Autism service dog

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An autism service dog is a service dog trained to assist a person with autism, to help them gain independence, confidence, and the ability to perform activities of daily living similar to anyone else. For the most part, these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disabilities.

1 Function
2 Use with children
3 See also
4 Footnotes

[edit] Function

A guide dog for a person who is blind signals the handler when the team approaches an intersection so that the handler knows to stop and check for traffic. An autism dog might be trained to do the exact same task, except that instead of giving visual information ("I see an intersection"), they give prioritizing information ("I recognize a situation that requires concentrated processing"). Autism service dogs may guide a confused handler from an overstimulating situation on command, just as a guide dog would guide their handler home on command.

They might signal the handler if important sounds, like that of a smoke alarm. When a person is trying to process 20 different things, including the sounds of crickets, a smoke alarm, the smell of the fabric softener on the sheets, the feel of the fabric on their skin, and so on, it may take them a while to get down the list to the really important information: the smoke alarm. Those without processing impairments automatically recognize the urgency of the smoke alarm, but many with autism cannot do so without careful consideration. They certainly know what it means and that it is urgent, but they must think it through step-by-step to arrive at the conclusion that a speedy exit is required. As with a person who is deaf, a trained service dog can signal the person with autism of an important event, such as a smoke alarm, the phone ringing, someone at the door, the alarm clock, the kitchen timer, the baby crying, et cetera.^[1]

[edit] Use with children

In the recent years there has been a trend to tether very young autistic children to dogs to keep them from bolting or running away. In some other cases the dog is expected to act as a kind of babysitter and notify the parents when the child tries to leave the house. The service dog community at large disapproves of this practice for safety reasons, however it has not yet been tested in court whether these dogs would legally be considered service dogs or not.^[2]^[3]

Note: There is a very significant split among the service dog community concerning tethering.