Therapy Dogs for Folks with Autism

[srm1929]

I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with the use of Therapy Dogs to facilitate communication and interaction either in school or in the home. I know that there are many great programs out there using horses but not so many using man's best friend.

My youngest dog and I are working towards certification and are wondering if anyone has any input.

Thanks for any input.
S

[Carrie]

I was really interested in a service dog for a while, more for saftey functions than social facilitation. I wanted a dog that would stick with my son at all times - he runs away A LOT. But its not something that is going to happen for us. For one, Jaydon is somewhat aversive to dogs right now. I know that he would get used to one, especially one trained to remain calm at all times, but no one will even consider it. Also its a HUGE expense, and requires a good time commitment, not to mention i rent a home with a no pet clause. I know i could fight the clause using the ADA but with all the other considerations I finally gave up.
One of the boys in my son's prior class had a therapy dog for a while but they gave it back because there was no improvement. I have heard many great success stories though. There really is something to the concept. I know that my son rarely had any spontanious speech until we brought our cat home. I don't know if it was a coincidence or what but he suddenly began talking without prompts that same week! And he was so intuitive and peaceful around her!

[srm1929]

Hey, there is something to be said for the therapy cat!

Part of my interest stems from, well, my interest in dogs. (My cats are just naughty and they wouldn't suit) and an interest in the importance of non verbal communication. I remember taking my older dog, Nori (fifteen now), to school with me during my internships many years ago. She would just curl up on the rug of our first grade classroom at a lovely little Quaker School here in Pennsylvania and the children just loved her, and she loved them. She was the queen of non verbal communication - she was just there with them, you know? She had a way with the children that I didn't for one reason or the other. O.K., she's prettier and she's calmer than I am.

A therapy dog in the home can be too much for many families, for many reasons. What I'd like to see is how they can be integrated into the classroom environment to build bridges.

It is the little miracle that you describe with your cat that I'm looking for.

[Carrie]

Well they tried the dog at school with the little boy i mentioned above and it didnt go well. I think if it were in a private school setting, maybe, and if the dog was for the use of all the children vs. this dog was there for the one boy plus, the other kids in his class were all scared of it and the rest of the kids in the school didnt understand the purpose of the dog - they just wanted to play with it. But I think that if it were specifically a classroom dog, kind of like the class pet, it could work under the right circumstances.

[Carrie]

also, did you see the article posted by newsguy today?