Animal-assisted interventions refer to any intervention that intentionally includes or incorporates animals as part of a therapeutic, palliative, educational, psychoeducational or recreational process or milieu. The Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Buenos Aires began work on this issue in 1996 and gradually incorporated outreach, research and teaching projects, undertaking several stages of institutionalisation and reconceptionalisation that led, in 2014, to the creation of an open chair in animal-assisted interventions. This article aims to introduce the discipline, with special emphasis on its potential as a means of promoting inclusion, and to present a specific case of work with dogs, which began in 2009 with the non-profit organisation Senderos del Sembrador (Trails of the Sower) for people with an intellectual disability who are in great need of support. This article describes how the contact with dogs was systematised, along with outcomes, challenges and difficulties, and how leisure came to be used as a means of promoting inclusion and altering the preconceptions of people without disabilities. Finally, in reflecting on practices, the project evolved from a treatment plan for rehabilitating people with disabilities into a space for effective social inclusion that gradually changed the perceptions and practices of all participants.

INNOVATIONSBeckside Computer Workshop is a small rehabilitation project based in the south of the city of Lincoln. The project aims to provide young people who have a history of schizophrenia with an opportunity to acquire basic keyboard and computing skills and at the same time to improve their ability to operate confidently in new social situations. Some are recruited from a health service funded rehabilitation hostel but most partici pants are living in the community. Ultimately, it is hoped that some of those taking part will eventually gain meaningful employment.The decision to set up a rehabilitation workshop using computing and information technology skills was taken in recognition of the following points.(a) There is a continuing demand for infor mation technology skills; gaining key board and computer skills could enhance the individual's prospect of eventual em ployment. (b) Information technology skills are univer sally esteemed and perceived as being to the forefront among requirements for employment; their acquisition is likely to enhance the individual's own self-image. (c) People with schizophrenia have difficulty in relating easily to others. Working at a computer keyboard allows them to relate both 'safely' with the machine and also to engage in an increasing degree of social contact with others in the group as they gain in confidence. (d) The information technology and computer workshop allows individuals to progress at a pace and in a direction to suit them, while at the same time gaining from and contributing to the group of which they are part.