ANTHROZOOS VOLUME 2 1 . ISSUE 1 PP5-15 REPRINTS AVAILABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE PUBUSHERS PHOTOCOPYING PERMITTED BY UCENSE ONLY OISAZ200a PfflrJTED IN THE UK Addrass for correspondeDce: Trevor Stokes. Ph.D., PO Box 743. Land O'L^es.Fi 34639-0743, USA- E-mail: Social Effects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabilities Stephanie Walters Esteves and Trevor Stokes Department of Child & Family Studies. University of South Florida. USA ABSTRACT Productive and positive interactions iDetween dogs and humans have been documented in studies using dogs trained as companion animais and as assistants for peopie with disabilities, in this study, the effects of the presence of a dog on social interactions between three 5-9-year-old children with developmental disabilities and their teacher at an elementary school were analyzed. A single-case experiments design with repeated measures and with replicated effects across participants was employed to assess changes in interactions from baseline to an intervention condition. During baseline, inter- actions were assessed in the social environment of a room adjacent to the classroom, which had a toy dog and other piay materials, during time with the teacher The experimental change introduced sequentially and systemat- ically across the participants was the additional presence of an obedience- trained dog, a German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever cross, interactions between the children and their teacher were examined during morning sessions using reliable direct observation interval recording procedures. All participants demonstrated an increase in overall positive initiated behaviors (verbal and non-verbal) toward both the teacher and the dog. The children also showed an overall decrease in negative initiated behaviors. In addition, observational ratings showed positive generalization of improved social responsiveness by the children in their classroom following the completion of the experimental sessions, This study supports the position that children with developmental disabilities benefit from the use of skilled dogs as teaching assistants and therapeutic adjuncts. Keywords: developmental disabilities, dogs, generalization, school, social effects M Dogs are versatile creatures, both as friends and as workers. Historically, they have been bred to perform many duties such as hunting, herding, protecting livestock and property, and haul- ing sleds. More recently, dogs have been trained as companion animals and assistants for people with disabilities. This growing interest has Social Effects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabililties included research on the effects of the presence of animals as adjuncts to therapy. Reports of the positive effects of animals in therapeutic situations include children (Hansen et al. 1999); individuals with physical (Eddy, Hart and Boltz 1987), emotional {Kaminski, Pellino and Wish 2002) or psychiatric impairments {Marr et al. 2000); individuals with developmental disabili- ties (Limond. Bradshaw and Cormack 1997) or pervasive developmental disorders (Redefer and Goodman 1989; Martin and Farnum 2002); the elderly (Fick 1993; Crowley-Robinson, Fenwick and Blackshaw 1996); adults with substance abuse (Marr et. al. 2000); and prison- ers (Waish and Mertin 1994). Even though these studies show positive outcomes, the scientific basis of the conclusions is variable, with only a fevw quantitative studies with sound experimental designs reported. The effects of pet therapy and play therapy on 70 hospitalized children with chronic med- ical disorders were examined by Kaminski, Peliino and Wish (2002), A mood rating scale completed by the parent/caregiver contained rtems relating to the dimensions of happy scared, lonely, and relaxed, The pet therapy group was reported to be significantly happier than the play group after therapy In addition, reliable behavior observations revealed that the children in the pet therapy group also displayed significantly more positive affect and touching than the play therapy group. In a similar anaiysis, Martin and Farnum (2002) used a within-participants, repeated- measures design to assess prosocial interactions (behaviors reflecting engagement with the environment) and nonsocial interactions (behaviors such as hand flapping and ignoring ques- tions) during three conditions: with a ball, with a stuffed dog toy and in the presence of a live dog. Therapy sessions occurred three times a week and lasted 15 minutes each. Ten children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, ranging in age from 3 to 13 years, partici- pated in the study Children who were exposed to a real dog were more focused and aware of their environments (looking at object, therapist, or