Nikos, I think I've written a bit about it before, but I'm glad to write a bit.
Mrs C was rescued by Dogs Trust from an estate where she had clearly never been fed dog food or seen a dog bowl before, but thought all food came out of dustbins. She was thin, and scared, but there was something about her that said she was 'the one' for our family.
When we got her home, we had a very, very hard battle for six months, with the help of our dog trainer. Mrs C was frightened of everything new, had hardly seen a house before, was totally claustrophobic, hated being alone, was scared of phones, freaked out if anyone moved too fast or stood up in a kitchen. What on earth had been done to her, the poor little love?
Our other dog - a Bernese - acted as sensible sorter-outer for her, and they settled together as a pair.
Her work with me was almost accidental. I noted that she was very keen to follow me everywhere, and was observing what I did and when I did it. She then took it upon herself to start reminding me when I needed to do things, and so we worked on this together.
A dog is also such a fantastic 'ice breaker' with people. As well as being good listeners (hey, who else would listen to me describing my databases and collections without wanting to murder me ) they are a focus, someone to care for and care about, a source of conversation with other people. It doesn't take fancy skills or amazing tricks - it just takes a dog who is sensible and wise and wants to help a bit.
She was all of those things. I'll miss her greatly.
I'm talking with the assistance dogs people about schemes for adults with autism. They were nervous about it, in case we were jolly dangerous or likely to forget to care for the dog. They must be thinking about some other disability! Any person with a disability could have particular issues, of course, but generally speaking as adults we're obsessed with getting things right, and being fair. And we're so tuned into how animals think and feel and see and hear that it's often 'second nature' to us to know what an animal needs.
So, that's a bit about her.
Is it easy for children with an ASD to have a dog? Depends on the child and the family. If they are scared of dogs, or scared of barking, or scared of how the dog feels to touch, then it'd be very difficult. If they won't ever learn 'no', then that'd be difficult too, because the dog will need some space and all dogs have teeth.
But goodness me it can work. And beautifully, too. Very good books on the subject which look at the work with dogs and children.