Nursery World - Animal assisted therapy: Riding high

<P> Animal therapy can bring much joy to children with special needs, as well as help to improve physical co-ordination, writes Jackie Cosh </P>

Animal therapy can bring much joy to children with special needs, as well as help to improve physical co-ordination, writes Jackie Cosh

Six-year-old Jack reaches out and strokes the dog with his left hand. Not an unusual sight, except that following an illness at the age of four, Jack's left hand has been paralysed. For Jack, the simple action of petting a dog is a major achievement - more progress than his family had ever dared wish for.

Jack is just one of many children who have been helped by Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). There are several organisations in the UK set up to help children such as Jack. One charity, which has been running since 1978, is The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys. Affectionately named the Donkey Centre, the trust has three riding therapy schools for children with special needs, and is widely recognised for its therapeutic benefits to children with physical and mental disabilities.

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