A team of American researchers thinks that cats could be used to make children with autism more capable of empathy. While this is just a preliminary study, more extensive work could expand the range of solutions available to families.
Gretchen Carlisle is an expert in human-animal relations at the University of Missouri (USA). She is also the lead author of a preliminary study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing. According to her and her team, using cats could help autistic children gain empathy. At one time, the researcher was a school nurse and witnessed many cases of students with mental disorders and disabilities. The daily life of these children was punctuated by crises and heavy drug treatments. According to Gretchen Carlisle, some establishments rewarded children for their good behavior by bringing in dogs, fish and other guinea pigs. However, these animals would be able to promote the calm of autistic children.
Gretchen Carlisle's team conducted the first-ever randomized trial about what can bring a pet to autistic children. His work has focused on one animal in particular:the cat. This is a preliminary study as evidenced by the number of participants, namely eleven children aged six to fourteen. Despite this small sample, the conclusions are positive and call for a larger trial.
According to the results, chat improves social skills of the autistic child, in particular empathy. In addition, it helps to reduce certain symptoms related to separation anxiety. However, these symptoms are very debilitating for children whose disorders are in the upper half of the autism spectrum.
The volunteers were divided into two groups. In the first, the children had the rule of adopting a cat and their family was followed for eighteen weeks . In the second, it was a question of spending eighteen weeks without change, then adopting a cat and being followed for another eighteen weeks. The cats had also been specially selected for their calm temperament.
According to Gretchen Carlisle, “their main advantage is that they can be accepted unconditionally. Some children with autism may have sensory issues or be sensitive to loud noises. With its soothing presence, a cat is therefore an appropriate and comforting pet for some families ". The researcher hopes that her work will be carefully monitored with a specific goal:to integrate the adoption of a cat into the solutions offered to families of autistic children.
