Effects of Therapy Dogs on Social Behavior in Group Social Skills Instruction With Children With Autism

The therapy dog is present during the session.

"The group program is 10 weeks in duration, with 1-hour long sessions once per week. Children will be taught new social skills each week using an established teaching interaction procedure, in which the therapist first describes the target skill, provides a rational and context for the behavior, divides the skill into smaller steps, demonstrates the behavior, and has each learner role-play the skill while providing feedback in the form of praise and tokens and corrective instruction. The last week involves a probe free-play session, in which children are assessed in a more naturalistic environment without any corrective feedback from therapists."