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RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

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Wreck-Gar
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27 Aug 2012, 6:50 am

nostromo wrote:
Hi all, we have decided to get an assistance dog for our boy. They provide a number of benefits, but I think one of the main things is they allow you to get out and about in the community safely and more easily with your child.
The child is tethered to the dog through a belt type harness.

Mainly this is going to be a help for my wife, for me its less of a problem as I'm able to lift James and carry him around on my back when needed and also run faster than him, but she can't do this as easily.

We have gone to visit a family with one and also had another family come around to our house with their son and their dog. Perhaps most interesting is looking at the other Autistic kids that use these dogs. Non-verbal and similar to my son.

Now we are going to start raising the funds, about $20,000 (it actually costs more than double that to raise and train the dogs) so we going to be doing fundraising. I'm hoping that won't be too hard, but its a lot of money!


I've heard about this sort of thing before. What is the dog expected to do?



nostromo
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27 Aug 2012, 8:05 pm

Wreck-Gar wrote:
nostromo wrote:
Hi all, we have decided to get an assistance dog for our boy. They provide a number of benefits, but I think one of the main things is they allow you to get out and about in the community safely and more easily with your child.
The child is tethered to the dog through a belt type harness.

Mainly this is going to be a help for my wife, for me its less of a problem as I'm able to lift James and carry him around on my back when needed and also run faster than him, but she can't do this as easily.

We have gone to visit a family with one and also had another family come around to our house with their son and their dog. Perhaps most interesting is looking at the other Autistic kids that use these dogs. Non-verbal and similar to my son.

Now we are going to start raising the funds, about $20,000 (it actually costs more than double that to raise and train the dogs) so we going to be doing fundraising. I'm hoping that won't be too hard, but its a lot of money!


I've heard about this sort of thing before. What is the dog expected to do?

The dog is tethered to the child, and so the dog will walk along with the parent following instructions. If the child diverts or runs off somewhere the dog simply sits down and resists. When you get to kerbs the dog will always stop and wait for instructions to proceed. They know about traffic and roads and what to do. They can be trained to locate the child on command if they are not visible, although that requires more training.

The dogs have access to Public places like transport, shops, movies, restaurants etc which means you can go and do shopping and normal things as a family.
They can also be trained to calm the child, for example if they have a meltdown the dog can stay next to them or lie on the child if thats the sort of thing that helps them. They can do a specific action if the child is stimming in a way that causes problems. So theres a lot of individual things depending on the childs needs.
Just the dogs presence in unfamiliar environments can be calming.

For us the main thing is getting out and about. We visited a family with a little Autie very similar to James. When they went out for a walk it was quite amazing to see the boy who is very strong and can be hard to handle comply and happily walk along in the direction the dog is going. He is very calmed by feeling the dogs fur too.

Sometimes we go camping - in tents - with other families and one of us needs to be on paranoia alert all the time and monitor him so my son who is non-verbal doesn't wander off (it happened once when my attention was diverted only long enough to tie my daughters shoe-lace!) so it would be great to be able to have the dog there when we do that.



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28 Aug 2012, 7:20 am

nostromo wrote:
The dog is tethered to the child, and so the dog will walk along with the parent following instructions. If the child diverts or runs off somewhere the dog simply sits down and resists. When you get to kerbs the dog will always stop and wait for instructions to proceed. They know about traffic and roads and what to do. They can be trained to locate the child on command if they are not visible, although that requires more training.

The dogs have access to Public places like transport, shops, movies, restaurants etc which means you can go and do shopping and normal things as a family.
They can also be trained to calm the child, for example if they have a meltdown the dog can stay next to them or lie on the child if thats the sort of thing that helps them. They can do a specific action if the child is stimming in a way that causes problems. So theres a lot of individual things depending on the childs needs.
Just the dogs presence in unfamiliar environments can be calming.

For us the main thing is getting out and about. We visited a family with a little Autie very similar to James. When they went out for a walk it was quite amazing to see the boy who is very strong and can be hard to handle comply and happily walk along in the direction the dog is going. He is very calmed by feeling the dogs fur too.

Sometimes we go camping - in tents - with other families and one of us needs to be on paranoia alert all the time and monitor him so my son who is non-verbal doesn't wander off (it happened once when my attention was diverted only long enough to tie my daughters shoe-lace!) so it would be great to be able to have the dog there when we do that.


