61st Annual Meeting

October 18 - 25, 2014

Special Interest Study Group 14 (ticket)

Volunteers as Therapeutic Agents for Children With Developmental Disabilities

Parents of children with autism often complain of the stigma that comes with raising a child with special needs, a stigma often based on the misunderstanding of maladaptive and aberrant behaviors of these children. This SIG introduces two physician-founded, nonprofit organizations with novel approaches to incorporating quality-of-life enhancing activities into the lives of those with autism. By introducing volunteers to children with autism, these programs aim to eradicate the misconceptions about autism held by individuals who may lack experience with this neurodevelopmental disorder. The educational and personal impact of these programs on the volunteers is presented. Participants discuss how clinical and non-clinical programs working with special needs populations can incorporate volunteer programs and more formally assess their impact on volunteer awareness.