dog) and displayed a more playful mood (indicated by laughing and giving treats) when in the presence of a therapy dog. Children were also more likely to talk to or about the dog when in the presence of the dog. An important systematic study was conducted by Limcnd, Bradshaw and Cormack (1997), in which eight children with Down's syndrome, ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, participated in 14-minute sessions. The effects of the presence of a dog were analyzed each session during two counterbalanced experimental procedures. Present in the first condition was a handler and an imitation dog similar in size, color, and texture to the live dog, along with two toys. The second condition was the same, except that it involved the handler with a real dog, who was a 7-year-old, male, black Labrador Retnever In each condition, the handler en- couraged the child to perform activities involving the test dog (real or imitation), but the child was free to interact in any way with the dog, the toys, or the handler. The results indicated that the children directed their gaze at the real dog for a significantly longer duration than they did to the therapist, imitation dog and toys, or other objects in the room. Furthermore, the chil- dren did not respond to the therapist as often in the imitation-dog condition as they did in the real-dog condition. In a systematic replication of research noted above, the purpose of the present study was to objectively assess for robust effects of the presence of a dog on the positive and negative, verbal and non-verbal, social responsiveness of individual children with developmental disabilities. During sessions with the special education teacher at school, this research was conducted using a single-case experimental design with repeated measures and with replicated effects across participants (Kazdin 1982). Esteves and Steves Methods Participants Three children, two males and one female, between the ages of 5 and 9 years attending an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) kindergarten through second grade classroom of a pub- lic elementary school participated, The children were diagnosed as having mental retardation, two also with Down's syndrome (Kirsten and Georgie) and one with hearing impainment (Owen) (all participant names are pseudonyms). Each child displayed the ability to communicate using verbalizations of a few words. Written informed consent was obtained from parents prior to conducting this study, consistent with approval from the University of South Horida Institu- tional Review Board and the County Schools. A certified ESE teacher with a Masters degree in Special Education conducted the ses- sions. The dog chosen for this study was an 18-month-old, male, German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever cross named Arrow. Arrow was obedience-trained and concurrently enrolled in ther- apy dog training. He had more than one years' experience interacting with children in a spe- cial education classroom. Setting Experimental sessions were conducted in a room adjoining the participants' classroom. The children were allowed access to the room prior to the study to insure it was not a novel envi- ronment. The room was approximately 6 x 3 meters with three side-by-side windows on one wall. The room contained cabinets, bookshelves, educational materials, chairs, and toys. A video camera was set up on one of the shelves facing the child and teacher. It was turned on before the child entered the room and turned otf after the child left the room, The child and teacher sat on the floor, across from each other, with the child facing the camera. The cam- era was concealed among other items on the shelf and had a cloth draped over it to decrease the child's reactivity to being videotaped. Dependent Variables The social behaviors observed were categorized as positive/negative, verbal/non-verbal, and ini- tiations/responses. Positive verbal statements were defined as those utterances indicating pleasure or interest in the situation (e.g.. "happy," "fun." "more," "yes") or requests for help (e.g., "help" openitig bag containing dog treat). Negative vert)al statements were defined as those ut- terances indicating displeasure or disinterest in the situation (e.g., "No," "Uh Uh," "Stop"). Positive non-verbal behaviors were defined as those behaviors indicating pleasure or in- terest in the situation; for example, smiling, laughing, touching the dog by petting, hugging or kissing, clapping hands, nodding head, complying with a request non-verbally, blowing kisses, sharing or handing things to the teacher, throwing/handing treats to the dog, holding the leash, or walking the dog. Negative non-verbal behaviors were defined as those behaviors indicat- ing displeasure or disinterest