Hi 👋🏻

My name is Georgie and earlier this year, I was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. The diagnosis wasn’t a huge shock to me and my family as it was suspected for a number of years, but it produced a level of embarrassment for me and I felt like I needed to hide it. I felt like a failure and was frustrated that it was difficult for me to live life the same way others could. For my family, the question remained ‘So what next? What help can I get?’. The diagnosis was affirming, but it didn’t lead to any help that the NHS could give me aside from a limited number of therapy sessions. This is where we came across the Autism Dogs Charity.

Autism Dogs Charity offers support for autistic children and adults and their families and ultimately provide dogs to lessen the ‘symptoms’ of autism. They offer a residential programme where you are matched with an assistance dog that best suits you, and they are then trained over a 12 month period to assist with the things you struggle with on a daily basis. This could involve the dog providing deep pressure therapy, self harm interruption, emotion regulation, and reducing anxiety. All of these things can help an individual with autism lead a happier and healthier life, doing things they could only have wished for.

The application process for the programme is highly competitive however, with 30,000 people applying and only a handful of spaces being available. I applied after talking it through with my family, but had little hope in being offered an interview. However, a few weeks later, I had an email through saying I had been offered an interview. Skip forward a few more weeks and a few interviews later, and I was told that they were offering me a place on the programme and I was going to get an assistance dog! Me and my family couldn’t believe it and a few tears were definitely shed! Finally there was help that I could get that would allow me to live a life free of fear and full of independence.

My dog will be trained to recognise signs that I need their help and provide assistance where needed, especially in situations I currently find stressful and tend to avoid. The cost of training these assistance dogs is roughly around £25,000 and as the organisation is non-profit, I would need to contribute £15,000 towards their training.

I have a number of fundraisers in the works that I shall be doing over the next year to raise funds and awareness for the work that the Autism Dogs Charity does for people like me. They give power back to those of us who have struggled with engaging in normal and exciting things throughout life - school, work, relationships, friends - and allow us to live a new life free from that struggle with the help of these amazing dogs. Slowly, I am learning that I don’t need to be ashamed about my diagnosis and to embrace it - I have connected with so many amazing people who are like me and I am so excited for this next chapter of my life.

If you would like to contribute towards the training of my life changing assistance dog, my family and I would be forever grateful. In our eyes, every donation we receive is one step closer to freedom and independence and we are so thankful that you are helping us on this journey.

If you would like to learn more about what Autism Dogs Charity does, please click on the link below:

https://www.autismdogs.co.uk/we-do/we-do-main

Thank you 🦮