Pets Can Help With Social Skills

A small study suggests that introducing a new pet to your autistic child can help them improve some social skills: 

It appeared that having a pet at all didn’t matter as much as when the pet was introduced to the home. Autistic children who grew up with a pet from birth appeared to be no different from those living in households without pets, but children who received a pet at age 4 or 5 showed major improvement in two social skills that are not only difficult for autistic people, but are also critical in sustaining human relationships: sharing with others and comforting people in distress.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/02/pets-can-help-autistic-children-learn-to-share-and-comfort-others/#ixzz22QNelHx7

Have you noticed that giving your child a pet helped them in these areas?  Would you consider getting your child a pet of their own?