"Dog brings relief to autistic Antioch teen and family&

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Abbi Roman settles into the living room recliner and pets the black dog sprawled across her lap into a blissful repose.

Her attention is riveted on the beloved pet that has brought a kind of deliverance from some of the tribulations that autism has visited on her and her family the past 14 years.

Palua, a Labrador-golden retriever mix, has changed how the Antioch teen and her parents cope with a brain disorder that has created isolation, fear and frustration.

And that makes Palua an unconventional canine. While dogs have long assisted people with a range of physical and mental disabilities, their use for those with autism is a relatively new phenomenon.

"Having a dog by their side just really opens up the world to them so much more," said Kristen Trisko of Canine Companions for Independence, which provided Palua to the Roman family. "The dog provides unconditional love. It's nothing tangible; some kids are nonverbal around people, yet will talk to a dog."

Abbi was born with a neurological condition that affects the acquisition of social and communication skills, making her so uncomfortable around those outside her immediate family that she retreats into silence and avoids eye contact.

Another common characteristic of autism is hypersensitivity to stimuli, which overwhelm individuals who can't filter out sights, sounds, smells and other sensory information.

Palua reduces Abbi's stress by redirecting her attention
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when the neural messages bombard her. By focusing on the dog, the eighth-grader can calm herself down.

Palua also is Abbi's link to the rest of the world. The teen never initiates conversation with strangers, but people approach her with questions about the animal when they notice its vest -- and sometimes she even responds with a little parental prompting.

Her four-legged lifeline comes courtesy of the Canine Companions nonprofit group based in Santa Rosa for 36 years, training dogs to help those in wheelchairs and the hearing-impaired, among others.

Night and day

At a recent dermatology appointment, Palua jumped onto the exam table where Abbi sat cross-legged.

When physician's assistant Jim Jewell came in the room, Abbi didn't look up and continued vigorously flipping through a magazine.

Christine took the periodical and held it up, prompting her daughter to lift her head so that Jewell could examine his patient up close.

Before Palua came along, Abbi wouldn't look at him and recoiled at his touch, said Jewell, who had no choice but to observe her from a distance.

But with a dog she can touch for reassurance, the youngster has become more confident in the presence of an adult outside her family.

"It's like night and day," Jewell said. "(The dog) has made an amazing difference."

Christine and Eric Roman remember all too well what life was like before Palua joined the family two years ago.

Taking Abbi anywhere meant risking a scene if she couldn't cope with the sensory overload.

During a shopping trip, the colorful displays, piped-in music and announcements over the loudspeaker system, coupled with smells from products such as scented candles, inevitably would trigger a tantrum.

"It was on the floor, screaming ... every single time, every single store," Christine recalled. "She kind of got stuck in the terrible 2's."

And while most people understand a toddler melting down, a 10-year-old throwing a fit isn't socially acceptable, she said.

The Romans gradually withdrew from the outside world, and for about seven years they didn't venture out in public as a family.

"We stopped going to church, we stopped eating out, vacations -- we stopped life," Christine said.

And then one day she learned of Canine Companions for Independence at a support group for parents with autistic children.

Although the organization has been donating dogs to people with autism since 1991, the 197 canines that the group has placed to date are a fraction of the nearly 4,000 that have graduated from its training school.

Globally, the story is the same; a dog handler with the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides established the world's first canine-training program dedicated to autistic children in 1996.

53 pounds of comfort

Following a lengthy application process, the Romans spent 21 months on a waiting list before receiving an invitation to attend a two-week training camp during which clients are matched with dogs.

Like all the organization's graduates, Palua barks only on command, a particular plus for people with autism because of their sensitivity to noise, Christine said.

The dog meets needs specific to an autistic child: Tell her to "visit" and Palua rests her head in Abbi's lap; say "lap" and she places both front legs on the teen for a cuddle.

But there are moments when no instructions are necessary. When Abbi cries, the dog instinctively zeros in on her face -- touching muzzle to nose -- sometimes including a lick for good measure.

Palua also leads the way through airport checkpoints, because once Abbi sees security officers pat down her dog she's reassured that it's safe to submit to a search.

Abbi used to get out of bed eight, nine, 10 times, before finally falling asleep. Now she nods off with 53 pounds of dog draped across her chest.

"It's that warm, deep pressure that her body craves in order to relax," Christine said.

With Palua at Abbi's side, the Romans once again can enjoy ordinary moments.

Abbi can attend her younger sister's weekly hip-hop classes despite the volume and heavy beat of the music. And at church, Palua provides enough of a distraction that Abbi now only occasionally needs ear protection to muffle the organ.

"We can go places we could never go before -- to the grocery store, the ATM -- anything that people take for granted," Eric said. "Just to be able to pick up and do something was really impossible before. There was absolutely no spontaneity."