Service dogs may be a friend to a child with autism and help keep the child safe, but the family with the dog needs the support of a good veterinarian.
The purpose of this study was to learn from families what it is like to have a service dog to support a child with autism. Each family must find its own way to bring a service dog into the family. The authors found that the troubles with service dogs may offset the good of having a service dog. The authors suggest that veterinarians look at the results of this study so that they can better help the owners of service dogs. Veterinary schools can teach veterinarians how to learn what needs to be known about families who want service dogs.
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Please comment on this autism topic.
Autism and friends
Feb 21, 2012 by AnonymousMy twelve year old is Autistic and at school he has lunch every day with a friend who is not. He also goes to his house after schoolevery day as his mother watches my son until I get home from work. She also has two other sons,both neuro typical. I have seen amazing changes this past year in my sons speech, and in the things that he has tried,such as riding a four wheeler with his friend. It's been amazing.
Bucks County Coffee House Center
Feb 16, 2012 by AnonymousI was apart of this group. Unfortunately when I turned 27, I was kicked out. They said "graduating." Graduating from what? I didn't learn a thing! Before we had moved to the Oxford Valley Mall location, there was many opporunties for members to actually learn something. Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, spending time with friends, watching a movie, and being in more than just one room. That's all that is there in the Oxford Valley mall location. A room! Plus there is so many rules and restrictions. The woman that started the group, isn't involved anymore. She was so disgusted with the changes, that she left. That has to say something! I would never let any friends join or recommed anyone to join.
Responding to relationship development intervention (RDI)
Jan 6, 2012 by AnonymousI am a parent of an 18 yr. old young man with ASD who we have been doing RDI with for the past 3 years. Once we began the program his life and ours changed. He now initiates conversation with us - true conversation, with give and take, perspective sharing, observations are related and my interests considered. He is much more other-focused and considerate. Outbursts and anti-social behaviors have been significantly decreased. Our household is so much more calm and life normalized. His ability to make study us during communication (total body language - faces, posture, tone - not just the words said) and approrpriately respond and interpret this non-verbal aspect of language is really imporved and remarked upon by family/friends and teachers. He is able to do this on his own, no prompting, no scripting - it is becoming "normal" and happening as expected. We are completely satisfied with this program and while costly, it has delivered the results where others haven't. It really changed his life. I work in Special Olympics and have a control group to compare him and this intervention against as a result. His progress compared against his peers (same age/ school experiences/ but different interventions) is significantly better. We very much look forward to how far he can go.
PDD-NOS Repetitive Behavior
Aug 28, 2011 by Claudia CellaI'm looking for guidance. In case of a child with PDD-NOS that shows repetitive behaviours - such as playing the very same scene of a movie over and over - is it advisable to make him stop by using a distractor or negotiation or whatever works with him, or is it better to just let him watch the movie the way he likes?
The boy I have in mind is 7. He has been working with a neurologist, a psychopedagogist and a neurologist since he was diagnosed at 2 and has developed good social skills. He attends school, has friends, is a very calm, loving boy. He´s a happy kid. He usually has some repetitive behaviours but there are days that for no reason at all - at least to my knowledge - the intensity of the repetitive behaviours increases. Instead of playing with his brothers like he usually does, he may spend a whole afternoon watching the same 10 seconds of a movie, normally a funny part that makes him laugh.
So, is it ok to let him do that or should I find the way to make him stop?