(Springfield, MO) -- Many people own guinea pigs as pets but one local couple says these animals changed their family dynamics forever.

Marti Mowery and Donald Atwood have three children who suffer from Asperger's and ADHD.

They say they tried everything from therapy to medication to help their kids cooperate and be social, but the best medicine they've tried is guinea pigs.

Mowery and Atwood say having children with developmental problems is absolutely not a burden.

"They're my kids," Mowery says. "What am I supposed to do, walk away?"

But their hyperactivity around the house can be disruptive.

"They bounce everywhere," Atwood says. "They don't shut up."

"I cannot watch a TV program, I cannot watch a movie because my Asperger's children are constantly chattering, cannot quit talking," Mowery says.

One day, Mowery just wanted some peace and quiet.

A friend had given her two guinea pigs, so she let the kids play with them, and they instantly became more cooperative.

"I was like, 'Wow, that's amazing,' Mowery says. "She just sits down and pets them, and she's really relaxed."

They don't exactly know why playing with these creatures calms down their kids and makes them socialize more.

"Something cute and furry I guess," Atwood says. "They just like them."

But the couple wondered if they discovered a form of alternative therapy.

"I just kind of chalked it up," Mowery says. "You know, they use dogs in nursing homes, so that could just be a form of pet therapy."

And then Mowery came up with an idea: breed more guinea pigs to help out other autistic children.

"I don't ask for nothing in return," Mowery says. "Just that they treat them really nice in a loving home."

"Every time I scratch his back he giggles," 7-year-old Kylee Kelley says.

Kelley has ADHD, and she got to take home her favorite guinea pig.

Playing with her new pet puts a smile on her face.

"I like that they're very furry and fuzzy," Kelley says. "Every time I get really sad I take him out of his cage and he makes me happier."

The parents of these kids say having the guinea pigs teaches them responsibility. The kids treat the animals like their own kids: they feed them and clean up after them.

The childrens' doctors say this "guinea pig therapy" certainly can't hurt.

Mowery is working with an autism therapist to spread the word about the guinea pigs. She's willing to keep breeding them and give the pigs away for free because many parents in her position have medical bills to pay, and the guinea pigs do cost around $30 each at a pet store.