All Star Paws for Autism

As The Prince becomes older, his anxiety in social situations is increasing. Our sweet boy retreats into his inner fantasy world more and more for comfort. He has developed OCD and now requires medication, something I had hoped he would never need.

At first this turn of events depressed me. But then I thought of Temple Grandin, one of my autism heroines. She said that medication helped her with anxiety as she got older. And, I thought of her special connection to animals.

The Prince has wanted a dog to replace our beloved old dog Jake, who died shortly before I was diagnosed with cancer. We wanted to be sure I was stable before bringing a new member into the family, and now I am.

I learned about a local South Florida group, All Star Paws for Autism, which identifies dogs in shelters who are good candidates for service dog training. After the dogs are trained, they are matched to a child and the family continues to receive in-home training for a year. The dogs can be taught stim interruption (when a child stims, the dog nuzzles in for a pet), applied deep pressure (the dog gently lies across the child's lap is they are anxious), they can also wake up a parent if the child wanders at night. All of these are skills we think would be helpful to the Prince. For children who are runners, the dog and child can be tethered together for safety. These dogs can also be taught scent-tracking and search and rescue, in case a child does wander off. We don't need these skills now, but it sure would have made life easier when the Prince was age 3!

In addition to offering the security of safety, and to offering a calming presence, the dog also acts as a magnet to other children. The Prince will then have many more opportunities for social interaction, but he will have a partner, his dog. This will also allow him to receive positive attention in public, instead of the negative attention so many of our kids receive during stressful outings.

The Prince will be a part of training the dog, once it has achieved a certain skill level. Our hope is that this will give him confidence. His therapist thinks that it may reinforce the idea that if the Prince can give directions to a dog, who then obeys, the Prince can also tame the obsessive thoughts in his head. He can learn that he does have more control than he realizes.

It costs $15,000 to train a dog, and takes about a year. We are required to raise $5,000. All Star Paws for Autism contributes the remainder through sponsorships and donations.

If you would like to learn more or help us reach our goal, please check our my newest blog, A Boy's Best Friend.