Author: Emma Bourgeois | Major: Nursing | Semester: Fall 2025

Emma Bourgeois

Throughout the Fall 2025 semester, I worked closely with my mentor, Dr. Michele Kilmer, and my research partner, Emma Harper, to analyze the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on pediatric autistic patients. Emma and I are both students at the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, and Dr. Kilmer is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and assistant professor in the department of nursing. Dr. Kilmer leads therapy sessions for children with or at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with a live therapy canine, Gryffin. In the previous semester, Emma and I coded each session for many human and animal behaviors and interactions. This semester, we compiled all the data collected from coding to analyze it and write our final presentation. We will defend our research at the end of the Fall 2025 semester.

Our goal in this research was to determine if AAT is more or less effective in different severity levels of autism. Participants were divided into three groups, mild, moderate, and severe, based on symptom severity. Analyzing the data collected from these therapy sessions taught me a lot about the specialized therapy that these children can benefit from. In these sessions, Gryffin is trained to sense when the child is becoming dysregulated and in need of a break from the therapy. Gryffin alerts Dr. Kilmer by whining or barking, and he then can help the child by providing compression therapy by lying across their lap or hugging them. Recognition is essential because these children can be really good at hiding stress symptoms until it is too late, and they are already too dysregulated to complete the therapy session. Watching Gryffin and Dr. Kilmer work together in therapy sessions to provide the best care for these children is inspiring and impressive. They have a bond built on trust and work together to improve the lives of autistic children.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during this research was coding each video correctly. The coding process is extremely detailed and time-consuming. Each video must be coded intentionally to minimize gaps or mistakes in the analysis process. Finding the time to do this, in addition to the load of my coursework work was challenging and required me to manage my time extremely well. I learned that I was capable of completing challenging classes in nursing school, coding, and writing my thesis, all while also prioritizing time to slow down and take a break to avoid burnout. Dr. Kilmer was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. She was readily available for questions, provided resources and support, and made sure that we felt good about the work we were completing.

Our next step is completing our final paper and presentation and defending them later this semester. I am so excited to see the work that Emma and I put into our research come together as it is completed. I am incredibly thankful to Dr. Kilmer for supporting us throughout this process, to the Honors College for granting us funding for this research, and to Emma for working with me on this project. I am excited to put what I have learned about autism spectrum disorder into practice as I begin my nursing career. I will be graduating this December and beginning my Nurse Residency program early next year.