An autistic child’s best friend provides reliable support

Assistance dogs are a calming, safe presence and encourage sociability, says Colette Sheridan

GOLDEN-COATED Flora, a cross between a Labrador and a retriever, is a placid dog and unobtrusively sits near a table in a Cork City restaurant.

At the table sits assistance dog instructor, Aileen Foy, and her four-year-old niece, Hazel O’Mullane. Dogs such as Flora assist autistic children. Hazel is not autistic: she helps with Flora’s training, acting out children’s behaviour with dogs, such as tail-pulling.

Flora is one 200 dogs bred and trained by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDFTB) and matched with autistic children. The children range in age from three to ten years. The dogs are a mixture of pure and cross breeds. “We have golden retrievers crossed with German shepherds. We also have poodle crosses and pure-bred poodles. These would be large poodles. They’re a very intelligent dog,” says Foy.

‘Assistance dog day’ is Apr 2 and will increase awareness of these dogs’ work and raise funds for training. The IGDFTB was the first to introduce the assistance-dog programme for autistic children to Europe, in 2005. The children become more sociable, become more responsible, more confident and independent, and have a better aptitude.

There are 150 families on the waiting list for dogs. Forty dogs a year are trained for the programme. “We suspended our waiting list for the last 18 months to two years, because of the demand for the service. We’re hoping that we can reopen the service later this year, if we get the finances in,” she says.

The lifetime cost of each dog is €38,000. The families are not charged, but are encouraged to fundraise. Eighty percent of the organisation’s income comes from donations. “We are currently dually qualifying our instructors, so that we can maximise our resources. This means our staff will be able to work both with guide dogs for the visually impaired, and assistance dogs.”

At six weeks, the assistance dogs are vaccinated and micro-chipped. “We then start testing them to see what their personalities are like,” Foy says. The dogs are placed with volunteer families and trained under supervision. “What you want is a really nice, family-oriented dog that’s easy to manage. The dogs need to be quite submissive, so they’ll just get on with things, such as walking to a kerb, stopping and waiting for instructions. They’re quite different to guide dogs, which are assertive and have to make decisions.”

The assistance dog has to be at ease with children. “The dog needs to be very tolerant. Part of my job is to prepare the dog for potential behaviour from children with autism. The dog has to be tolerant of the child grabbing them, pulling their tail, putting fingers in their ears and mouth; things that children will naturally do. I will also simulate children’s behaviour, like jumping off kerbs, and running away and screaming. Once I’m satisfied that the dog is coping, I’ll start using children, such as Hazel, for the training,” Foy says. The handler, one of the child’s parents or a guardian, is in charge. “Once I’m happy that the dog is behaving well, a child with autism is attached to the dog. Children with autism can have very extreme behaviour. You could be talking about a child with hearing sensitivity. In a supermarket, the sound of a fridge freezer might be like loudspeakers to the child, who could have a complete meltdown as a result. The worst-case scenario is the child head-butting the ground. The child will come out of the situation easier when the dog is around. The dog is a constant in a changing environment. It looks the same, feels the same and acts the same.” The function of an assistance dog with a child is safety. Because the child is attached to the dog via a belt around their waist, the parent can let go of the child’s hand. “That breaks the cycle of tension that can be passed from parent to child. It takes a lot of courage for the parent to let go. But it’s very positive for the child, who feels as if they’re walking the dog.”

World Autism Awareness Day is April 2

*www.guidedogs.ie