Pups assist children with Autism

Righteous Pups assist children with autism.

Eight labradors have received intensive training over 18 months and are about to each be given a new home, assisting families with their child's autism spectrum disorder.

This is the first batch of dogs trained and placed by Bendigo-based organisation Righteous Pups and the only service of its kind in Australia.

All of the families will be involved in raising funds for their dog although they are not expected to contribute funds themselves. Each dog costs around $29,000 to train and place over the 18 months.

Righteous Pups managing director Joanne Baker said during that time the pups had been fostered by Bendigo families.

"These are the first ones we've ever trained," Ms Baker said.Ms Baker said meeting the children the dogs will assist made all the work worth while.

"I think for the past 18 months it has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears. We are eternally grateful to all the families in Bendigo that have fostered these dogs for the past 18 months."

Ms Baker said each of the families receiving an assistance dog would be based in Bendigo for at least the next nine days.

"They are learning how to integrate a dog into their child's world. On Friday November 28 the dogs will graduate before going home with their new families."

One of the families chosen have twin boys, Jake and Cooper who have Severe Autism and a Global Development Delay. Their mother Rachel talks of the hope a Righteous Pup brings to their family.
 
"Jake and Cooper are the most gentle, beautiful loving little boys. They are non verbal and have very limited receptive language. However they do have some communication using a "Pecs Book" which stands for (picture exchange communication) this involves pictures representing the items they may want.

Day to day life for Jake and Cooper is very different to a child of the same age even the simplest of tasks can be an ordeal. Just leaving the safety haven of our home is a very confronting and scary experience for them. The sounds, the sights and the smells can all be very overwhelming and usually results in them dropping to the floor and dragging themselves along on their belly screaming, this is referred to as a meltdown or a stimulation overload.

As they are non verbal and cannot understand language you can't reason with them and have to fight to get them up off the floor and physically restrain them to try and calm them down. This is a very emotional experience especially when you have a few onlookers believing that you're dealing with a naughty child having a tantrum. An Autism Assistance Dog, is trained to be aware of the events leading up to a meltdown and will intervene by nuzzling and redirecting the child's attention away from the overload, thereby avoiding theses episodes.

It's not very often that Jake and Cooper get to leave the home due to these meltdowns and because they constantly try to run away whether it is from home or when we are out. So with the help of the assistance dog we will be able to venture out and have the twins walk independently unaided with the confidence of the dog beside them. If the twins should run away the dog is trained in search and rescue and will alert us to them escaping or will find them immediately.

Day to day life with Jake and Cooper is overall very difficult and emotionally draining, they need constant supervision. Anything that could assist or relieve some of the pressure off our family would be grasped with open arms. We believe that with the help of the dog our twins will find a companion, a best friend and a helper to the family and hopefully encourage Jake and Cooper to bring them out of their own world.

If you are able to help us in raising the funds needed for the assistance, it would mean so much to our family," says Rachel, mother of four.

If you are interested in assisting Righteous Pups Australia through sponsorship or finding out about fostering a puppy can visit www.righteouspups.org.au or phone 03 5445 6036.

Discuss raising a child with special needs with other Essential Kids parents.