Foster Care Training

Empathy is a stimulated emotional state that relies on the ability to perceive, understand, and care about the experiences or perspectives of another. In contrast, compassion is an emotional response to empathy or sympathy, creating a desire to connect. Current research on this topic concerning animals provides an ideal opportunity to use evidence-based practices to cultivate self-knowledge, self-compassion, and self-empathy through relationships with certain animals. By using informed perspective-taking, we will explore how non-autistic individuals use their perception skills to support and care for animals. Participants will learn to recognize animals in their personal care or at local zoos as individual beings with unique perspectives, needs, and preferences. This understanding will help address feelings of burden that autistic individuals often experience regarding their own needs. Through this course, we aim to help autistic and other neurodivergent youth strengthen their ability to empathize with themselves by understanding wildlife. Cultivating compassion for animals living in zoos or animal shelters can be a powerful internal motivator, promoting self-worth and a sense of competency as youth extend this empathy to others.