Summary:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder with significant social and communication deficits for the individual. The inclusion of students in typical primary school began two decades ago with L.2817/2000, highlighting the need for new educational programs and interventions. Animal Assisted Intervention in the classroom
is moving towards this direction. The purpose of the present study is to examine the attitudes of primary school teachers, with or without specialization in Special Education, about the implementation of animal-based therapeutic interventions in the typical classroom and the potential barriers that may arise. Pubmed, Google Scholar, Research Gate, and Heal-Link search engines were used to review the literature. At the same time, interviews were conducted with 10 primary school teachers. In conclusion, it has been shown that the majority of teachers are willing to implement such interventions in
the school context, although they feel that the logistical structures and the school culture are major, deterrent factors. Given the limited literature on the implementation of these interventions, further research is needed to draw reliable conclusions in order to implement animal-assisted interventions in the greek classroom.
Keywords:
autism, animal-assisted interventions, inclusion, human-animal relationships
