to observed that these same children did not interact much with
analyze the parents' perception regarding the evolution of the the dogs. It is important to mention that the treatment of ASD
autism treatment of their respective children. The research was should be extended also in the family, not leaving only the
approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University responsibility of care to health professionals and education, the
of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), whose final opinion presents no. caring and comfort of the home are essential for the evolution
1540551/2016. All the participants signed the Informed of treatment.
Consent Term (TCLE). Participant names have been changed
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Annexes
Authorization for Use of ATEC - Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist

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