Byström, Kristina and Grahn, Patrik and Hägerhäll, Caroline
(2019).
Vitality from experiences in nature and contact with animals—a way to develop joint attention and social engagement in children with autism?
International journal of environmental research and public health. 16
, 1-36
[Journal article]
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- Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 7MB |
Abstract
Animals are increasingly included in treatment for children with autism, and research has shown positive effects, such as increased social initiatives, decreased typical autistic behaviors, and decreased stress. However, there are still knowledge gaps, for example, on underlying mechanisms and effects from longer treatment duration. The purpose of this study is to contribute to these gaps and ask questions about the ways in which animals and nature can improve conditions for psychological development through support from therapists. The method is based on grounded theory. Data comes from a treatment model (duration 11 2 years, a total of nine children), from environmental psychology and developmental psychology, both typical and atypical as in autism. The results consist of three key categories; reduce stress and instill calm, arouse curiosity and interest, and attract attention spontaneously. These three key categories are related to an underlying core variable, vitality forms, which was described by Daniel Stern and, according to him, is important in forming overall experiences. The starting point is the brain’s way of encoding many internal and external events based on movement perception. Here it is argued that the vitality forms from nature and animals are particularly favorable for effecting development-promoting interactions with a therapist.
Authors/Creators: | Byström, Kristina and Grahn, Patrik and Hägerhäll, Caroline | ||||
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Title: | Vitality from experiences in nature and contact with animals—a way to develop joint attention and social engagement in children with autism? | ||||
Year of publishing : | 2019 | ||||
Volume: | 16 | ||||
Page range: | 1-36 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 36 | ||||
Publisher: | MDPI | ||||
ISSN: | 1661-7827 | ||||
Language: | English | ||||
Publication Type: | Journal article | ||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||
Version: | Published version | ||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 5 Social Sciences > 501 Psychology > Applied Psychology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 405 Other Agricultural Sciences > Other Agricultural Sciences not elsewhere specified (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 3 Medical and Health Sciences > 303 Health Sciences > Other Health Sciences | ||||
Keywords: | autism, child development, treatment, mentalization, animal-assisted therapy, nature-based intervention | ||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-103290 | ||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-103290 | ||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 16537 | ||||
Faculty: | LTV - Fakulteten för landskapsarkitektur, trädgårds- och växtproduktionsvetenskap | ||||
Department: | (LTJ, LTV) > Department of Work Science, Business Economics, and Environmental Psychology | ||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||
Deposited On: | 06 Feb 2020 09:23 | ||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2020 09:23 |
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