[nagdu] Missing Washington Co. Boy Found After 5-Mile BarefootWalk

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Katrin,

Thanks for the added info, and for sharing your experience.

I first heard of the idea of using dogs with autism when I was researching
owner training.  One of the first articles I came across was by an autistic
man (I think; it was a few years ago) who had trained his own assistance
dog.  It was really fascinating how the dog worked in social situations with
him.  It also worked out well that I ran across that article, because the
neighbor I was just then becoming acquainted with and who is now a good
friend has an autistic daughter who fell instantly in love with Mitzi pup.
/smile/  My having met the autistic adults my in-laws foster back east,
along with what Ilearned from that article written by an autistic adult
really helped me to have greater awareness with her and to really get to
know her -- as well as being able to have her in my place when she was sick
from school and to take her to the dog park with us and so forth.  I really
love listening to her active and brilliant young mind at work.  I also wish
the school system would be more about providing an education appropriate to
her needs than to try to make her normal.  But that's another issue.  Blind
kids in Oregon face the same problems.  Sigh.  It's getting worse here, too,
so I fear for my young friend as she navigates middle school and
adolescence.

As for the kids and service dogs issue, I don't know enough, really, to form
a worthwhile opinion.  Same with service/guide dogs in schools.  I do
appreciate listening to others' experience and knowledgeable opinions,
though.  /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Katrin Andberg
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 12:54 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Missing Washington Co. Boy Found After 5-Mile BarefootWalk

Autism is currently classified in the DSM-IV.  The proposed DSM-V will have
autism simply as "Autism Spectrum Disorders" currently in the DSM-IV there
is Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS and I believe one other non verbal
learning disability I am forgetting at this moment.  

 

I personally have an issue with many of the "service dogs" for young
autistic children as in the vast majority of the cases the dogs are expected
to be Lassie (which we all know was a fictitional character) and baby sit
the child.  There was a study done on 10 service dogs placed with autistic
children from a Canadian program (the 1st program to place dogs with
autistic children as service dogs) and after evaluating and documenting the
teams for a period of months after placement it was shown that 8 out of 10
dogs were bonded to the adult care giver and could have cared less about the
kid.  Most dogs would also get up and leave the situation out of stress when
the child had a meltdown.  And a number also began exhibiting stress signals
and even to the point of growling at the child.  Not exactly the safest
situation if you ask me.

 

As an adult with autism who utilizes a service dog and knows 1st hand how
much assistance my dog provides me I am 100% on board for task trained (not
simply emotional support, but truly task trained same as any other service
or guide dog is) service dogs for ADULTS (or some teenagers) on the spectrum
who can make appropriate safety decisions regarding the dog.  But what small
child is routinely capable of doing that regardless of whether they have
autism or not?  No other disability related program is trying to place
working dogs with children as young as they are doing with autism service
dogs.  And I have yet to see a case where any of these kids can
independently handle their dog the way one needs to to be a good handler in
high stress public situations.  They are not mentally mature enough to do
so.  No 6 year old kid is, in my opinion.  I am fully on board with in home
only or emotional support dogs which do not have public access for kids as I
believe they can help a child prepare for having a service dog later in life
when they are capable of making the proper decisions and take on the huge
responsibility that having a working dog in public is.  

 

I know there is a large camp of people that does not and will not agree with
me on this.  I am just giving my point of view as an autistic adult who is
partnered with a service dog and who most likely will chose to be for the
remainder of my life due to the assistance my dog provides me.

 

Katrin

 

Katrin Andberg

Katrin at maplewooddog.com   

 

--------

Interesting article.  The use of dogs for autism is fascinating, and I guess

they make a really big difference in helping the person stay grounded and

relate more easily in social situations.  Very cool.

 

Althought I'm confused.  The report kept referring to the dog as a guide

dog.  Is it just me, or would the dog in question be more properly referred

to as a service dog?  I think autism is one of those disabilities for which

the line between guide, other types of service and emotional support animal

are a little blurred, although I'm not sure currently how autism is

classified in terms of disability...

 

Tami Smith-Kinney

 

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