I recently twittered about the surprising uses of service dogs. We are all familiar with service dogs used by individuals with blindness or other visual impairments. However, there are other ways these wonderful dogs help people with disabilities.
One of my clients uses a service dog to help identify seizures before they occur and to provide protection during a seizure.
Service dogs can also help children with disabilities such as autism. The Journal News recently covered this topic:
The dogs purpose is to provide safety and therapeutic companionship to children with autism, a neurological disorder marked by delays in speech and social interaction.
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.
The result is freedom for both parent and child.
Routine outings to stores or to the sports events … are made more manageable and more enjoyable…
Of course, there is a sizable cost associated with providing a service dog.
Each dogs training costs roughly $45,000. As with the guide dogs that the nonprofit Guiding Eyes trains and places, its autism-service dogs are provided free, with the cost entirely offset by private grants and donations.
While autism-service dogs are becoming more prevalent, many organizations that provide them require families to pay $10,000 to $15,000.
For more information about service dogs for children with autism, see Guiding Eyes website.
