Page 15 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 10

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W
Sloughi Review: How is an animal
interaction positive for the autistic child?
Gabriella Incisa di Camerana: The animal
and the child use the same modalities of
interaction, namely a communication
based, essentially, on the non-verbal mode
and an importance given to tactile contact.
The animal is a conditional stimulus
enabling a better management of anxiety.
According to Hubert Montagner,
psychophysiologist in the field of
development, behavior and rhythms of the
child, former Director of Research at
INSERM, "Five skills allow young children to
integrate information from the outside
world: sustained visual attention, the
structured organization of movement, the
urge for interaction, affiliative behaviors
and imitation. Sustained visual attention
(i.e., looking steadily at a target) is a
prerequisite for any form of learning. The
structured and targeted organization of the
gesture facilitates the grasping and
manipulation of objects and allows the child
to know the properties of the world of
matter. Thanks to the urge for interaction,
the child reduces the interpersonal distance
with the partner and thus acquires new
knowledge. Affiliative behaviors have a high
probability of resulting in long-lasting
adjusted and attuned interactions and thus
provide the child with opportunities to learn
from his partners.
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They are the basis of the so-called
socialization processes, which notably
regulate interactions within peer groups.
Finally, imitation allows the child to
integrate a new action and to enrich his
behavioral repertoire."
Sloughi Review: Why the Sloughi in
particular? How is this breed particularly
useful therapeutically?
Gabriella Incisa di Camerana: Like the
Mogods pony, which is the equine present
in my animal team, the Sloughi is
threatened with extinction.
He is a docile, sensitive dog who does not
drool. His hair is fine and silky, easy to
maintain, attracting caresses.
The dog's gaze has been shown to trigger a
spike in the hormone oxytocin in the
person. The role of oxytocin is well known:
this hormone, secreted in the brain by the
hypothalamus, is involved in childbirth,
lactation, and the regulation of emotions.
For several years, it has been known that
people with autism spectrum disorders
(ASD) have a deficiency of oxytocin in the
blood. The team from the Cognitive
Neuroscience Center (which has since
become the ISC) led by Angela Sirigu was
one of the first to show, in 2010, that the
administration of oxytocin by the nasal
route significantly improved the ability of
autistic patients to interact with others.