in the situation; for example, turning body or face away from the teacher, crying, frowning (corners of lips turned down), hiding face, attempts to or actually leaving the room, property destruction (throwing things, knocking things off shelves/table, play- ing with computer if these actions would cause damage if uninterrupted), or no response to dog-reiated questions or task suggestions. Interactions were assessed as either child-initiated toward the teacher or the dog (e.g., child interacted without prompting) or teacher-prompted interactions toward the teacher or the dog (e.g., child responded to a request to perform a task with the dog or answered a question when asked). Social Effects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabiliities Data Collection Each child participated in 8-minute sessions, five days per week, with the teacher. The ses- sions commenced upon arrivai at schooi foilowing breakfast, at about 0900 hours. During ex- perimental sessions, a partial interval recording was used to measure the dependent variables. This consisted of ten seconds for observation, followed by five seconds for recording the rel- evant behaviors. Most sessions were scored during the session by a trained observer who was a school guidance counselor with a master's degree, was experienced with the behav- ior of ohildren with developmental disabilities, and was blind to the experimental predictions. The observer sat in the far corner of the room and remained unobtrusive and passive. When it was not possible for the observer to be present, the videotapes were reviewed and sub- sequently scored by the observer. Observers were cued at the end of each timed interval using a cassette tape that signaled the elapsed time. Session data were reported as the per- centage of intervals in which each targeted behavior occurred (number of intervals in which the behavior was scored divided by the total number of intervals x 100%). Inter-Observer Reliability Assessment Inter-observer agreement was assessed by having a second trained observer present during sessions to take an independent record of the behaviors that were the dependent variables. The reliability observer was present for 65% of the sessions for Kirsten, in 68% of Georgie's sessions, and for 44% of Owen's sessions, distributed across all experimental conditions. Inter-observer agreement was calculated by dividing the number of agreements on behaviors by intervals by the number of agreements on behaviors by intervals plus disagreement inter- vals, and multiplying by 100. Experimental Procedures Teacher Training: A protocol for interactions specifying the content of the interactions with the child was given to the teacher to follow. Training included direct instructions on baseline and intervention session procedures and the operational definitions of the targeted behav- iors; demonstration of baseline and intervention session procedures; role plays demon- strating two examples of each behavior (positive verbal and non-verbal behaviors, negative verbal and non-verbal behaviors, and initiations and responses); guided feedback on base- line and intervention session procedures; and corrected role play on baseline and interven- tion session procedures. Role plays, feedback, and corrections were repeated until the teacher could accurately demonstrate the procedures independently with 95% proficienoy for two role-play scenarios. Baseline: Baseline sessions consisted of the presence of the teacher in the room along with toys, one of which was a toy dog. The teacher gathered the following items and placed them onthefloorforthesessioniatoyKooshball, atoycar, astuffedtoydog, a dog leash, dog bis- cuits in a bag, a brush, and a dog toy. The teacher then went to the classroom and walked the child back to the session room. Once in the room, the teacher asked the child to be seated in the designated area and the child was prompted: "Let's play with the dog today." The teacher waited 10 seconds for the child to initiate interactions with the toys or with the teacher. A predetermined guideline for in- teractions was used in the sessions which Included questions relating to the dog such as "What color is the dog?," "Do you remember the dog's name?," and tasks related to the dog such as "Give the dog a treat" and "Brush the dog." Esteves and Stokes If no interactions with the toys or with the teacher were initiated v̂ nthin 10 seconds, the teacher asked the child a dog-related question from the protocol. The teacher waited 10 sec- onds for a response. If no response was made, the teacher asked the child to do a task from the protocol, If there was still no response, the teacher asked the child the next dog-related question from the protocol. Questions and tasks were altemated throughout the session and