Good luck with this. My son (now 4) is starting to get to be difficult to take out places sometimes. Especially in a mall or big box store, he'll want to start running around like it's a playground and a couple of times he's actually run outside into the parking lot!



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28 Aug 2012, 7:22 am

My son has started to do representational drawings! So far he's drawn cookies, oranges, and a cat on the little magnadoodle he often carries around.



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28 Aug 2012, 11:30 am

http://weareaustin.com/news/top-stories ... html?wap=0

My younger son, who'll be five in October, was filmed as part of this local news story (which contains a commercial at the beginning and takes a while to load if you have DSL). Anyway, he is the green-eyed blonde boy. The story apparently aired last night on the 10:00 local news here in Austin and was later posted on the Internet.

A local charity paid 2/3 of the cost of swim lessons for kids 5 and under on the autism spectrum. Drowning is apparently the leading cause of death for kids on the spectrum ages 14 and under. Kids who wander and who are being supervised by someone other than the primary care giver near a pool or body of water are in the most danger.

My older son, who was too old for the program, watched all of the lessons and practiced in our shallow inflatable backyard pool. He loves the water and is a lot less cautious than my younger son, so my older son is actually doing better with learning to swim. (Neither child had previously ever had swim lessons due to the unavailability of an affordable local program for kids with special needs.)

Now, both of my sons have been in local autism-related news stories, and I have links to both of these local news stories on the front page of my website.

By the way, I had to fire the kids' therapist due to financial issues, and I've basically been playing therapist and tutor all day every day to two kids on the spectrum. I decided that I didn't have time to do that and keep up with WP.

I had several play dates and a birthday party for my older son with classic autism this summer, too. I've also been asked to help with fundraising for the local chapter of the local Autism Society (agreed to be a part of a committee, but rejected anything that required too much of a time commitment or finding a babysitter....)

Got to go. I've missed chatting with you all!


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www.freevideosforautistickids.com is my website with hundreds of links and thousands of educational videos for kids, parents and educators. Son with high-functioning classic autism, aged 7, and son with OCD/Aspergers, aged 4. I love my boys!


Wreck-Gar
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28 Aug 2012, 3:26 pm

blondeambition wrote:
http://weareaustin.com/news/top-stories/stories/swimming-classes-tailored-autistic-children-3755.shtml?wap=0

My younger son, who'll be five in October, was filmed as part of this local news story (which contains a commercial at the beginning and takes a while to load if you have DSL). Anyway, he is the green-eyed blonde boy. The story apparently aired last night on the 10:00 local news here in Austin and was later posted on the Internet.

A local charity paid 2/3 of the cost of swim lessons for kids 5 and under on the autism spectrum. Drowning is apparently the leading cause of death for kids on the spectrum ages 14 and under. Kids who wander and who are being supervised by someone other than the primary care giver near a pool or body of water are in the most danger.

My older son, who was too old for the program, watched all of the lessons and practiced in our shallow inflatable backyard pool. He loves the water and is a lot less cautious than my younger son, so my older son is actually doing better with learning to swim. (Neither child had previously ever had swim lessons due to the unavailability of an affordable local program for kids with special needs.)

Now, both of my sons have been in local autism-related news stories, and I have links to both of these local news stories on the front page of my website.

By the way, I had to fire the kids' therapist due to financial issues, and I've basically been playing therapist and tutor all day every day to two kids on the spectrum. I decided that I didn't have time to do that and keep up with WP.

I had several play dates and a birthday party for my older son with classic autism this summer, too. I've also been asked to help with fundraising for the local chapter of the local Autism Society (agreed to be a part of a committee, but rejected anything that required too much of a time commitment or finding a babysitter....)

Got to go. I've missed chatting with you all!


Thanks for the update. Glad your kids are doing well. My ASD son starts his second year of pre-K next week, I hope it goes well for him.



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02 Sep 2012, 7:35 pm

Wow, in a little over a week people have donated nearly $7000 towards our dog! Been using FB and many of the people donating we have no idea who they are. I'm very humbled by peoples generosity.
I guess it helps its for a concrete thing like a dog and not something less tangible like ABA therapy.



Wreck-Gar
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03 Sep 2012, 9:12 am

nostromo wrote:
Wow, in a little over a week people have donated nearly $7000 towards our dog! Been using FB and many of the people donating we have no idea who they are. I'm very humbled by peoples generosity.
I guess it helps its for a concrete thing like a dog and not something less tangible like ABA therapy.


