Service Dogs Enhance Quality of Life for Autistic Kids

By Hugh C. McBride

In the 13 months since a black Labrador Retriever named Shade joined the Zarro family, life has gotten much more rewarding for 6-year-old Danny, who is autistic, and much less stressful for Danny’s parents and siblings.

Shade and his two-legged family members were profiled in an April 21 article on the LoHud website (which covers New York’s Lower Hudson Valley). According to LoHud writer Brian J. Howard, the Zarro family’s experience is becoming a bit more commonplace as experts understand how specially trained dogs can improve the quality of life for autistic children and their families.

“The dogs' purpose is to provide safety and therapeutic companionship to children with autism,” Howard wrote. “From a therapeutic standpoint, the dog serves as a point of focus for autistic children, enabling them to maintain calm. From a safety perspective, the dogs wear a service vest to which the child is tethered while in public places.

About Autism

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes autism spectrum disorders as “a group of developmental disabilities defined by significant impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests.”

The term “autism spectrum disorder” usually refers to the following conditions: autistic disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). As the CDC website reports, the effects of the disorders that fall under the autism spectrum umbrella can range from mildly intrusive to profoundly debilitating:

Many people with [autism spectrum disorders] also have unusual ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to different sensations. The thinking and learning abilities of people with [autism spectrum disorders] can vary – from gifted to severely challenged. [Autism spectrum disorder] begins before the age of three and lasts throughout a person's life. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups and is four times more likely to occur in boys than girls.

The Autism Society of America (ASA) reports that between one million and 1.5 million Americans suffer from autism or a related spectrum disorder, and that one in 150 births involve babies who are affected by an autism spectrum disorder.

Described by the ASA as the “fastest-growing developmental disability,” autism spectrum disorders have prompted pediatricians, educators, and other childcare experts to enhance and expand medical services and learning opportunities for children with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and related conditions.

Autism and Service Dogs

The Zarro family found Shade through Heeling Autism, a relatively new initiative by Guiding Eyes for the Blind (which describes itself as “an internationally accredited, nonprofit guide dog school with a 50-plus year legacy of providing the blind and visually impaired with superior … dogs, training, and lifetime support services”).

The Guiding Eyes website reports that the Heeling Autism effort is designed to provide trained dogs that can accomplish the following objectives:

• Increase the child’s level of independence, confidence, and social acceptance.
• Increase social acknowledgment of the child by peers.
• Provide companionship.
• Reduce parental stress.

In a letter on the Heeling Autism site, Danny Zarro’s mother, Tricia, describes how their family’s service dog meets these needs:

Shade has given Danny the gift of safety. They get tethered together and travel like two old friends. Danny will not stray from his dog and Shade will not stray from his Danny. This is absolutely a priceless gift. Danny, Shade and I are becoming quite a trio as we navigate through stores, across busy streets, browse bookstores. Basically, we go wherever we want to. …

Shade has given Danny the gift of celebrity. For a child who does not seek out social situations, Shade brings social situations directly to Danny. She is a magnet that people are drawn to. Danny is constantly put into scenarios where he is given the opportunity to introduce his dog, join in on conversation and make new friends.

Shade has given Danny the opportunity to be more active, more coordinated and more independent. When my family would go on walks, Danny would get easily distracted and fatigued. … When Danny is tethered to Shade, it is poetry in motion.

Wilderwood Service Dogs, another organization that trains autism dogs, reports that the animals can help autistic children in the following ways:

• The dogs interrupt self-harming behaviors.
• They crawl onto the children’s laps to calm them when the kids become agitated.
• They enhance verbal skills by the children’s use of commands.
• They alert parents if the child has problems in the middle of the night.
• They help end social isolation by providing a point of focus and reason for interaction.

The dogs are not cheap – families are often required to pay about $15,000 to receive a trained service dog for their autistic child – but they and the therapeutic benefits that they provide are protected under federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act allows service dogs such as the trained canine companions who accompany autistic children to access any environment that the children themselves are allowed to enter. As with seeing eye dogs, autism service dogs can fly on airplanes, go into restaurants, attend doctor’s visits, and access locations that are usually off-limits to non-working animals.

Innovative Opportunities for Autistic Children

The effort to train service dogs to assist autistic children is just one component of a widespread ongoing effort to provide innovative developmental and educational opportunities for children with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and other related disorders.

For example, in Zirconia, North Carolina, Southeast Journeys offers semester-length alternative educational opportunities for autistic kids, while Talisman Camps and Programs feature a slate of summer camps for autistic children (primarily young people with Asperger’s Syndrome and high-functioning autism).

The Southeast Journeys school programs are four-month academic endeavors that combine social skills training and regular peer support meetings to help children with autism spectrum disorders develop positive social interactions at school, at home, and in the community. In the summer, Talisman provides structured and supervised opportunities for children with

Asperger’s Syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders to develop physical proficiencies and social competence in a nurturing environment in which self-regulation and self-direction are emphasized and encouraged.

From service dogs to specialized academic programs to supportive summer camps, a wide range of innovative opportunities are increasing the ability of autistic children and their families to live more productive and satisfying lives.