Your autistic child is not blind nor has a physical disability that renders them helpless, but most autistic children do lack the ability to make safe choices.
One of the most disturbing phenomena concerning autism is the child’s ability to just run away. Your child can suddenly just disappear without reason. There are normal situations in which a autistic child can make very dangerous.
There is a relatively new service - or coping strategy - that has started to gain international reputation; in selected areas parents can now pick up a specially trained dog to help their children.
An autistic assistance dog would alert you if your autistic child was to deviate from their normal pattern. Either by barking or by gaining your attention physically, the autistic assistance dog will give you enough warning to catch the child before they put themselves into danger.
Not only will the dog alert you that the child is missing but they will help you track and find the child. The bond between the child and dog is something special and that bond will instil the dog to protect and find your lost child. This relationship tends to be odd for more autistic children because the bonding process does not happen sometimes in human relationships. The communication process sometimes even excludes the parent from a loving relationship.
Testimonials from parents who have received autistic assistance dogs say that they are amazed at how the animals and children interact.
Another benefit to both parents and the child is the parent’s report that the child has more feelings and compassion toward their dog then they do toward siblings or adults. The parents also state that once the dog is placed in the home, the autistic child shows less aggression and anger. In one case a parent said that there autistic child stopped showing frustration all together. Before the canine assistant the child would throw temper tantrums and physically attack the person they were angry at. Now the child, when frustrated, goes and hugs his dog until the anger goes away.
The Assistance Dogs (as they are called) are trained to recognise repetitive behaviour. If a child is prone to hand flapping as many autistic children demonstrate, it usually takes the touch of a parent to redirect the behaviour. Now that is the dog’s responsibility. The dog will gently touch or nuzzle the child when the behaviour happens and the child will learn through conditioned responses that they are presenting a negative behaviour and the behaviour will stop.
The only reason that a dog will not be placed in your home is if your home is not suitable for the pet. The cleanliness of your home and your financial ability to own a pet is severely scrutinised. Also the safety of the pet is looked at. If your child is so Violent that the dog may be injured because of a temper tantrum or other aggressive action, you will not receive one of the dogs.
Another option is that your own puppy can be trained to be an assistance dog. There is an organisation called 4paws, based in America who promise International assistance. Check their web site for more details at: http://www.4pawsforability.org
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