Autism service dog

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We are applying for an autism service dog for my son, but we have to do fundraising for the agency to help cover some of their costs. Do any of you have any ideas? Unfortunately, with 2 AS parents, we are not a terribly social family, so we do not belong to a church or other large groups such as that.

I have started an Etsy shop with all the proceeds going to the agency. If anyone is interested, I will post it, but I do not want to be pushy here. I hope to continue the Etsy shop after raising the funds for the service dog agency. I would like to be able to help raise funds for a couple of non-profits that have been very helpful for my son.

I am an aspie and I have a service dog. I trained her myself and I love her she is very helpful to me.

Kaelynn - I am glad to hear the dog has been helpful for you. I think it will be good for my son also. He has severe anxiety and we are hoping the dog will help with that.

What can a service dog actually do, anyway?

Service dogs can do many things for kids with ASD.

They can help calm them just by being there. If the child does start getting upset, the dog can nudge them to try to get their attention to distract them from whatever is upsetting them and get them to focus on the dog to calm down.

They can help with kids with severe stimming to distract from the stimming.

If the child tends to wander, they can be trained in tracking to help find the child faster and easier. For children who tend to "dart", sometimes just holding the leash helps keep them from dashing into the street or other dangerous situations. The dog can be trained to also help "herd" them to help with darting and wandering.

Children with ASD are also much more likely to have seizures and some dogs can be trained to alert for those.

The dogs also tend to have vests that actually encourage strangers to come up and ask about them and ask to pet them. This can help encourage social interaction for the child and it gives the child a concrete subject to discuss. Many children are also more likely to approach a child with ASD when they have a dog because another child is naturally attracted by the dog.

The dog also provides a friend and someone that the child can learn to empathize with.

Since a dog with full public access clearance can go anywhere the child can go, the dog can help make transitions and new situations easier by having a familiar presence.

Some agencies will train dogs to be tethered (a leash from the dog to the child's waist) to the child. This helps with darting and wandering when the child won't actually hold the leash. However, this is usually done with the parent holding a regular leash on the dog. Also, there is a lot of disagreement as to whether this is a good thing or not. I won't get into that, since it is not something I want or need for my child anyway.

So, there are lots of benefits of a service dog for kids with ASD. However, the dog is NOT a nanny, and does not replace parental supervision.

dogs are awesome

Does it have to be a dog? I have a service bearded dragon. Not an ESA, but a phycatric service animal. I take her into stores and resturants all the time and if someone gives me trouble, I just have to show them the letter from the doctor.

Fund raising ideas:

Yard sale. Here is how to go about having a lot of things to sell there.

Join your local Freecycle group online. If you don't know what it is, it's an online email group where the members post things that they no longer want or need and others who do want it respond and they make arrangements to pick it up. Members also post "wanted posts" for things they are looking for, and if someone on the group has one they don't want anymore, they respond to them. You join it by making a Yahoo name and going to YahooGroups. Type in "Whoevertown" Freecycle -put the name of your town where I put your username+town. It will find the group for you. Follow the instructions to join. You can have the email sent to the Yahoo address or you can choose to have it sent to an alternate email address. Some send out postings once or twice a day when the moderator approves them, others aren't moderated and they come when someone posts.

Once you are a member, post there that you are trying to raise the money for a service dog for your child. Ask if anyone has any good, usable items, of any sort that they would give you for a yard sale, the proceeds of which will go toward getting the dog. People will respond with lots of things. You can also respond to the things people are giving away, letting them know that you want them for a yard sale to raise money for the dog. After the yard sale, you can post the items that didn't sell back on Freecycle for others to come get if they want. You usually have to go pick up item's from the person who has them on Freecycle.


Another idea is join Facebook if you haven't already. Look for your local yard sale page. They are listed by town, city, county, neighborhood, etc. You will have to type in all those things to find them. ie: "Whoevertown" yard sale under search. Join that group then post the items you have on etsy and note that the proceeds are going toward a service dog for your child.


Another thing that's common where I live is donation jars. Scan and print a picture of your child, or even of a service dog if you don't want your child's picture out there. Write "Please help <childs first name>, a X year old with autism, raise money for a service dog. Thank you!" Ask convenience stores and small shops to put them by the register where customers can see them. Cut a slit in the lid for money. Lots of people have those here, and most people just drop their change in them. Go by daily and collect the money. Most managers of smaller places allow this.


I've done tons of fundraising at my kids schools over the years, but those are the only ones right off the top of my head about how an individual family can go about it.

You could also ask some churches if they would help by taking up a collection for this too. You can explain that you all dont go to church often because of sensory issues yourself, but that doesn't mean you love God any less, you just can't deal with being in places that long. Many churches, especially smaller churches, will do it. Call and talk to the minister. If you are Catholic, as I am, you might want to call your local dioscese and see if they have any help to offer or suggestions. Even if you aren't Catholic, they still will help you.

When I think of more, I'll be sure and post them. Let me know how it goes.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

OliveOilMom - thanks for your ideas - I appreciate them.

If anyone is interested - my Etsy shop is FindingAllThePieces - so www.etsy.com/shop/findingallthepieces

My sons and I are making puzzle piece shaped jewelry to help raise funds for the service dog agency. All the items are totally handmade and customizable.

I hope to do some other fundraisers as well.

Hi, I'm an adult autie aspie (apparently we will soon all be auties since the Aspergers classification is going extinct) who has a service dog. My Newfoundland Orka assists me in many ways. He is often tethered to me with joring (dog powered pulling driving) equipment. This helps keep me balanced, walk in a straight line and stay focused enough outwardly to not crash into things.

Joring equipment is a hip belt with bungees, bungee tow line and a dog joring harness. Once the dog has learned the commands, he can pull one on all sorts of conveyances. Walking, nordic walking, LandRollers, snowshoes, skis, scooter, etc. My Newf also does drafting and pulls a cart and wagon as well as my kayak on a kayak cart. We do a lot of dog powered sports together, starting with baby steps and getting better, stronger, longer every day.

Since I got Orka at 13 weeks, he has helped me so much my needs have changed and thus his tasks are changing. I am now focused on getting entirely better. I had an autism regression and became very ill but am recovering.

It is extremely expensive plus well nigh impossible to get an autism service dog as an adult. So I researched, searched the globe for a Newf with excellent health and water rescue lineage, got my boy from Belgium and have trained him myself (not easy!). [ photo credit Leah Nash ]

Cascadians - What a wonderful picture! I love it! I think you have done amazing things with your dog. It sounds like he has really made a big difference in your life.

The agency we are working with really encourages the kids and their dogs to do activities together. Many do agility work and possibly competitions (great for both the dog and the child to learn). Some actually use their dogs as therapy dogs for nursing home visits and such. Again, great socialization for the dog and a good way to encourage communication for a child.

I think you have been very creative in combining the pulling skills you need your dog to have with a variety of interesting activities for both of you.

I hope your illness-caused regression improves soon.