Dog trainer helps kids with autism
April 16th, 2008
Kids boost social skills by teaching pets
From CBS Early Show:
Dog trainer Kathy Santo has started a program called “Paws Four Autism” that helps kids in New Jersey connect with others by learning to train their family pets. She says the program helps kids learn to maintain eye contact with their dogs, which in turn helps them develop relationships with people.
Santo demonstrates her techniques in a video on the CBS site that also features student trainers Gower Nibley and Brittany Wilkes.
A link on the site carries resources about autism for families. Sadly, its use of language is not always sensitive — one page leads readers to “notable sufferers,” including Thomas Edison and Jane Austen.


April 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Why not cover a Scientific American story shown on PBS recently about Temple Grandin, instead of this dog trainer story?
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1205/features/grandin.htm