Aquariums and fish tanks are often found in a doctor’s practice, why? Because watching fish move around in a tanks and hearing the sounds of water has been proven to calm a person down and provide sensory markers such as bright colours, bubbles, swaying plants, lighting, and swimming fish. This is highly beneficial for those living with conditions such as sensory processing disorders, autism, ADHD, developmental disabilities and for those who are easily over stimulated and lack concentration skills.

In today’s day and age, with the coronavirus pandemic, people are becoming more and more reliant on animals for companionship. These animals, especially for people with a  disability who may be living on their own or have limited access to the wider community, assist in loneliness, combat feelings of depressing and feeling low. Grooming smaller animals such as rabbits, Guinea pigs, cats and small dogs, have been shown to improve hand-eye coordination, aid in dexterity and improve strength in their arms. Horse riding is incredibly popular amongst those with lessened motor function such as Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral palsy, as it can aid in mobility, posture and balance of a period of time

Animals can also assists in physical health in those with a disability, encouraging the mentality for owners to get out of the house and walk/socialise their dogs, or even just simply getting outside for a play. Animals encourage socialisation, whether it be socialising with an animal or a human, people learn valuable communication skills being with animals. As well as encouragement, animals can assist in physical health and exercise of a person, such as horse riding. Learning skills such as saddling up a horse, putting rugs on, feeding and riding all aid in learning simple life skills and aiding the movement and function of the body, encouraging more movement in daily life.

As well as comfort, animals also help in practical ways, such as service dogs for people with vision impairments, service dogs can also be trained in a large range of conditions from diabetes to epilepsy. Having an incredible sense of smell, dogs are great for identifying smells linked with medical conditions. For example, a dog trained for someone with diabetes can help in sensing the fruity smell of ketones which are produced when a person’s blood sugar is too high, or the scent that is given off when a person’s blood sugar is too low. These dogs are trained to react certain ways when they sense certain things, aiding their owner in detection. Dogs trained for people with epilepsy are trained to have certain behaviours and identify seizures and provide supports such as, lying next to the owner to prevent injury, placing themselves between the owner and the floor to prevent injury, staying with the owner to provide comfort during an episode, and even activating a device to call for help.