Therapy Dog

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I asked this in the parents forum and got no answers so I'm posting here.
I'd like some opinions on the benefits of getting a therapy dog for a young child with HFA or Aspergers.
The dog would accompany him to school and basically be with him all of the time.
So would this help my son or just cause him to stand out more. He would be five by the time we got the dog.

Dogs that are not trained dog to tasks to help their disabled owner have no legal rights to be in public. Just being their to make him feel better the dog will have no legal right to be there. Unfortunately young children with autism is one of the places where service dog laws are broken most often in the US (my response here is assuming you are in the US).

However, a dog does often help with autistic children's development.

Why are you thinking having a dog with him always instead of just having a pet at home for him?

(Probably the answer will be, get him a pet dog and don't make it more than a well trained pet - look into skilled companion animals, they're service dog wash outs that go to disabled kids and might be a good idea for him
.)

It depends. If your son has a lot of melt downs, a dog can have a calming effect. However, if your son is in the habit of hitting, kicking, throwing, or otherwise being physically violent during meltdowns, then don't get a dog, as your son would probably abuse it during some of his meltdowns. People should never knowingly put a dog in an abusive situation. The fact that your son is not in full control of himself at such times is not a justification for exposing a dog to such treatment, just in the hope that the dog might calm the child.

Personally, I lean against getting the dog, at least until the boy is older, and able to help take care of it. You already have your hands full with your son. Are you really prepared to add the care of a dog to your work load?

At this point it is just something that I am considering.
If I got a dog it would be a certified assistance dog and capable of searching.
My son has the ability to disappear in the blink of an eye which is incredibly frightening for me.
His meltdowns are not terrible at this point, he just lies down and cries for a while. No hitting thus far.

I suppose I'm thinking of having the dog with him always because it is a possible option and might help him.
My sister trains assistance dogs professionally. She made the offer and I'm considering it. The dog would be trained specifically for him.

So far the pros are that the dog may help him remain calm in new situations, could help keep him from wandering, and could find him more quickly than I could if he does wander off. Also a dog may help his development in other way I haven't thought of.

The cons I can see are the expense and time involved in keeping a dog, and the possibility that it does nothing good for him or makes him stand out as the weird kid.

He's 5.

The dog cannot be in control of him, and should absolutely not be in control of him. It'd be bad for both of them.

A five year old is not expected to be able to be in control of a dog.

If he has the dog with him at all times, who has control of the dog?

A dog only to help with wandering is generally not actually a good idea. It tends to lead to the dog being used as a tether to the child, and being expected to do things dogs cannot do. You can look into this more, but at this point I'd not recommend this.

Service dogs for autism are incredibly good things, but usually they're better for older children (the one that was in training at church went to a 10 year old) and adults (though those are really really hard to find anywhere that will train them), and for things more than only dealing with wandering. It is good to have the dog helping with wandering, as long as you are aware of what the dog can and can't do, and not expect the dog to do any sort of human job there, but this is a place that people don't tend to be that careful.

Please be careful.