Xi'an, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The two-year-old Labrador "Star" was too tall to end more than half a year of guide dog training in early 2021. Soon, a new mission was in front of us, and it could once again accompany those who needed to be cared for.
This "re-employed" Labrador is now transformed into a cured dog for autistic children, participating in their rehabilitation.
Approaching the International Guide Dog Day, the Qi Zhi School in the ancient city of Xi'an welcomed two "Wang Xingren". In this school, which accepts children with moderate and severe mental disabilities, the "stars" and their companions "Black Sister" are surrounded by children. Xiao Di (pseudonym), a round-faced autistic girl, was encouraged by the teacher to step forward, caressing the hairy head of the "star" with one hand and skillfully dragging it to the classroom with the other.
"From kindergarten to the fifth grade, she has been reluctant to communicate and express." Xiaodi's class teacher Yang Dan told reporters that Xiaodi's symptoms are more typical, impatient, easy to distract, but very interested in dogs, willing to be close, "stars" just walked into her sight.
Autistic child Flute (pseudonym) interacts with the healing dog with the assistance of a teacher. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
In the second half of 2021, a special education program for the rehabilitation of children with autism involving cured dogs was officially launched at Kai Chi School. Shaanxi Normal University sent a teaching and research team, and Xi'an Sunshine Messenger Guide Dog Development Service Center sent two healing dogs to carry out one-on-one rehabilitation training for 3 students, including Xiaodi. Healing dogs walk, play, interact with children, and strive to eliminate the gap between their hearts and the outside world through inseparable companionship.
"Animal participation in the education of children with autism has been practiced abroad for many years and has achieved good results. Animal assistance improves children's motor skills and social skills, and can enhance children's interest and motivation when applied in a learning environment. Wang Tingzhao, director of the Department of Special Education of the Faculty of Education of Shaanxi Normal University, said that there are institutions in the world that have added cured dogs to the treatment process of autistic children, and the results show that the language vocabulary of autistic children has increased significantly.
Wang Tingzhao said that there are large differences in individual children with autism, and not all children can get close to the cured dog. To this end, they selected these 3 students in both directions after several twists and turns. After a complete teaching cycle, the expected results were achieved.
"Over the past six months, I have seen obvious changes in her, and I can look at people and even hug my classmates." Yang Dan told reporters that in an exam in March this year, Xiaodi insisted on completing the entire paper, and the progress was obvious.
Instructor Zhang Shuangcheng (third from left) leads the healing dog to interact with the students of Xi'an Qi Zhi School. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
In the view of Li Weiyu, principal of Xi'an Qizhi School, although the changes of the other two children are not as obvious as Xiaodi, the behaviors such as shouting and attacking for no reason have been alleviated, and their social skills have also improved. "The healing dog stood taller than the child, and the parents were a little worried at first. But as the curriculum progressed, they embraced this teaching method from the transformation of their children. He said.
Wang Tingzhao said that the cure dog guards the "children of the stars", and the relevant practice and research started late in China, an important reason is the scarcity of the number of dogs. Healing dogs require a range of stress training to exercise restraint in the face of aggressive behavior around them, so dogs that have been professionally trained as guide dogs have a natural advantage.
As a sign of the degree of social civilization, more and more guide dogs have appeared in public in recent years. Under the demanding training requirements of guide dogs, more than half of the trained dogs are "eliminated" for various reasons. "Star" terminated her training because of her tall stature, which exceeded the height of the average person's knee, which may hinder the visually impaired from walking; "Black Sister" was "retired" due to poor physical condition after serving the previous visually impaired adopter.
"Most of the guide dogs that have been eliminated in the past have become pet dogs, which means that the previous training has been wasted. In fact, as long as we adjust the training content and standards slightly, most guide dogs can be successfully transformed and participate in special education. Wang Xing, director of the Xi'an Sunshine Messenger Guide Dog Development Service Center, said that this is also an encouragement to guide dog training institutions, and their efforts reflect value in an unexpected field.
The "stars" found their own direction after some twists and turns, and the children did not find a suitable communication method for themselves. Li Weiyu believes that the shining points of autistic children need to be seen, but sometimes they will not be shown to the people around them, but may be projected on animals, and grow in the "adaptive education" of self-discovery learning motivation and needs.
"There are now a total of 80 children with autism in our school, and the cure dog should be able to help not only Xiaodi and 3 of them, we also hope that such a project can go out of our school to serve more autistic children." He said.