Page 16 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 10

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W
The Sloughi and the Mogod pony are part
of Tunisia's intangible heritage. The
association Centre Hippique Mahdia has,
among its objectives, their safeguard.
Sloughi Review: out of curiosity, where do
the Sloughis who work with you come
from? And are they the object of a
particular training before presenting them
to autistic children?
Gabriella Incisa di Camerana: My first
Sloughis, a male and a female, were from
Douz, the city at the gateway to the Sahara
Desert. Then all the others are part of our
litters. Born with us, they are trained with
the Clicker Training method, like the other
animals in fact.
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Sloughi Review: Could you give us some
examples where you think a Sloughi has
particularly helped an autistic child.
Gabriella Incisa di Camerana: Starting this
year, in case of bad weather, we are the
ones who go to the centers that welcome
autistic children. We arrive with our
educational games and our Sloughis.
The results have been obvious, and the
children are progressing thanks to this
weekly meeting.
Ullis Sundell: Sloughis are said to be
particularly good at body language and
reading the feelings of other beings. Have
you ever been helped by these skills to
discover or anticipate different emotional
states in your students?
Gabriella Incisa di Camerana: My Sloughis
do even more. If there is a case of an
autistic child, they sit down or they put
their tail between their legs. They freeze,
they no longer move. On the other hand,
faced with a child without specific needs,
they move it normally. A very useful first
clue!