What Does an Autism Dog Do?

If there's one thing I've discovered about having a service animal with you, it's that it is impossible to get far without being stopped by an admiring passerby.  I find myself wondering if Charlie wasn't wearing his identifying "work vest", would people be as intrigued?  Nevertheless, when we are stopped the questions are almost always the same:  1.  is it ok to pet the dog?  and 2.  what does an autism service dog do?

So the first answer is always yes.  It's ok to pet the pooch.  Eventually the answer will be yes but only if he's in a sit or down-stay position.   He's still a puppy so our success rate on that little practice leaves much room for improvement.  Suffice it to say, we're working on it.

The answer to the second question is a bit more complex.  I think it fair to assume that many people think of service animals as animals who perform service related tricks like opening doors, turning on lights, or making cheesecake (see the dogs of New Skete for that last reference.)  An autism service animal is as unique as the child it serves.  Because autism is a spectrum disorder and every person on the spectrum presents with a unique set of behaviors/symptoms/deficits/etc., each service animal is trained for a specific child.  By way of example, many children with autism are "runners" meaning that they have a tendency to wander or run off without warning and often with the tenacity of a small freight train.  In that case a service animal may be trained to come between the dog and a road - essentially a herding function - to keep the child out of harm's way and within range of his caretaker.

Being that Tim is a child of few words (he has very little language) and, consequently, limited social skills, Charlie the service animal serves two main functions:  to present socialization and language opportunities.   From the first meeting between Tim and Charlie the power of the animal-kid relationship was apparent.  Tim expressed so much interest in Charlie and such prolonged engagement - something that we haven't seen with his peers.  Charlie responds well to Tim's attention and returns it in kind with tail wags, nose nudges, and paw taps. 

We've also experienced what Patty Dobbs Gross (Director of the North Star Foundation) describes as the magnetic effect of a well trained dog.  Charlie is truly a force of nature in that we are constantly stopped and asked the same questions.  For a kid like Tim, this is a great opportunity to practice language with a high rate of success by repeatedly answering the repetitive questions (i.e. "what's your dog's name?", "may I pet your dog?",  "how old is he?", etc.)

 

All that aside, for us the most exciting part of having an autism service dog has been hearing Tim's voice as he talks to Charlie.  I'm sure it sounds a bit hokey but Tim has spoken more to Charlie than we've heard him speak to a peer.  For us, this is thrilling and we're optimistic that this recent burst of "dog talk" will soon become a generalized skill for Tim.  Until then, we're just going to enjoy watching Tim and Charlie bond like old friends.