Hello!
Before we begin, I believe a brief introduction is in order. My name is Swati Chandra, and I am a senior at BASIS Tucson North. Throughout the next few weeks, I will be working on my Senior Research Project, in which I will observe the effects of companion dogs on the symptoms of school age children, between the ages of 6 and 10, with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This blog will keep you updated on all aspects of my project, from my daily experiences at my internship to the independent research that I conduct. However, before I get into that, let me give you some background on my project.
I was first exposed to developmental and intellectual disabilities at Camp Civitan, a summer camp for individuals of all ages with special needs. As I befriended the campers at this camp, I realized that I found their disabilities intriguing for a variety of reasons. Their disabilities were not of the physical kind, so their disorders could be difficult to diagnose and treat. Moreover, even if two campers nominally had the same disorder, they were all so remarkably different in terms of their communication skills, learning abilities, and other such attributes. There were high-functioning campers who could carry conversations with ease, and low-functioning ones who had difficulties in any social situations. This was especially true of those diagnosed with ASD, as campers could fall anywhere along a relatively broad spectrum. I realized that I wanted to learn more about these disabilities, and especially the treatment options that were available for such disorders.
I am incredibly lucky to have found an internship that perfectly aligns with my interests. I will primarily be working with the Department of Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Arizona on a scientific study that assesses how companion dogs (also known as Animal Assisted Intervention) affect children with ASD. My main job is to aid in data collection, which means I will be writing down my observations about behaviors that I observe everyday throughout the course of the study. This experiment is a pilot study, so it could help open up pathways for future research on this topic.
I apologize for my not-so-brief introduction to my project, but I hope you found it as interesting as I do! I am so, so excited to see where this project takes me, and I would love to hear your comments on my project throughout these next few weeks. Even if you're just recommending a book (a bibliophile like me can never have too many books) or sharing a personal anecdote (even if it's about your grandma's crazy dog), I would love to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for reading!
Swati :)
Before we begin, I believe a brief introduction is in order. My name is Swati Chandra, and I am a senior at BASIS Tucson North. Throughout the next few weeks, I will be working on my Senior Research Project, in which I will observe the effects of companion dogs on the symptoms of school age children, between the ages of 6 and 10, with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This blog will keep you updated on all aspects of my project, from my daily experiences at my internship to the independent research that I conduct. However, before I get into that, let me give you some background on my project.
I was first exposed to developmental and intellectual disabilities at Camp Civitan, a summer camp for individuals of all ages with special needs. As I befriended the campers at this camp, I realized that I found their disabilities intriguing for a variety of reasons. Their disabilities were not of the physical kind, so their disorders could be difficult to diagnose and treat. Moreover, even if two campers nominally had the same disorder, they were all so remarkably different in terms of their communication skills, learning abilities, and other such attributes. There were high-functioning campers who could carry conversations with ease, and low-functioning ones who had difficulties in any social situations. This was especially true of those diagnosed with ASD, as campers could fall anywhere along a relatively broad spectrum. I realized that I wanted to learn more about these disabilities, and especially the treatment options that were available for such disorders.
I am incredibly lucky to have found an internship that perfectly aligns with my interests. I will primarily be working with the Department of Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Arizona on a scientific study that assesses how companion dogs (also known as Animal Assisted Intervention) affect children with ASD. My main job is to aid in data collection, which means I will be writing down my observations about behaviors that I observe everyday throughout the course of the study. This experiment is a pilot study, so it could help open up pathways for future research on this topic.
I apologize for my not-so-brief introduction to my project, but I hope you found it as interesting as I do! I am so, so excited to see where this project takes me, and I would love to hear your comments on my project throughout these next few weeks. Even if you're just recommending a book (a bibliophile like me can never have too many books) or sharing a personal anecdote (even if it's about your grandma's crazy dog), I would love to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for reading!
Swati :)
This sounds so interesting Swati! I can't wait to see how your internship progresses :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sabrina!
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