Autism assistance dog

[Pseudonymforme]

does anyone have any experience of an autism assistant dog, looking into it for my 6 year old but don't know where to start.

Would be grateful if anyone has any experience etc

Not much in terms of expertise by anecdotally, my brother's family have a Golden Retriever as ASD support dog for their two boys - they've had her for 11 years and she has been an hugely important part of their lives in terms of building the boys' confidence personally and in their community taking the dog for walks etc. She is incredibly intuitive - she can calm challenging emotional meltdowns down in moments with her calming cuddles, and she's really helped with my younger nephew in his verbal communications. They worked really closely with the breeder - lots of house visits beforehand to their home and to visit the pup and lots of follow up visits in first year of the dog's life for training. So, only anecdotal but my brother's family was enriched in so many ways with their gentle, loving Goldie.

This is a good place to start.. Assistance Dog UK are a coalition of fully accredited assistance dog providers. They’re a good starting point for information and signposting.

Unfortunately, like so many things, due to covid a lot of places have closed their waiting lists until 2022 now.

There is another organisation that will help people select and train their own dog, but I can’t remember their details. If it comes to me I will come back and post a link.

Here it is. They run workshops to help families choose and train a dog to support children with autism. Unfortunately, with this option the dogs don’t get public access in the same way as registered assistance dogs.

They do provide trained dogs as well, but their list is also closed at the moment and they work on a ballot system for applications when the list is open.

That all sounds really great thank you both for your replies @bingohandjob and @PermanentlyDizzy

We are only at the very early stages of looking into it at the moment. We have been considering a family dog but also I think it would be more beneficial to have a dog that has access rights as my child can't cope in places like cafes etc so it impacts us all as a family so hopefully an assistance dog would help with all that

Hi there! I just wondered if you had had any success with this @Pseudonymforme ? Our son is 7 and was diagnosed in January. Animals is 'his thing' - he is so gentle but often crippled with anxiety. I think this could be life-changing for him. Thanks to anyone who can offer any pointers!

@fishface1979 I recently did the Family Dog training with Dogs for Good and it was excellent. You can do it before you get a dog.

I know of one through my work. The charity Pawsable support owners with training the dogs and have very knowledgeable staff.

Check them out, I have been very impressed.

Thanks very much for your suggestions!