Psychiatric Service Dogs For AS

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Exactly why would you need one?

As someone else said, it would be just like screaming "disability!"
And basicly when most people see an assistance dog, they assume it's a guide dog and don't approach it, as it is meant to be working. How would that help people with social problems, unless they seriously don't want to talk to anyone? In which case, hey , I'd just stay home

And who am I to say that what you describe wouldn't be just fine for some one on the spectrum? Scream disability? Which is a worse curse, not functioning well or at all in certain setting that needs to be done or doing it with the help of a dog? While I sure don't need a dog, I'm not going to be judge and jury that others might see a need. And quite frankly I don't give a f**k what others think about me anymore.

What do service dogs do for us? What do they help us with?

Don't have a damn clue, as far as I know there are none with AS in mind.

I asked what good it would do, you go ballistic, then say you have no idea???

Naw that wasn't ballistic honest. Normally I swear every other word. I can't do that here. It's just me. I really don't know what one would do, I suppose it would be some kind of custom job, to fit the need. Most are anyway, but have a label so they can get into a store or some such thing. It takes a while to actually fine tune the animal to the owner.

I don't see how an animal would help with social issues. I was taking a different point of view and all I was really saying is, I don't need one and you don't need one, but someone might. It just came out in a manner that you took as me screaming. I wasn't. You would know for sure if I had been. I'm rather blunt.

Now would this really work, again I don't know, it would probably depend a lot on the where of it.

A companion dog is one that is allowed into social setting where others are not. They too require training, obedience, but it isn't very high, only to CD level. Would they be allowed in a building to live where normally a pet would not? I don't know. Some of use live where pets are not allowed or are forced into settings where we would rather not be, just to keep our beloved friends. Hey like I say I don't really know. As I see this discussion, it's about looking at things. I'm just trying to keep an open mind. I think a cat label would be really great, allow them to be in a setting for those with AS. But maybe such things exist already.

I may be off on the some of the labeling on that paragraph. I know what I mean, I'm just to tired to back track it and make sure I got it right.

Last edited by postpaleo on 24 Sep 2007, 7:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

I was actually just talking about the:



statement. I guess I just didn't even bother to think about the rest. OK, I see why spacecase was so upset. ALSO, I don;t think the term "man up" was around when I was a kid. I kind of figured I knew what it was, and was right, but it didn't make sense to say it to a woman, even if it did mean to basically calm down and take it with resolve Basically it is almost like "take it like a man".(Used towards males in my day that seemed to be overreacting in a negative sense or whining.)

But nearly everyone asked that statement, including myself.

Personally I want one for my 6 year old daughter, I'v been checking into it, and they are trained for tracking (If your a single parent w/ a 6 year old autistic daughter, you want her found IMMEDIATLY) and a dog thats trained to track her specifically is gonna be the fastest way. They also are supposed to help socially and all but I need one just to help me "corral" her into going where I want her to go, somedays I feel as if I'm unable to keep up with her and I wouild love to have any kind of help available. If she runs for the street, the dog would be able to get her, before I could, she can allready almost outrun me. I'd love to be able to let her play in the yard w/out standing outside every moment, it would be nice to be able to not fight her in the house just so I can go to the bathroom. It might only be little things, but it would be a HUGE help and give me a little peace of mind.
http://www.4pawsforability.org/autismdogs.htm
this is the one I'v been checking out but theres lots of places and some people just have a dog trained in their town to meet their needs. It's a lot cheaper I guess.
had to edit out all my typos, should proof-read I guess

http://www.wrongplanet.net/article330.html

From this website itself ^_^

lol!

I think if I ever need a dog, I'll just get one of these helper dogs so I can bring them on vacation 'n s**t.

well as someone who has aspergers and have worked in animal shelters for 7 years as a volunteer and paid, i can say that some people with aspergers do have other diagnostics too, such as I also have PTSD, Anxiety disorders,somatization disorder, etc along with the aspergers. a dog would mean alot to me, mainly for companionship and probably would be a great companion for reducing panic attacks and the fear of being alone. i like being alone but at night being alone scares the s**t out of me and thats what i would feel safer having a dog.

I was gonna say something along these lines, too. I'm 33 and in grad school, and only just now has anyone suggested I might have AS--so I'm pretty "high-functioning," one might say. However, I live with two dogs and two cats, and have often worried about what I'd do if I couldn't find a place to live with them. Having a therapy pet would take care of that problem, since landlords can't discriminate against service animals (in theory).

One of my dogs is a gregarious, beautiful pit bull, and when we go out, he ALWAYS gets comments like, "what a beautiful dog!" from all types of people. Now, I never considered myself a person with any debilitating social phobias, but having Humfrey with me DOES make it easier to look people in the eye as they walk past, or to talk with strangers, or even just to get out of the house in the first place. Also, if the dogs didn't beg to be let outside in the morning, I'd probably sleep 'til noon every day. They also function as a sort-of ersatz-prozac. And when I'm deeply involved in some project, they remind me to eat, because they don't get fed until I do.

If anyone ever told me I couldn't live with my "kids," it would be...a very bad situation.

Hello SpaceCase,
I have a service dog, I was diagnosed with AS when I was 44yo. I have a doctorate. So, yes, I'm very high functioning, yet I've been struggling with living in a non-autistic world all of my life. The stress of the struggle has been reduced tremendously, on so many different levels, since Isis has come into my life.

How has Isis been helpful? Well, I'm going to have to start to make a list, because I'm kind of overwhelmed trying to break down all the nuances of how she's helped me to be able to live a better, more productive and meaningful life.

I really don't know how I've lived without a service dog until now. But I'm not saying it's for everyone on the spectrum. But my hunch is, it would be a boon for those that could be helped with this method and that there's a good percentage of us that could be helped tremendously with a working dog by your side.