Interacting with pet animals will be helpful for children with autism. There have been a number of examples of children benefitting from interacting with animals. Dogs and horses are the pet animals commonly used for this purpose.

Studies on the effect of pet therapy on children with autism show generally a positive effect.

Parents must, however, consider sensitivities of their child before considering if a pet therapy would be helpful or not. It is also better not to expect any dramatic improvement in their autism with pet therapy alone.

There are not many places in Bangalore which offer pet therapy as an option for children with autism.

The Paws and Hooves project is an excellent initiative by a group of people of people who are passionate about the potential of pet therapy led by Subhadra Cherukuri who have extensive experience starting from her childhood in working with animals and Rachel Issac who is a physiotherapist. They are innovative and passionate about the potential for pet therapy in children with developmental and other problems.  Please see below brief information and details of their own web site. Pictures provided here are supplied by “The Paws and Hooves Project”

The Paws and Hooves project from Wag-ville is an integrated multi-disciplinary animal-assisted therapy center in Bangalore which provides Equine Assisted Therapy (Hippotherapy or Horse-assisted therapy) and Canine assisted Therapy (dog-assisted therapy) through a team of certified Animal Assisted Therapy practitioners, consulting physiotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists.

Links to their websites for more information