The needs of every person with autism and their family differ, however the interventions the dogs are trained for include:

• Tethering via a ’tummy lead’ harness or second dog lead to encourage calm and settled walking behaviour outside of the home.
• Deep pressure work to help regulate the proprioceptive system and reduce anxiety.
• communication games to encourage social engagement, speech and language and social confidence.
• Settling behaviours to promote relaxation and self-regulation.

Our son Elliot has autism and we know he would benefit greatly from having an assistance dog.  We are currently in the application stage with the charity.  If suitable, Dogs for Autism will work with Elliot and provide him with a specially trained dog who can go everywhere with him.  It costs £20,000 to train one of these dogs and whether or not Elliot is suitable to be given one, we think this is am amazing charity and hope to see many many people with autism helped in this way.