MUSINGS FROM THE DEAN
During my years is Virginia, I began to learn a great deal about autism, or more properly, autism spectrum disorders. As is widely known, the instances of disorders that range from Asberger's syndrome to disabling autism are increasing, and it happened that southern Virginia was a "hot spot" for autism. The grandson of an acquaintance was so afflicted, and my friend was in a financial position to provide many different kinds of therapies in an attempt to effect improvement. That's when I learned that there are many therapies but very little research to substantiate the effectiveness of most of them.
That is why I am so excited about research in our campus. Ariane Schratter is leading the study of the use of service dogs with children with severe autism. Every summer families come to the campus to be trained in the use of these dogs, and that begins with the trials on how well the presence of the dog helps the child to connect with his or her environment in a meaningful way. The dog is tethered to the child twenty-four hours a day and is trained to respond to the child's behavior--with the intent to eliminate improper behaviors--and to provide a safe "other" with whom to interact.
Anecdotes are quite astonishing. Children that never make eye-contact with people will look the dog fully in the face. Children that never speak begin to say a few words to the dog. Children that could not be in a busy environment without having a tantrum can enter a large department story without incendent. The dogs are also trained to keep the children safe by "taking them down" (without injuring them!) if they bolt toward danger.
Please notice that I began the preceding paragraph with the word "anecdotes" because, while the stories are encouraging--even hopeful--they do not constitute scientific evidence. Are there enough cases to warrant drawing statistically significant conclusions about this mode of therapy? If it does not work in every case, what factors seem correlated with the successes and failures? Does the age of the child, the size of the dog, the training of the dog, or the severity of the child's autism affect the outcome? Learning the answers to these questions (and others) is important in the development of methods that can transform a child that is uncommunicative and perhaps destructive into an adult that contributes to the community.
I am very pleased to know that Maryville College is a part of the work that can make such a big difference in the world.
That is why I am so excited about research in our campus. Ariane Schratter is leading the study of the use of service dogs with children with severe autism. Every summer families come to the campus to be trained in the use of these dogs, and that begins with the trials on how well the presence of the dog helps the child to connect with his or her environment in a meaningful way. The dog is tethered to the child twenty-four hours a day and is trained to respond to the child's behavior--with the intent to eliminate improper behaviors--and to provide a safe "other" with whom to interact.
Anecdotes are quite astonishing. Children that never make eye-contact with people will look the dog fully in the face. Children that never speak begin to say a few words to the dog. Children that could not be in a busy environment without having a tantrum can enter a large department story without incendent. The dogs are also trained to keep the children safe by "taking them down" (without injuring them!) if they bolt toward danger.
Please notice that I began the preceding paragraph with the word "anecdotes" because, while the stories are encouraging--even hopeful--they do not constitute scientific evidence. Are there enough cases to warrant drawing statistically significant conclusions about this mode of therapy? If it does not work in every case, what factors seem correlated with the successes and failures? Does the age of the child, the size of the dog, the training of the dog, or the severity of the child's autism affect the outcome? Learning the answers to these questions (and others) is important in the development of methods that can transform a child that is uncommunicative and perhaps destructive into an adult that contributes to the community.
I am very pleased to know that Maryville College is a part of the work that can make such a big difference in the world.
Jeff Fager
Vice President and Dean of the College
Vice President and Dean of the College
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