New Pets May Help Autistic Kids Socially

Getting a pet may help children with autism to develop their social skills, if the furry friend is brought into the home when the child is about 5 years old, according to a new French study.
Researchers found that children with autism who got a pet after age 5 showed improvement in their abilities to share with others and to offer comfort, whereas those who had a pet since they were born, and those who never had a pet, showed no such improvement.

Elephants Aid Kids with Autism in Thailand

This was just too good to pass up. (Yes, I'm a sucker for a good animal story).

LAMPANG, Thailand — Kuk-kik, a 14-year-old boy, punctuates his few, slurred words with yelps. Kong screams and bites his fingers when he can't figure out how much to pay for bananas. Other children freeze mid-motion, fix their gazes on minute objects and withdraw.
Enter Nua Un and Prathida — two gentle, lively and clever female elephants — and the mood among the autistic teenagers in Thailand changes as they begin their therapy, the world's first using these charismatic animals.
They scrub and soap their bristly hides, play ball games with the well-trained pachyderms and ride them bareback, smiling.