{"id":2196,"date":"2020-03-11T14:39:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T14:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2023-02-28T08:05:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T08:05:33","slug":"cats-can-be-a-purrfect-option-for-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/index.php\/2020\/03\/11\/cats-can-be-a-purrfect-option-for-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats Can Be a Purrfect Option for People with Disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In terms of service or therapy pets, dogs are undoubtedly the most famous. They are well-known for providing services from guiding people who are blind or have limited vision, to helping reduce the impact of seizures, to providing comfort in general. We all know that dogs help a lot of people across the board, including people with disabilities. But what about our friends, cats?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ada.gov\/service_animals_2010.htm\">Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a>, which is celebrating its 30<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary this year, service animals are \u201cdogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.\u201d Dogs have been determined to be the only animals able to perform services for humans. However, there are plenty of ways other animals like cats can help people with disabilities.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides service animals, animals can be classified as therapy animals, emotional support animals, and regular pets. Cats can be any of these or more than one! Therapy animals are animals that come to an area where people can be stressed, and they help. For example, a therapy cat could come to a college to help anxious college students or go to a hospital or a nursing home. For an animal to be considered a therapy animal, it must pass certain tests. Emotional support animals live with the people they help, and they do not need to be trained.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there has not been a lot of research about cats and people with intellectual disabilities, the research that does exist demonstrates cats might just be the perfect choice as a therapy animal, emotional support animal, or pet for someone with intellectual disabilities. In fact, some studies have shown cats might even be preferable for some children with developmental disorders like autism according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanveterinarian.com\/news\/how-cats-can-help-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorder\">American Veterinarian<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, dogs have been favored for these roles, but cats are becoming more and more popular according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.disabled-world.com\/disability\/serviceanimals\/cats.php\">Disabled World<\/a>. As we all know, different people like different pets, and that\u2019s the same whether those pets are supposed to help their owners or not.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace-20.jpg\" alt=\"Young child paints while a kitty watches.\" class=\"wp-image-2198\" width=\"559\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace-20.jpg 880w, https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace-20-300x241@2x.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace-20-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace-20-768x618.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boredpanda.com\/thula-therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace\/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_campaign=organic\">Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>According to research done by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/22048-pets-autism-children-social-behaviors.html\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC), children with autism who had pets had improved social skills compared to those who had never had the responsibility of a pet. Pets help children develop compassion and understand other people\u2019s emotions, relieve anxiety and stress, and elevate children\u2019s self-worth and self-esteem. Because individuals with autism can have a difficult time understanding social skills, they might have a hard time relating to others and can feel isolated. Pets do not have social skills, so they are perfect for children with autism to form relationships with. Animals don\u2019t judge, and they can be great listeners for kids to practice interacting socially without feeling embarrassed or pressured.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For children with autism, cats might make the most sense as a helpful pet. Children with autism can be hypersensitive to sensory output, so dogs who bark, lick their owners\u2019 faces, and are physically active could be too much for a child with autism. Contrastingly, cats are often quieter. A 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu\/news\/why-therapy-cats-are-just-effective-therapy-dogs\">study<\/a> at the University of California-Davis\u2019 School of Veterinary Medicine found that \u201ccats in families with a children with autism-spectrum disorder \u2018often provided valuable bonding, attention and calming affect to the child.\u2019\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cat-high-fives.jpg\" alt=\"Blonde cat gives a high-five!\" class=\"wp-image-2199\" width=\"555\" height=\"414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cat-high-fives.jpg 715w, https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cat-high-fives-300x224@2x.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cat-high-fives-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.womansworld.com\/posts\/animals\/cat-high-fives-157990\">Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Just like with anything, a lot of it comes down to individual preferences, but cats can be purrfect for a lot of people with disabilities! Maybe even one day they could be trained to perform services like service dogs. The pawsbilities are endless!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Author: Carolyn Phillips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For the past two years, Carolyn Phillips has been working in the Communications and Brand Department at Special Olympics International, which provides free sports training and competition and health care to people with intellectual disabilities. Before joining Special Olympics International, she was a volunteer at the Austria 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the Rio 2016 Olympics, and the Los Angeles 2015 Special Olympics World Games. She has coached Special Olympics swimming and worked in the Special Olympics New York and Special Olympics Southern California offices.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cats can be a great option for people with certain disabilities, and studies have shown great results as therapy and emotional support animals, especially with individuals with intellectual disabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,202],"tags":[216,214,217,215,218,219],"class_list":["post-2196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-guest-blogs","tag-disabilities","tag-service","tag-service-animals","tag-support-animals","tag-therapy","tag-therapy-pets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cats Can Be a Purrfect Option for People with Disabilities | KitNipBox<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cats can be a service animal too. Find out how cats can help people with disabilities get around more easily and happily in the world.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kitnipbox.com\/meow\/index.php\/2020\/03\/11\/cats-can-be-a-purrfect-option-for-people-with-disabilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cats Can Be a Purrfect Option for People with Disabilities | KitNipBox\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cats can be a service animal too. 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