September 2015

Welcome

Hi everyone and welcome to our first newsletter.

As it's the first, I thought it could be an introduction to the animals of Dantes Dream's Animal-Assisted Therapy; a brief introduction to what we do and what our purpose is.

We look forward to bringing you updates, news and information every two months

and hope you enjoy our newsletters.

Introduction

We are a non-profit registered charity.

Our main aim is to help those on the Autism Spectrum be able to be in an

environment with animals.

A lot of these people find it difficult to relate to people but with animals they can

form a strong bond.

Scientific evidence has shown that being with animals is beneficial.

We will take those with other disabilities and are also available to take the animals

to rest homes, schools etc.

Not everyone is able to afford or has access to animals so we want to allow as many

people as possible to take part in the therapy programme. By not having a set cost it

allows people to come and be in an environment with animals without the worry of

money or responsibility of having an animal themselves. A donation is greatly appre-

ciated as we are not government funded so the upkeep of the animals and equip-

ment relies solely on fundraising and donations.

Pal

Flika

Flika is a 7 year old miniature horse mare. I have

had her since she was a yearling. She has been a

therapy horse for a few years now. Even before we

officially started the therapy programme she went to

Hohepa School and Hohepa Clive on a regular basis.

She is an excellent therapy horse and is the perfect

size for those not used to horses.

Pal is a 23 year old thoroughbred gelding. His name

unfortunately has a meaning behind it. One of his

previous owners rescued him from the dog food

truck, hence the name Pal – Pal dog food. He was a

riding for the disabled horse at Napier RDA which is

when I first met him. I rode him there and we

formed a strong bond. When they decided to retire

him they wanted me to have him. He is an excellent

therapy horse and is one of the favorites with cli-

ents!

Carlos

Carlos is an 18 year old english riding pony. We

have had him on free lease for just over a year. He

loves food and getting lots of attention. He is per-

fect to take out and we had great fun at the beach

when we took him. He is very friendly and you def-

initely have to watch out if you have food around

cause he will try and steal it!

Burma is an adult rabbit. He came to us from the

SPCA. We were able to get him due to a kind do-

nation from St Lukes Mission Guild last year. He

is a lovely rabbit and seems to take well to being

patted and handled by the clients. He was the star

of the show at the A & P show in October last

year!

Burma

Daisy

Rukia

Rukia is a 3 year old cat. She has joined the therapy

team due to one of our clients taking a particular

liking to her and wanting to see her / have cuddles

with her on a Monday morning.

Daisy is a Romney sheep. She is a newly acquired

member of therapy team. She is very inquisitive and

will come running to you if you have a bucket of

feed.

March 2015: Hohepa Fair – Pal, Carlos, Flika, Burma and Daisy were all very

popular with Pal being the star of the show. All three horses were lead and raised

a considerable amount of money which helped to buy a saddle.

Over the last 3 months Flika and Burma have visited Summerville Rest Home in

Hastings; Ashcroft House at Mary Doyle in Havelock North and Duart Resthome

and Hospital in Havelock North.

Burma has been to visit one of the houses at Hohepa Clive a few times also.

EQUIDAYS

Each year, Equidays proudly endorses two charities providing support to the eq-

uine community.

The Official Charities are the the only two charities allowed to fundraise at the

event and will receive an exhibition sight in aid of raising awareness and funds

for their cause. They are also able to provide opportunities for the charities to in-

crease exposure by utilising Equidays’, social media, website and programme.

Dantes Dream’s Animal-Assisted Therapy was very fortunate to be chosen as one

of the charities to go to the Equidays at Mystery Creek in October. We are looking

forward to being involved and will report back in the next newsletter.

The Power of Pets: Animals Can Help Autistic Children Socialize

Written by Brian Krans | Published on February 27, 2013

Australian researchers have found that children with autism are more social when

playing with animals as opposed to toys.

Humans first domesticated animals to help with the housework, from herding cattle

to killing mice. Now, we keep pets mainly for companionship, but new research offers

further proof that animals can also have a therapeutic effect.

Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia explored how animals

can help autistic children socialize in the classroom. They found that autistic kids showed more pro-social behavior toward other children during unstructured play-

time with animals present.

Autism is a group of developmental disorders characterized by impaired communica-

tion and social skills. Symptoms typically appear by the age of three. Autism affects

about one in 91 children in the U.S.

Socializing is often the biggest challenge for autistic children. In the classroom, they

may struggle to engage with their peers, which can lead to isolation, rejection, bully-

ing, and other stressful interactions.

How Animals Help Autistic Children in the Classroom

Previous research has shown that interacting with animals can help autistic children, but the Australian researchers were the first to use blind ratings when comparing animal inter-action to playing with toys, another common tool used to help autistic children interact with

their peers.

Researchers compared how well children ages five to 13 interacted with adults and their “typically-developing peers” during free time. One group was given toys to play with while the

other was placed in a room with two hamsters.

The autistic children who played with the hamsters showed more sociability by talking, smiling, laughing, looking at faces, and making physical contact with others. The chil-dren with the hamsters were also less likely to frown, whine, cry, and express other nega-

tive behavior than those who played with toys.

For children with an autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, “the school classroom can be a stressful and overwhelming environment due to social challenges and peer victimization. If an animal can reduce this stress or artificially change children’s perception of the classroom and its occupants, then a child with ASD may feel more at ease and open to

social approach behaviors,” the researchers said in a press release.

The Australian study appears in the latest issue of PLOS ONE.

Animals and Autism

The bond between man and animal goes back centuries. Using animals in therapy dates back as far as the 18th century. While research shows that contact with animals can re-

duce stress, some animals go beyond mere cuddling to assist their owners.

Clark Pappas is the director of participant programs for Canine Companions for Inde-pendence (CCI), a nonprofit organization that trains companion dogs for people with disa-bilities. They’ve been training service dogs to help autistic children for 20 years. At CCI, golden and Labrador retrievers are trained to assist their owners in a variety of

situations, including helping autistic children in the classroom.

Pappas and others at CCI have found that dogs are helpful in many scenarios, especially for aiding parents when they leave the house. Because some autistic children are reluc-tant to leave their parent's side, simply having the child hang onto the dog makes taking

trips and running errands easier.

“It enables a sense of calm to exist when the parents and kids are able to go out,” Pappas

said.

For those who qualify for a companion animal, the results may not be immediate, but they can last forever. Pappas said that over the typical 10-year lifespan of a guide dog, children with autism may see the same level of social development as those without the

disorder.

“In general, it’s rare to see something profound right off the bat, but over time, there’s a

profound effect,” he said.

SOURCE: http://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-animals-help-autistic-

children-socialize-022713#2