What are Autism Service Dogs?
The Text Book Answer....or my version of the Text Book Answer:
Service dogs can be trained for some people with Autism to help them gain independence, confidence, and the ability to perform activities of daily living that they could not otherwise perform. For the most part these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disabilities. A guide dog for a person who is blind signals the handler when the team approaches an intersection so that the handler knows to stop and check for traffic. An Autism dog might be trained to do the exact same task, except that instead of giving visual information ("I see an intersection"), the dog gives prioritizing information ("I recognize a situation that requires focused processing").
-- http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/233 ---
What I'm working with Tim on, is recognizing some autism traits, so as hand flapping, head nodding, and other behaviors that can be potentially harmful to the child. He is to touch the child or use his body to distract the child from these behaviors. The dog does help bring the child into a positive light, instead of someone who is just being looked down on as a child who just rowdy or has behavior problems.
The CHILD is NOT responsible for the dog, the parent is. The child (to my understanding) is not left alone with the dog, but the dog will seek out the child if he does wander.
The child is tethered to the dog in public, but not in the house.
These dogs are NOT the child's babysitter...even though I"m sure there are people who do treat them as such, and that's not right.
I'm also teaching Tim how to close doors, so that if the parents sees a open door, and a child running toward it, Tim can get their faster and close it....amongst about a gazillion other commands.
There's a lot more, that I'm sure I don't know....but if you ask, I'll see if I can find the answer.
Another Link: http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/autism_assist_dogs.php
Hopefully that made sense!! :D
Service dogs can be trained for some people with Autism to help them gain independence, confidence, and the ability to perform activities of daily living that they could not otherwise perform. For the most part these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disabilities. A guide dog for a person who is blind signals the handler when the team approaches an intersection so that the handler knows to stop and check for traffic. An Autism dog might be trained to do the exact same task, except that instead of giving visual information ("I see an intersection"), the dog gives prioritizing information ("I recognize a situation that requires focused processing").
-- http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/233 ---
What I'm working with Tim on, is recognizing some autism traits, so as hand flapping, head nodding, and other behaviors that can be potentially harmful to the child. He is to touch the child or use his body to distract the child from these behaviors. The dog does help bring the child into a positive light, instead of someone who is just being looked down on as a child who just rowdy or has behavior problems.
The CHILD is NOT responsible for the dog, the parent is. The child (to my understanding) is not left alone with the dog, but the dog will seek out the child if he does wander.
The child is tethered to the dog in public, but not in the house.
These dogs are NOT the child's babysitter...even though I"m sure there are people who do treat them as such, and that's not right.
I'm also teaching Tim how to close doors, so that if the parents sees a open door, and a child running toward it, Tim can get their faster and close it....amongst about a gazillion other commands.
There's a lot more, that I'm sure I don't know....but if you ask, I'll see if I can find the answer.
Another Link: http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/autism_assist_dogs.php
Hopefully that made sense!! :D
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