1. Animal Integration in the Education Programme Patras, Greece March 2016

2. Session 1- Assessing Animals for AAI

3. Session 1- Assessing Animals  General AAI Suitability Assessment  Specific Assessment for Schools  Task based Assessment  Daily ( pre - session ) Assessment

4. General AAI Suitability Assessment Based on :  “ Personality ” / Temperament

5. General AAI Suitability Assessment  Extroversion vs Introversion Requirements can differ depending on the type of AAI programme e. g Therapy ( hospital visitation ) dogs are more likely to be more extroverted than Education dogs.  Stability vs Instability Relates to ability to be able to cope and deal with stressors. Stability will always be preferable over Instability.

6. Preparing an objective Assessment Protocol  A fair assessment  Objectively measured  Set criteria to pass

8. Specific Assessment for Schools  Stability with :  Environment ; physical, chemical and auditory  People ; children and adults. Various appearances, behaviours and ways of interacting.

9. How could the previous assessment be modified to make a specific assessment for a dog intended to work in the school environment ?

10. Task based Assessment  Stability with :  The equipment intended to be used in the session and the potential responses of the child / children.

11. Daily ( pre - session ) Assessment  Physical Health - normal temperature, breathing, eating, normal stools, clean eyes, ears, anal region.  Emotional Well - being and Behavioural Responses - reacting and acting in a ‘ normal ’ manner to stimulus of all modalities.

12. Session 2- Preparing and Training Animals

13. Session 2- Preparing and Training Animals for AAI  Habituation  Desensitisation  Classical Conditioning  Training through Positive reinforcement

14. Habituation  Ideally preparation starts from when the animal is very young  This early exposure to various types of stimulus allows the animal to see many as stimuli as ‘ neutral ’. This allows for HABITUATION.

15. Desensitisa tion  If an animal perceives a stimulus as either positive ( good ) or negative ( bad ) it is said to be ‘ sensitive ’ to it.  A stimulus will cause arousal, significant increases in arousal can end up causing flight or fight based responses.  A careful desensitisation programme must be prepared to control sensitivity.

16. Desensitisation Programme  Where possible a desensitisation programme should lead to habituation through gradual controlled exposure to establish the stimulus as neutral.  This process is very time consuming and limited generalisation can prevent it being effective, therefore classical conditioning is more commonly employed.

17. Classical Conditioning  Otherwise known as Pavlovian Conditioning  Associates a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that has a naturally occurring response ( unconditioned )  In desensitisation a negative stimulus is paired with an un - conditioned positive stimulus to cause the same behavioural ( conditioned ) response.

18. Exam ples  It is VERY important that ‘ Flooding ’ is not used as an alternative to desensitisation.

19. Example - Desensitise Horse to a wheelchair

20. Training for AAI  A novel element can be added to AAI sessions when animal ( s ) is trained a unique task / skill.  Training method used should be positive reinforcement and negative punishment.  Positive Punishment and Negative Reinforcement methods should never be practised for animals intended for AAI.

21. Quadrants of Operant Conditioni ng

22. Example - Train a dog to lie on a mat and rest the head on lap on cue

23. Session 3- Planning Goal Focussed Sessions

24. Key Goals  Key goals are the aims of a programme or session ( s ). These should be applicable to the child or group of children  A maximum number of 3 Key Goals is suggested  Facilitators should remain focused on the Key Goals throughout a session

25. How the booklet works  I decide upon key goals. What Animal? What activity?

26. How the booklet works  I have an animal to use, what activities could I do and how might they benefit the children?

27.  I have an area of the curriculum that I am working on. How could I integrate animals? How the booklet works

28. Planning an AAI session  Key Goals  Time  Animal ( s ) to use  Activity & Activity Measure  Notes / Comments

29. Planning an AAI session  Example Michael, 8 Muscular Dystrophy Key Goals : Co - ordination, Counting, Team - work and Co - operation.

30. TOMORROW - More on Session Planning and measuring outcomes

31. Equestrian Centre Visit

32. 4 Activities to demonstrate key goals within the main benefits  Physical - Gross Motor Function  Psychological & Emotional - Promote calm and relaxation  Social - Team work and Co - operation  Cognitive - Listening to instruction and sequencing

33. Session 4- Planning Goal Focussed Sessions : Case Studies

34. Session 5- Measuring Outcomes

35. If we want AAI to be respected by fellow professionals, measurable outcomes are very important.  Have a starting measure ( prior to animal interactions, or first session measure )  Re - measure after a single activity or session, or after a set of sessions ( a programme )

36. For an objective / non - bias measure it is best if a percentage is calculated.

37. E. G Michael : Initial measure - hits the target accurately 6 times out of 10 New measure - hits the target accurately 8 times out of 10. (8/10 - 6/10) x 100 = 20% improvement in accuracy

38. Information Summary to date What are Animal Assisted Interaction Programmes? What are the benefits of AAI? How to keep animals in the classroom (5 freedoms ) How to handle animals ( reduce stress ) How to recognise when animals are stressed ( keep children safe )

39. Information Summary to date Assessing the suitability of Animals for AAI Preparing and training animals for AAI Planning goal focused sessions Measuring Outcomes ( Evaluating AAI success )

40. Success is… Having another being experience your most perfect potential