were not repeated within the session. Sessions were discontinued if the child engaged in an attanpt to leave the room, physic^ aggression toward the teacher or dog such as grabbing, hitting, or kicking, or property de- stnjction. At the end of each session, the teacher led the child back to the classroom, Intervention: Following stabilization of baseline data, the second condition was introduced. The procedures for these sessions were identical to the procedures for the baseline condition, with the exception of the additional presence of the real dog. Arrow. Prior to beginning each session, Arrow was brought to the session room while the children were out of the classroom, to avoid disruptions. Intervention sessions ended with the teacher saying "Tlie dog is tired, it's time to say goodbye." The teaoher then led the child back to the classroom and returned for the dog. Experimental Design Consistent with the usual and accepted practices of applied behavior analysis, a multiple baseline design across participants was utilized to demonstrate the effects of the presence of a dog on the social interactions of the participants, as measured by the dependent vari- ables. Repeated measures baseline data were taken on all three participants. In this study, stabilization of data within conditions and changes across experimental conditions were assessed by examination of the data path characteristics of the level, trend, variability, and overlap of data sequences and patterns of at least six sessions (Parsonson 2003). Inter- vention with participant one began with the stabilization of baseline data. Upon the effec- tive intervention for participant one and the demonstration of stable baselines for participants two and three, intervention was then applied to participant two. Again fol- lowing the stabilization of all data, intervention was applied to participant three. Experi- mental control in this replicated case design is demonstrated by establishing that changes in the data of each participant systematically followed the sequential interventions at dif- ferent times after variable lengths of baseline, which controls for history, maturation, and testing (Kazdin 1982). Classroom Ratings Classroom-based qualitative assessments of the dependent variables were completed fol- lowing each intervention session 30 minutes after the child returned to the classroom. Based upon the same behavior definitions as used in the intervention sessions, both the classroom teacher and her instructional assistant provided qualitative ratings on a 5-point scale, where 1 referred to "not at all," 3 was "sometimes," and 5 was "most of the time." Eight questions were answered about classroom behavior following each session: 1) Did the child initiate positive ver- bal statements? 2) Did the child initiate negative verbal statements?; 3) Did the child initiate pos- itive non-verbal behaviors?; 4) Did the child initiate negative non-verbal behaviors?; 5) Did the child respond to a request or answer a question v^en asked using positive verbal statements? 6) Did the child respond to a request or answer a question when asked using negative verbal statements? 7) Did the child respond to a request or answer a question when asked using Social Eflects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabililties positive non-verbal behaviors? and 8) Did the child respond to a request or answer a ques- tion when asked using negative non-verbal behaviors? Social Validity An assessment of the social validity (Wolf 1978) of the appropriateness of the procedures, the social importance of the goals, and the sooial value of the effects was conducted using a qualitative questionnaire administered to the teacher and instructional assistant following the completion of the study. Questions were answered with a rating from 1 (strongly agree) to 6 (strongly disagree). The statements rated were as follows: This intervention was easy to use; I would reconnmend this intervention to other educators and parents; I liked the proce- dures used in this intervention; It is important to increase the social responsiveness of stu- dents with their teacher; It is important to learn new interventions to change the behavior of children with mental retardation; It is useful to examine how a child's interactions with a dog can lead to positive outcomes; I would use this intervention in the classroom setting again because it is effective; The presence of a dog led to an improvement in the social interac- tions of the children with their teacher; and This intervention was valuable for the child. Results Within the multiple baseline design across participants, Figure 1 presents overall child initiated positive interactions during baseline and intervention. Positive initiated verbal interactions were low but stable