Autism service dog
Encyclopedia
An autism service dog is a service dog
trained to assist a person with autism
, to help them gain independence, confidence, and the ability to perform activities of daily living
similar to anyone else. For the most part, these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disabilities.
As with hearing assistance dogs for the deaf, the dogs may also be trained to alert their handler to important noises or other things requiring human intervention, such as smoke or a smoke alarm, a crying baby, a telephone ringing, a knock at the door. For a person with autism, it isn't quickly obvious which of the many external stimuli is the urgent one requiring their immediate attention. A person with autism must sort through both major and minor stimuli—the sound of crickets, the smell of the fabric softener on their clothes, a car driving past outside—in order to determine which of these, if any, needs their attention. They may understand that a smoke alarm is urgent and requires them to exit the building, but their autism may cause them to take longer going about it.
How Service Dogs are Trained to Respond to Certain Behaviors:
. Initially they were founded to train Dogs for people with Physical Disabilities, but they recently had a program training dogs to support families with Autistic Children.
Service dog
A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities including visual or hearing impairment, and also to help people with mental disabilities including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression...
trained to assist a person with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, to help them gain independence, confidence, and the ability to perform activities of daily living
Activities of daily living
Activities of Daily Living is a term used in healthcare to refer to daily self-care activities within an individual's place of residence, in outdoor environments, or both...
similar to anyone else. For the most part, these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disabilities.
Function
Autism service dogs are trained to help the handler process sensory information. Many autism service dogs are trained in guide work/obstacle avoidance (the same thing a guide dog does) to help the handler with visual stimuli.As with hearing assistance dogs for the deaf, the dogs may also be trained to alert their handler to important noises or other things requiring human intervention, such as smoke or a smoke alarm, a crying baby, a telephone ringing, a knock at the door. For a person with autism, it isn't quickly obvious which of the many external stimuli is the urgent one requiring their immediate attention. A person with autism must sort through both major and minor stimuli—the sound of crickets, the smell of the fabric softener on their clothes, a car driving past outside—in order to determine which of these, if any, needs their attention. They may understand that a smoke alarm is urgent and requires them to exit the building, but their autism may cause them to take longer going about it.
How Service Dogs are Trained to Respond to Certain Behaviors:
| Behavior | Response |
|---|---|
| Self Stimulation | Will Signal Handler to Behavior, Handler May Choose to Stop |
| Self Harming | Will Interrupt Behavior |
| Overstimulation/Meltdown/Shutdown | Deep Pressure Tasks: Step on Foot, Paws on Lap, Lay on Handler |
| Poor balance/motor control | Counter-balance, brace for stability |
| Disorientation | Find the car, go home, find other specified places |
| Auditory Processing Problems | Alert to important sounds |
| Visual Processing Problems | Guide Work - steer around obstacles |
Service Dogs in the UK
In The UK Assistance\Service Dogs are trained and supported by Charitable organizations; one such training Mobility assistance dogs is Dogs for the DisabledDogs for the Disabled
Dogs for the Disabled is a UK-based charity training and providing accredited assistance dogs to children and adults with impaired mobility due to physical disabilities.-History:...
. Initially they were founded to train Dogs for people with Physical Disabilities, but they recently had a program training dogs to support families with Autistic Children.
See also
- Guide dogGuide dogGuide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs...
- Hearing dogHearing dogA hearing dog is a specific type of assistance dog specifically selected and trained to assist people who are deaf or hearing impaired by alerting their handler to important sounds, such as doorbells, smoke alarms, ringing telephones, or alarm clocks...
- Medical response dogMedical response dogA medical response dog is a specific type of service dog specifically trained to help mitigate an individual's medical disability. Typically, they are dogs whose job does not handle primarily epilepsy or psychiatric-based conditions, though some seizure response dogs or psychiatric service dogs may...
- Mobility assistance dogMobility assistance dogA mobility assistance dog is a service dog trained to assist a physically disabled person. Among other tasks, they are commonly trained to pick up objects, open and close doors, and operate light switches...
- Psychiatric service dogPsychiatric service dogA psychiatric service dog is a specific type of service dog trained to assist their handler with a psychiatric disability, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or schizophrenia....
- Seizure dog