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Animal Assisted Therapy as Socially Assistive Technology: Implications for Autism

SIEFL Core ⟩

This interdisciplinary project develops a new theoretical approach to animal assisted therapy for children with autism. The approach is based on occupational science, a discipline that conceptualizes human occupations in relation to well-being and meaning-making in everyday life, and on socially assistive robots designed to assist humans with social rather than physical tasks. The distinction between social and physical assistance in robot assisted rehabilitation is paralleled by the current state of animal assisted therapy: whereas before service animals (mostly dogs) were assisting disabled persons with challenges in the physical environment (e.g., crossing the street, opening the refrigerator door), they now are also trained to facilitate disabled persons’ social interactions with other people. Because autistic impairments disrupt one’s engagement in social interaction, socially assistive paradigms are uniquely suited for autism intervention.

Funding

Type	Source	Amount
Intramural	University of Southern California Zumberge Fund Award	$22,943

USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. All states require licensure to practice; a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® OTR certification examination or attain state licensure. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.