Animal Assisted Therapy for Special Needs Children

Hello Valued Supporters

In our last report, we shared with you an overview of the work we have done over the last year. Evaluating success is an important part of moving forward and improving the program.

Four streams of evaluation are undertaken each year: 

·       Evaluation of individual participants

·       Evaluation of individual staff members

·       Evaluation of the effectiveness of the AAT program at the Zoo

·       Evaluation of the effectiveness of Animal Assisted Therapy as a therapeutic modality

In this report we will explain how we evaluate our participants.

At the beginning of each school year, the AAT team pays an advance visit to the organizations sending participants in order to observe the children and to learn about their individual needs and relationships with their families and teachers. This provides the counselors with an opportunity to speak directly to teachers in order to gather as much background information as possible about each particular child. It also allows for joint goal setting with the children’s teachers.

During the initial three AAT sessions, the team carry out their own assessments of the participants and then plan the therapy according to the performance level of each special needs child, taking into account which experiences will fit the children’s needs and developmental goals. An evaluation of each participant is then undertaken at the mid-point of the school year in order to assess the progress made and which areas require special attention. A final evaluation is conducted at the close of the school year and recommendations are provided to the source institution regarding the future therapy of each participant.

We are grateful to you, our valued supporters, for making this wonderful program possible!

The Animal Assisted Therapy Team at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo