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Animal Integration in the Education Programme Patras, Greece March 2016
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Session 1- Assessing Animals for AAI
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Session 1- Assessing Animals General AAI Suitability Assessment Specific Assessment for Schools Task based Assessment Daily ( pre - session ) Assessment
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General AAI Suitability Assessment Based on : “ Personality ” / Temperament
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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.
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Preparing an objective Assessment Protocol A fair assessment Objectively measured Set criteria to pass
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Specific Assessment for Schools Stability with : Environment ; physical, chemical and auditory People ; children and adults. Various appearances, behaviours and ways of interacting.
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How could the previous assessment be modified to make a specific assessment for a dog intended to work in the school environment ?
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Task based Assessment Stability with : The equipment intended to be used in the session and the potential responses of the child / children.
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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.
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Session 2- Preparing and Training Animals
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Session 2- Preparing and Training Animals for AAI Habituation Desensitisation Classical Conditioning Training through Positive reinforcement
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Exam ples It is VERY important that ‘ Flooding ’ is not used as an alternative to desensitisation.
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Example - Desensitise Horse to a wheelchair
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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.
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Quadrants of Operant Conditioni ng
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Example - Train a dog to lie on a mat and rest the head on lap on cue
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Session 3- Planning Goal Focussed Sessions
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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
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How the booklet works I decide upon key goals. What Animal? What activity?
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How the booklet works I have an animal to use, what activities could I do and how might they benefit the children?
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I have an area of the curriculum that I am working on. How could I integrate animals? How the booklet works
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Planning an AAI session Key Goals Time Animal ( s ) to use Activity & Activity Measure Notes / Comments
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Planning an AAI session Example Michael, 8 Muscular Dystrophy Key Goals : Co - ordination, Counting, Team - work and Co - operation.
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TOMORROW - More on Session Planning and measuring outcomes
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Equestrian Centre Visit
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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
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Session 4- Planning Goal Focussed Sessions : Case Studies
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Session 5- Measuring Outcomes
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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 )
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For an objective / non - bias measure it is best if a percentage is calculated.
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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
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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 )
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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 )
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Success is… Having another being experience your most perfect potential
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