Autism service dogs

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I do have photos. She won't be home for up to a year.

Hi, my name is Caitlin. I am an adult with Asperger's syndrome. I did not know autism assistance dogs existed till a few weeks ago, now I'm obsessed with the idea. I have always had a strong connection to animals and I think an autism assistance dog can be trained to help me with some of my issues. Before I say that for sure though I'm getting in contact with others who know the process and what they can be trained to do. I'm going to apologize in advance this will bea long post. I just want to make sure I'm fully informed before I go ahead with a major decision like this. One big issue I'd like the dog to be trained to do is physically mitigate meltdowns and more more frequent pre-meltdown freak outs as I call them. These episodes usually happen if something is not in it's place and I can't find it. For example if I put my iPod down somewhere but I don't remember I put it there and go to its usual place to find it and it isn't there. This kind of thing is quite common which is why I'm so OCD about everything having its place. Could the dog also be trained to mitigate by finding and retrieving the object on command? Also I have an extreme fear of going more than an hour and a half away from wherever my current location is and traveling in unfamiliar areas by myself. This is becoming more and more debilitating to me especially when I'm in Maryland for my summer job where I go no further than a shopping center 6.6 miles away. Could a dog be trained to physically intervene if I need to drive somewhere unfamiliar and I start to freak out. I ask because freaking out while driving is no good. This happened one time and before I pulled into a parking lot and called my dad for directions sobbing, I was freaking out to the point I was forgetting the rules of the road a big no no. My next question would be about location hopping. I know some places require you come to a training facility for a period of time. I'll be starting grad school this fall and going elsewhere for training could not be done. Also my grad school is in PA which is my state of permanent residence as well,but in a different location than the school and I also am in Maryland for my summer job. So with all this hopping around would any organization allow me to have a dog trained by them or would I have to wait till I'm in one place? Another is cost. Like I said I'll be in grad school so I'll have very little income coming in. Do organizations help you fundraise? I think this is all the questions I have for now. Thank you for baring with me.

I found this in The Montreal Gazette today

Study reveals how service dogs help children with autism
Research finds assistance dogs signfiicantly reduce stress levels

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... earch.html

Pairing a dog with a child who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could help families deal with their day-to-day struggles, according to a study by Quebec researchers.
The study was released by the MIRA Foundation, an organization that helps train assistance dogs and teams them with people who have visual or motor disabilities and with children with disorders such as autism.

The research is the first to to take into account the physiological impact of service dogs on children with ASD.

Eric Beaudoin has two young sons with ASD who participated in the study.

Morgan, a black lab, has been with the family for over a year, and Beaudoin says the animal has helped them cope with their stress.

“We have the feeling we're a bit [like] a normal family,” he said.

He said before Morgan’s introduction to the family, every family outing risked becoming a crisis situation.

But with the dog, Beaudoin’s children were able to interact with people on a new level. He said Morgan also helped his kids deal with their emotions.

“The dog is bringing stability to the house,” Beaudoin said.

The hormone levels of forty-two children with the disorder were measured before, during and after service dogs were introduced to their families. The study found their stress levels dropped significantly with the presence of a furry friend.

One of the researchers involved in the project is Sonia Lupien, director for the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at the Mental Health Research Centre at the Université de Montréal.

She said the dogs help the parents as well as the children.

“It is as if there is like a symbiotic relationship between the dog, who is non-verbal, and the child as well, who is non-verbal,” she said. “That can give a little bit of break for the parents.”

MIRA says it plans to train 60 more dogs to help other families.