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Elephant in the News: Autistic assistance
Occupational therapists in Thailand have developed a technique of helping autistic children using elephants.
Four children entered a three-week elephant therapy programme. The programme, created by the Occupation Therapy department of Chiang Mai University and the Elephant Conservation Centre in northern Lampang province, brings the children in contact with elephants in order to help fight against autistic symptoms. Symptoms include isolation, intolerance and rejection of physical contact.
The first part of the therapy involved the elephants being fitted to the children. Hyper-active children took care of the elephants whilst isolated children spent time with the animals.
Next, the children were shown how elephants lived, what they ate and what they did. After learning this, the children then had to get their elephant, feed it and bathe it themselves. Finally, the children rode and communicated with the elephants using commands and body language.
The therapy has been hailed a success, even though it does not completely cure the symptoms. One mother said, "Before joining the programme, my son had difficulty communicating with other people. He didn’t trust anyone. He didn’t have any friends. He just drew pictures and played with dolls. But at the camp, he played with everybody."