The Dalian Women and Children's Medical Group has six campuses and branches. Its Changjiang Road branch is a national demonstration center for early childhood development and one of the first demonstration units for the national standardized project for the prevention and treatment of autism.

This branch, which deals with nearly 90,000 people a year, treats 800 outpatient cases of autism.

"After acquiring certain cognitive skills, autistic children also need deeper training in social integration to improve their social adaptability," Sun said.

She said the center will also work with education institutions, libraries, supermarkets and factories to facilitate the social integration of autistic children. "On a regular basis, we will arrange for autistic children to visit companies and institutions and spend time with therapeutic animals and nature so they can understand different aspects of life and social environments," she said.

The activities have been warmly welcomed by both the children and their parents.

Liu Xiaoshan, 34, whose daughter is developmentally challenged, said she knew that animal-assisted therapy could reduce her child's anxiety and help her develop social skills.

She said that though her daughter has made progress after going to the hospital regularly for more than three years, she still has trouble interacting socially. "Guide dogs, horses and dolphins are nonaggressive and can communicate silently with children. I often take my daughter to the aquarium, but we cannot get close to the dolphins," Liu said. "I am very excited about the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy. I hope my daughter is able to benefit from the center."