Is there a way for people on this board to donate?



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04 Sep 2012, 12:14 am

Wreck-Gar wrote:
nostromo wrote:
Wow, in a little over a week people have donated nearly $7000 towards our dog! Been using FB and many of the people donating we have no idea who they are. I'm very humbled by peoples generosity.
I guess it helps its for a concrete thing like a dog and not something less tangible like ABA therapy.


Is there a way for people on this board to donate?

Yes, if anyone wanted to donate any small amount it would be most gratefully received :) its done through Credit card via our fundraising page:
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/AssistanceDogforJames/
(Thats all in are NZD so each 'dollar' costs about 80 US cents each)

The payment goes through to the assistance dog trust:
http://www.assistancedogstrust.org.nz/

Thank You



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04 Sep 2012, 7:16 am

nostromo wrote:
Wreck-Gar wrote:
nostromo wrote:
Wow, in a little over a week people have donated nearly $7000 towards our dog! Been using FB and many of the people donating we have no idea who they are. I'm very humbled by peoples generosity.
I guess it helps its for a concrete thing like a dog and not something less tangible like ABA therapy.


Is there a way for people on this board to donate?

Yes, if anyone wanted to donate any small amount it would be most gratefully received :) its done through Credit card via our fundraising page:
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/AssistanceDogforJames/
(Thats all in are NZD so each 'dollar' costs about 80 US cents each)

The payment goes through to the assistance dog trust:
http://www.assistancedogstrust.org.nz/

Thank You


Done! You might want to consider starting a new thread for this, as not everyone on this board looks at this thread.



nostromo
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04 Sep 2012, 7:03 pm

I see that, thank you :D my wife was like "Do you know someone called Wreck Gar?"



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05 Sep 2012, 10:09 am

nostromo wrote:
I see that, thank you :D my wife was like "Do you know someone called Wreck Gar?"


Ha ha, yeah I try to keep incognito on the autism forums.

Hey I have a rather large network on Twitter and Facebook...if you want I can post your link there, it might help to raise a few bucks.



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05 Sep 2012, 4:06 pm

Wreck-Gar wrote:
nostromo wrote:
I see that, thank you :D my wife was like "Do you know someone called Wreck Gar?"


Ha ha, yeah I try to keep incognito on the autism forums.

Hey I have a rather large network on Twitter and Facebook...if you want I can post your link there, it might help to raise a few bucks.

Yes, that would be terrific thanks. :D



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05 Sep 2012, 8:33 pm

nostromo wrote:
Wreck-Gar wrote:
nostromo wrote:
I see that, thank you :D my wife was like "Do you know someone called Wreck Gar?"


Ha ha, yeah I try to keep incognito on the autism forums.

Hey I have a rather large network on Twitter and Facebook...if you want I can post your link there, it might help to raise a few bucks.

Yes, that would be terrific thanks. :D


Will try, hopefully can get some total strangers to donate to you!



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09 Sep 2012, 12:25 pm

Went to the birthday party of my friend's speech-delayed though NT kid yesterday. My son didn't play with the other kids but he did at least play near them. Got bored near the end and ran into the neighbor's yard.

Also he's a week into his new special needs pre school. Seems good so far, and his speech therapist spent some time in Japan so she can understand what he says in Japanese.

In the meantime, over the past few months, my two-year-old has gone from saying "mama" and "dada" to communicating in complete sentences! Not grammatically correct or "little professor" style or anything like that, but it seemed to happen nearly overnight.



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09 Sep 2012, 7:32 pm

Got home yesterday from a bike ride, and my son was wandering around home using his head to headbutt our arms and handing us PECS for things he didn't want. I knew he was bored of being at home and frustrated so decided to attempt something we haven't done for a long time and that was try a grocery shop with him. Luckily my daughter came and I made her hold his hand, and I was diligent about getting down and talking to him and telling him what we were doing. I don't know what level of comprehension he has, but it does just seem to make things run a lot smoother and keeps him chilled out.

It was a quicker than normal shop, but he was extremely good, no melt downs, and no eating food off shelves. The main thing he likes to do is run up and down the ailes, I call it 'strafing runs' but my daughter kepts that in check mostly.
We even got him to try and help with putting the groceries on the converyer and he did that once or twice. Was very pleased with the whole thing.