Animal Assisted Therapy helps the wellbeing of students at Inscape House School
Many of us enjoy spending time with animals. But did you know animal interactions can have specific benefits for the children and young people we support?
Inscape House School runs Animal-assisted Intervention (AAI) sessions to improve students' mental, physical, social and emotional functioning.
Learners have weekly sessions with a variety of animals including fish, the guinea pigs Pandora and Pepper, Stich the bearded dragon, Davey and Simba the toirtoises, as well as Charlie the therapy dog. AAI Practitioner Danielle leads the programme, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the animals while delivering enriching AAI sessions to support students’ development.
“It is more than simply spending time with an animal. AAI sessions work towards therapeutic goals. Therapeutic experiences can include walking, brushing, petting and caring for an animal, as well as processing the experience of trying to achieve a given task”, says Danielle.
Students use these sessions to learn more about animals and how to take care of them, as well as to unwind and regulate their emotions. Alfie says "I like it when the Guinea pigs snuggle into me. It's a sign that they like me."
They have checklists and process to follow in order to make sure all animals are safe, happy, healthy, clean and well-fed. When asked about the best part about Animal Assisted Intervention, John tells us that "taking care of the animals is my favorite thing to do".
We are able to run this programme thanks to support from our kind supporters. If you want to support our animal therapy you can help by donating. Do you want to hear more about how Animal Assisted Intervention helps students? Watch our video below.