in all three participants during the baseline condition. Positive initiated verbal in- teractions had a mean of 1 % and a range of 0-6% for Kirsten, a mean and range of 0% for Georgie, and a mean of 4% and a range of 0-13% for Owen, With Kirsten, as the intervention progressed a moderate increasing trend in positive initi- ated verbal interactions was noted (mean 4%; range 0-16%). After the beginning of the in- tervention with Georgie, consistent with the sequential interventions of a multiple baseline design, he demonstrated an immediate and substantial increase in positive initiated verbal in- teractions (mean 24%; range 3-50%). After intervention, Owen's positive initiated verbal in- teractions also showed a consistent increase when the dog was introduced (mean 14%; range 3-28%). Positive initiated non-verbal interactions were low, with some initial variability for Kirsten in the baseline condition {mean 1 1 % ; range (3-57%). Positive initiated non-verbal interactions were initially at a higher level of occurrence but displayed a olear downward trend in the base- line condition for Georgie (mean 33%; range 0-65%). Positive initiated non-verbal interactions for Owen were at a higher and stable level during the baseline condition (mean 63%; range 3 8 - 75%). When the intervention was introduced, positive initiated non-verbal interactions increased substantially for all three participants: Kirsten to mean 72%, range of 41-97%; Georgie to mean 99%, range 91-100%; and Owen to mean 76%, range of 59-88%. The mean rating of each dependent variable is presented in Table 1. Mean ratings com- paring baseline and intervention sessions showed that there was an increase in positive ini- tiations, verbal and non-verbal, toward the teacher and the dog, on all of the assessments except with one participant, where the baseline level of non-verbal initiations with the teacher was already over 50% of intervals. Overall positive initiations toward the teacher in- creased from a baseline mean of 13.5% to an intervention mean of 22.8%, whereas posi- tive initiations toward the dog increased from a baseline mean of 5.7% to an intervention mean of 37.8%. Esteves and Stokes o CL 5 100 80 60 40 20 0 60 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0 Baseline Kirsten Intervention • Positive NoivVeitwl O Positive VertMl Geoigie O o Owen o. o-' 10 15 Sessions 20 Figure 1. Multiple baseline across participants of overall positive . ' . . interactions initiated toward the teacher and the dog. With regard to negative initiations, only Kirsten had a high level of negative interactions, which were primarily non-verbal interactions with the teacher, with a baseline mean of 86%. These reduced to an intervention mean of 11 % negative initiated non-verbal interactions. Also with Kirsten, there was an increase in negative initiated non-verbal interactions with the dog, from a baseline mean of 0% to an intervention mean of 5%. A similar increase in negative ini- tiated non-verbal interaction with the dog was seen with Owen, whose baseline mean of 0% increased to an intervention mean of 13%, E.I Social Effects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabililties Table 1. Baseline and intervention mean session percentages of each dependent variable for each participant. Dependent Variable Posilive Initiated Verbal Interactions with Teacher Positive Initiated Non-Verbal Interactions with Teacher Positive Initiated Verbal Interactions with Dog Positive Initiated Non-\fe[bal Interactions wltti Dog Negative Initiated V&bal Interaotbns with Teacher Negative Initiated Non-Verbal Interactions with Teacher Negative Initiated \ferbal Interactions with Dog Negative Initiated Non-Verbal interactions with Dog BL 1 % 11% 0% 0% 2% 86% 0% 0% Kirsten INT 2% 22% 1% 62% 0% 11% 0% 5% BL 0% 11% 0% 22% 0% 1 % 0% 0% Georgie (NT 4% 48% 20% 94% 0% 0% 0% 0% Owen BL 4% 54% 0% 12% 0% 0% 0% 0% INT 11% 50% 3% 47% 0% 2% 1 % 13% Note: BL = Baseline; INT = Intervention Inter-Obsen/er Agreement " The mean percent inter-observer agreement score for the measured dependent variables for each of the participants ranged from 77-100%. Tine range of the Inter-observer agreement scores were as follows: positive initiated verbal interactions with the teacher was 94-100% for Kirsten and Georgie and 88-100% for Owen; positive initiated verbal interactions with the dog was 94-100% for Kirsten and Georgie and 97-100% for Owen; positive initiated non-verbal interactions with the teacher was 91-100% for Kirsten, 22-100% for Georgie, and 41-100% for Owen; positive initiated non-verbal interactions with the dog was 97-100% for Kirsten, 5 0 - 100% for Georgie, and 84-100% for Owen; positive verbal responses with the teacher was 94-100% for Kirsten and Georgie and 100% for Owen; positive verbal responses