I am always trying to think of new ways to help him. He tries so hard and has to go through a lot for a kid his age. I spend a lot of time researching medical and alternative therapies. By alternative therapies I mean supportive, proven therapies such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology, not dangerous Jenny Mccarthy nonsense such as chelation.
There have been lots of recent studies which have proven Autism Assistance dogs to be extremely useful as both a service dog, like they are used for the blind, and an emotional support for an Autistic person. The dog can help with safety issues such as wandering off (which we have been scared shitless by recently) the dog will circle the child repeatedly and bark to alert nearby adults that the child is attempting to wander.
Here's a brief excerpt from Wikipedia about some of the proven benefits:
| Behavior | Response |
|---|---|
| Self-stimulation | Will signal behavior to handler, handler may choose to stop (potentially harmful) |
| Self harming | Will interrupt behavior |
| Overstimulation/meltdown/shutdown | Deep pressure tasks: step on foot, paws on lap, lie on handler |
| Poor balance/motor control | Counterbalance, brace for stability |
| Disorientation | Find the car, go home, find other specified places |
| Auditory scene analysis | Alert to important sounds |
| Visual processing problems | Guide work - steer around obstacles |
To help prevent the child from wandering or running away.In addition to the above responses, there are three major ways a service dog can help, especially with children:
- To help with self-soothing during melt-downs. The tactile stimulation, whether by petting, hugging, or having the dog actually lie on the child, can help the child learn the skills of calming themselves.
- Socialization (including serving as a "social bridge", so as children and adults come over and ask about the dog, the child with autism is prompted to answer. The parent should not answer questions, but should refer all inquiries to the child. Thus with the dog, rather than having just the parent or teacher try to bring the child out of their own world, the entire community is talking to the child.)
A long-term study of service dogs and children with autism reported:
- “Highly significant increase in pro-social behavior with a parallel decrease in self-absorption."
- "Fewer autistic behaviors - examples include clicking noises, repetitive spinning or jumping or hand-posturing (stimming), and bolting or roaming."
- "More socially-appropriate behaviors (such as reaching up for hugs, frequently imitating the therapist's actions, joining or initiating games).”
Autism Assistance dogs can be trained to help keep the child safe. With tracking the family is able to quickly find the child if they wander away and can't be seen. With tethering the family is able to enter the community with their child who has Autism safely. The parent is always in charge of the dog.
I believe an Autism Assistance dog could really benefit Alex. There are public programs which offer this but of course, as it is the case with most public programs, demand outweighs supply. There are programs where you can buy a puppy and do the training yourself, but that training is expensive.
I have set up a Go Fund Me page to attempt to raise enough funds to purchase and train a dog fro Alex.
Please visit and donate today.
http://www.gofundme.com/zxv52k
