Experiences of parents of autistic children who adopted a cat

IF 2.2 3区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL WORK

Qualitative Social Work Pub Date : 2023-01-13 DOI:10.1177/14733250231151946

Gretchen K. Carlisle, Angélique Lamontagne, J. Bibbo, Rebecca A. Johnson, L. Lyons

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Autistic children suffer from social cognitive difficulties. There is no specific treatment for ASD, but ongoing individualized care can lead to an improvement in symptoms. Adopting a pet into a family with an autistic child is increasingly recognized as beneficial for improving some of the child’s social skills. Cats are the second most common pet in the homes of autistic children. Previous studies showed that adopting calm-tempered shelter cats to autistic children decreased anxiety and improved the child’s social skills. In the present study, we aimed to qualitatively explore the experience of parents of autistic children who adopted a shelter cat. 11 families participated in the study, and were asked 6 open-ended questions every 2 weeks for 18 weeks after the cat's adoption. Five main themes emerged from the analysis: benefits of cat adoption, challenges of cat adoption, parent-cat bonding, child-cat bonding, and family impact of cat adoption. Adoption leads to the creation of a strong relationship between the family members and the shelter cat, and an improvement in the child’s social skills, with some difficulties related to the maintenance of the cat. These findings highlight the beneficial impact of adopting a shelter cat into a family with an autistic child, and open the door for future research to generalize these results.

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收养猫的自闭症儿童父母的经历

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种以社交和沟通障碍为特征的神经发育障碍。自闭症儿童患有社会认知困难。ASD没有具体的治疗方法，但持续的个性化护理可以改善症状。越来越多的人认为，将宠物收养到有自闭症儿童的家庭中有助于提高儿童的一些社交技能。猫是自闭症儿童家中第二常见的宠物。先前的研究表明，给自闭症儿童收养脾气平静的收容所猫可以减少焦虑，提高孩子的社交技能。在本研究中，我们旨在定性地探索收养收容所猫的自闭症儿童父母的经历。11个家庭参与了这项研究，在猫被收养后的18周内，每两周被问6个开放式问题。分析得出了五个主要主题：收养猫的好处、收养猫的挑战、父母与猫的联系、孩子与猫的关系以及收养猫对家庭的影响。收养导致家庭成员和收容所猫之间建立了牢固的关系，并提高了孩子的社交技能，但在抚养猫方面存在一些困难。这些发现强调了将收容所的猫收养到有自闭症儿童的家庭中的有益影响，并为未来的研究推广这些结果打开了大门。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Qualitative Social Work SOCIAL WORK-

CiteScore

3.90

自引率

5.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Qualitative Social Work provides a forum for those interested in qualitative research and evaluation and in qualitative approaches to practice. The journal facilitates interactive dialogue and integration between those interested in qualitative research and methodology and those involved in the world of practice. It reflects the fact that these worlds are increasingly international and interdisciplinary in nature. The journal is a forum for rigorous dialogue that promotes qualitatively informed professional practice and inquiry.