with the dog was 100% for Kirsten and Owen and 97-100% for Georgie; positive non-veri^al responses with the teacher was 100% for Kirsten and Owen and 97-100% for Georgie; positive non-ver- bal responses with the dog was 100% for Kirsten and Owen and 88-97% for Georgie; neg- ative initiated verbal interactions with the teacher and negative initiated veriDal interactions with the dog had a range of 100% for all three participants. Negative initiated non-veri^al interac- tions with the teacher had a range of 71-100% for Kirsten and 100% for Georgie and Owen; negative initiated non-verbal interactions with the dog had a range of 100% for Kirsten and Georgie and 94-100% for Owen; negative verbal responses with the teacher had a range of 88-100% for Kirsten and 100% for Georgie and Owen; negative verbal responses with the dog, negative non-veri^al responses with the teacher, and negative non-verbal responses with the dog each had a range of 100% for all three participants. Classroom Ratings The mean rating of each dependent variable during daily classroom observations after experimental sessions is presented in Table 2. Mean ratings comparing baseline and Esteves and Stokes intervention sessions showed that there was an increase in positive dimensions on 92% of the assessments, with an overall increase in means from 2.5 to 3.2. There was a decrease in negative dimensions on 83% of the assessments, with an overall decrease in means from 2.4 to 2.1. Table 2. Means of daily ratings during classroom generalization assessment foilowing each session. Dependent Variable Positive Initiated Verbai Interactions with Teacher Positive Initiated Non-Vwbai Interactions with Teacher Positive initiated Verbai Interactions with Dog Positive Initiated Non-\feft)al interactions with Dog Negative Initiated Veit>al Interactions with Teacher Negative initiated Non-Vert3ai Interactions with Teacher Negative Initiated Verbal Interactions with Dog Negative Initiated Non-Vertsal Interactions with Dog Kirsten BL 1.67 1.83 2.83 2.83 3.17 3.17 3.17 3.33 INT 2.18 2.27 2.36 3.20 1.91 3.45 2.64 2.40 Georgie BL 1.56 2.89 3.56 3.00 1.22 1.56 1.11 1.56 INT 2.85 3.23 4.31 3.62 1.00 1.38 1.38 1.31 Owen BL 1.82 2.45 2.64 2.91 1.73 3.00 2.55 3.45 INT 4.00 2.71 3.86 3.71 1.71 2.86 1.86 3.00 Note: BL = Baseline; INT = Interventbn Social Validity Ratings The social validity data, all with ratings of 5 or 6. showed that both the teacher and teacherte as- sistant found the intervention to be appropriate, easy to use, and socially significant. They also strongly agreed that the intervention was effective and led to improved interactions with tiieir teacher. D i s c u s s i o n The purpose of this research was to assess the social effects of the preserx» of a dog on the ver- bal and non-verbal interactions of children with developmental disabilities toward their teacher and toward a dog at school. The study showed that the presence of the dog during sessions increased positive initiated interactions towatJ the teactier and the dog for all three participants. Also, when there was a high rate of occurrence of negative interacticxis, those decreased with the intervention. In addition, social validity assessment established positive ratings of procedures, go^s, and effects in this research. Furthermore, qualitative evaluatbn showed generalized improvements in interac- tions with the teacher in the children's classroom folbwing sessions with the dog. The multiple baseline design across three participants was used to demonstrate the effects of the treatment in an experimentally controlled manner. The controlled outcomes were de- termined by systematically introducing the intervention to different participants, at different points in time, and showing the changes in behavior occurred systematically after intervention and not at any prior time (Kazdin 1982). Social Effects of a Dog's Presence on Children with Disabililties This Study supports the research by Limond, Bradshaw and Cormack (1997) and Martin and Famum (2002), in which prosocial behaviors were measured under conditions including the pres- ence of a real dog. However, this study differs In design, diagnosis of participants, procedures, and operational definitions. Although operational definitions of positive beha\flors vary across studies, laughing, giving treats, and talking to the dog were included in both of the prevbus studies. As with the Limond, Bradshaw and Cormack (1997) and Martin and Farnum (2002) studies, this study demonstrated an increase in those behaviors for all participants when in the presence of the dog. The present study also examined the generalization of effects across settings (Stokes and Baer 1977). Qualitative ratings in the classroom showed improvements, although it is impor- tant to recognize that objective