Service dogs assist autistic children

By GINA KINSLOW

BON AYR — Dana Hall’s son, Cameron, was diagnosed with classic autism in February 2006. A year later she started Blessings Unleashed, a non-profit organization that provides service dogs for children with autism.

Autism is part of a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders called autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Autism spectrum disorders are present early in life and are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication/language, social abilities and restricted patterns in activities and interests. ASD occurs in as many as 1 in 150 individuals, is about three times more common in boys than in girls, according to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center in Nashville, which specializes in autism treatment.

The idea for Blessings Unleashed came about when Hall began conducting research to help Cameron, who is now 5.

“There aren’t many services in this area for children with autism,” Hall said, adding there is a strong need for all types of services for autistic children.

The service dogs help keep autistic children safe.

The dogs can block children to keep them from wandering off and they can track children if they are lost.

Autistic children must develop a bond with the service dog before they can be paired together.

“If the child doesn’t seem interested in the dog or doesn’t have the desire to be around the dog, it’s not going to do any good to make the match,” Hall said.

Hall’s son does not have a dog at this time.

“He has not yet shown the interest that we need him to show in the dog,” she said, adding that children need to be at least 5 years old before being paired with a service dog. “We’re working on building his rapport with the dogs.”

The first family to receive a certified service dog for an autistic child through Blessings Unleashed was Cindy Stephenson’s family in Springfield, Tenn.

Stephenson’s 6-year-old son, Jonathan, is autistic. Her son was diagnosed with autism in August 2008.

“He has a tendency of pulling away from you and running off,” she said. “I was 45 at the time and he was 4. He’s just going to get faster and I’m just going to get slower.”

She knew a service dog would help keep her son safe, but also provide him with some independence.

Stephenson learned about Blessings Unleashed while shopping at a consignment store in Bowling Green. It was there she met Sandy Otto, who is one of the dog trainers. Otto provided her with information about the program. Stephenson knew of other families with autistic children who had received service dogs, but did not know of anyone nearby who trained the dogs until she met Otto.

The Stephenson’s service dog is a Labrador retriever. The dog’s harness is tethered to the boy at the waist and Stephenson controls the dog with a leash.

“Jonathan is a completely different child,” she said. “He’s just so much calmer with Moe.

“Moe does what I tell him to do and Moe controls Jonathan.”

Otto trained the dog to do three tasks — nudge Jonathan when picking at scabs, search and rescue in the event Jonathan gets lost and to be tethered to Jonathon when walking with him and Stephenson.

There are several dog breeds that make good service dogs, such as labradors retrievers, standard poodles and golden retrievers.

It takes a long time to train a service dog — between 16 to 24 months.

For Otto, training a dog to work with Jonathan was a rewarding experience.

“It chokes me up. It’s wonderful to see the dog and the child bond and it’s extremely rewarding,” she said. “It’s very gratifying for me to see the dog and child work together.”

Service dogs are not cheap. Some can cost upwards of $10,000. The Stephensons paid $7,500 for Moe and raised the money themselves over a three-month period.

Hall would like to have fundraisers in the future for Blessings Unleashed.

“We would like to organize a bowl-a-thon for Autism Awareness Month, which is in April,” she said, adding the group would be willing to find an area child that qualifies for a dog and letting that family take the lead on the bowl-a-thon.

“Our goal this year is to place one dog with a child and possibly the next year go up to two and then gradually work our way up,” she said.

For more information about Blessings Unleashed visit www.blessingsunleashed.org For more information about the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center at http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/site/iddrc/default.aspx

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