and reliable observations of behavior in the classroom were not completed. Although unanalyzed in terms of the factors controlling generalization, there was an important common salient stimulus present in both the intervention setting and the class- room, that is, the teacher. Further evaluation of variables controlling the occurrence of gener- alization and outcomes in the natural environments of the children is warranted (Stokes and Osnes 1989). Certainly, the presence of a dog may lead to stimulus generalization, but an ef- fective and well maintained program will probably require active support and intervention by teacher or therapist to provide additional consequences typically present in an interaction, in order to support generalization (Redefer and Goodman 1989). Another area for future study is to look at interactions with the teacher regarding specific tasks, that is, academics, to determine if the child's academic tasks improve either as a result of the sessions or as a result of the increased positive communication with the teacher result- ing from these procedures. One parent reported that her child had begun talking much more at home during the intervention stage of this study. Future studies could look at the effects of the intervention and generalization of the behaviors across various settings and times of day When working with children with developmental disabilities it is important to discover var- ious ways of teaching them effectively. This study is significant in demonstrating that the pres- ence of a dog can increase communication between a teacher and a child with developmental disabilities. These changes occurred in interaction with the teacher, separate fi'om interactions v̂ /ith the dog, and also without the teacher increasing the number of task suggestions or ques- tions directed towa'd the children during the intervention condition. This increased communi- cation can then be focused on social development, as welt as on educational tasks and learning. It would be beneficial to use dogs in schools as assistants to the school counselor, psychologist, or speech and physical therapists to assist in increasing communication, speech, or motor skills. Dogs can also be used as an assistant in the classroom in teaching a specific task such as daily living skills, or as part of a curriculum such as reading, writing, story time, circle time, etc. A dog can act as the subject for creative writing, for reading stories about dogs, or can participate with children in group activities, with the dog being counted as a member of the group. This may increase participation for the children in some activities. It may not be beneficial to have a dog present throughout the school day, however, as this would be exhausting for the dog and disruptive to the children. It should also be noted that some cultural customs and some children's experiences may preclude them from being participants who may benefit from these procedures. The present study has limitations. The sample size is small, with three participants who were examined in detailed repeated measures in time se-ies in the typical manner of single-case experimental design. Even though this allows assessment of generalizability through replica- ticxi across participants, the research is in need of further r^lication. Effects across participants Esteves and Stokes were variable, although the general pattems of the data and outcomes were consistent. In these studies, a robust effect is evident visually by examination of graphs allowing assessment of reliability of effects when the probability of a Type 2 error is higher than that of a Type 1 error. In conclusion, there are few systematic studies to date on the effects of the presence of dogs on social interactions (Hart 2006). Much of the current literature is anecdotal in nature, whereas the present study documented effects of reliable data within a controlled experimen- tal design, TTiis study supports previous findings that the presence of a dog can increase com- munication and positive non-verbal behaviors, virfnioh v̂ flll enable children with developmental disabilities to recruit reinforcement from their natural environments. This study adds to the growing research literature showing that children with developmental disabilities may benefit from the use of dogs as teaching assistants and adjuncts to therapy. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Jennifer Austin, Holly Steele, Dawn Gonzalez. Jennifer Lotti, Dswu Carder, Debra Mowery, and Diane Dwyer f a their thoughtful advice and dedicated assistance in the completion of this project. Thanks also to Arrow and the participants and their families. References Crowley-Robinson, P., Fenwick. D. C. and Blackshaw, J. 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