The Ireland Funds - Your Money at Work : Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind

The O’Shea family speak of the impact that assistance dog Eve has had on them since being matched with her in early 2005:

“Going out for simple things like a coffee, walking on the street and family outings with Sarah were inconceivable before the arrival of Eve. Previously, Sarah certainly would not have been happy in a buggy in one place for 25 minutes, let alone in a busy coffee shop.

The bond between Sarah and Eve really seems to be taking hold. Sarah is now very affectionate towards Eve and likes to spend time with her. She plays with her and regularly goes over and rubs her or hugs her. Eve also seems to be growing in
confidence herself and is getting more responsive and her level of obedience when out is excellent.”

The impact of an Assistance Dog for Sarah and her family is that they now have for the first time a lot of hope about their future as a family, such as being able to plan and enjoy more family days out.

Assistance Dogs for Families of Children with Autism

A Project of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind

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On Monday 30th January, 2006, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) announced its plan to seek vital funding for its breakthrough programme 'Assistance Dogs for Families of Children with Autism'. The programme, which is a first for Europe, is designed to provide quality of life improvements for the Autistic child and their family. The intervention is based on the principle of providing a fully trained dog (to the approximate standard of a guide dog for a blind person) to the parents and the autistic child and providing them with the training and support to ensure that the dog works to the maximum of its abilities.

In 2004, the Board of IGDB initiated the Assistance Dog programme for families of children with Autism on a pilot basis for one year. The pilot programme worked with 3 families from Dublin and 5 from Cork and proved successful in improving the quality of life, independence and safety of the children.

Research suggests that Assistance Dogs help to control and improve behaviour in children with autism. Each dog wears a specially designed harness which consists of a jacket, a lead for the parent to hold, a belt which is attached around the child’s waist, which connects them to the dog and a handle for the child to hold. The Assistance Dog responds to commands by the parent holding the lead to proceed in a straight line, turn left or right and to stop. If the child bolts, the dog controls the child by sitting, resulting in a change of behaviour. The dog uses all of its power to brace its footing to slow the child down and stop, which gives the parent walking behind the child time to intervene.

Benefits resulting from the relationship include:

* Increased safety levels for children with autism

* Calmer children, giving them an increased attention span and greater aptitude for learning

* Improvement in the child’s behavioural and socialisation skills as the dog acts as a contact companion and ambassador for the child

* Reduced stress and reliance on medications for family members

* Freedom for the child and family members to leave the house and to access public areas such as shops, restaurants, hotels and schools

* An increase in the child’s independence

* An Assistance Dog teaches the child responsibility

* The Assistance Dog comforts the child when they are upset

* A unique bond and special relationship can develop between a child with autism and their Assistance Dog

* An Assistance Dog can enrich the quality of life of children with autism and their families.

Parents of an autistic child often experience stress because of the constant care and attention required to ensure that their child with autism is safe. The use of the dog allows parents to walk behind their child for the first time, without hanging on to a sleeve or hood of a jacket. All families have reported changes in their autistic child’s behaviour; the children are calmer at home, in school and when out and about, while others have used the action of petting the dogs to comfort them when they are upset. In fact, the dogs allowed many of the families to enjoy many more activities together as a family.

Speaking about the new programme Padraig Mallon, Chief Executive of IGDB said, "It has without doubt been successful in terms of the range and number of positive quality of life outcomes, not only for each child, but also for their parents and siblings. The Assistance Dogs programme compliments our present training activities and we look forward to incorporating it as a service. It also brings the opportunity to work with and assist people with disabilities other than vision impairment.”

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, founded in 1976 and celebrating their 30th year in 2006, provides its services free of charge. This year it will cost €3 million to run the organisation. The cost to the Organisation for the breeding, training and lifetime aftercare and support of one Guide Dog partnership is €35,000. 80% of their funding is from voluntary contributions, with the remainder from Government. IGDB is a member of the International Guide Dog Federation and Assistance Dogs Europe.

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How Does it Work?

The Assistance Dogs for families of children with autism programme is designed to provide quality of life improvements to the autistic child and their family. The intervention is based on the principle of providing a fully trained dog to the parents and the autistic child and providing them with the training and support to ensure that the dog works to the maximum of its abilities.

While no autistic child is typical, the behaviours exhibited can lead to isolation, (lack of interaction with other people), mobility issues, sociability issues, lack of awareness of danger and limits. Parents and family members of autistic children often report that their lives are characterised by high stress and a lack of “normality” in social situations (e.g. not being able to go shopping, restaurant, travel, leisure.) Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) has the expertise in training guide dogs and providing training in their safe use to guide blind and visually impaired people.

This expertise can be transferred to a dog for use with an autistic child. The parents are trained in the use of the dog and how to get their child to interact with it and use it as a guide, support and stabilizer.

The impact of the Assistance Dog on the child and their family has exceeded expectations.

Each Assistance Dog wears a special blue jacket, which has a small handle attached. There is a belt attached to the child’s waist and short lead attaching the child to the dog. The parent, using an extended lead from behind or the side, then controls both the child and the dog. The dog responds to the verbal commands from the parent who controls speed and direction.

Autistic children often lack a sense of danger so the fact that the child is attached to the dog means the parent can have confidence that the child is safe without hanging onto a sleeve or hood. If the child tries to bolt, the dog will sit down. The service brings independence not just for the children but for their parents. Parents participating in the programme have spoken of significant moderations in the behaviour of the children. The companionship, confidence and independence that an Assistance Dog offers an autistic child empowers the child to participate in education and social activities, reducing the stress associated with interacting with other people and leaving other family members to enjoy outings that were previously too difficult. IGDB plans to expand the programme to provide Assistance Dogs to families currently on a waiting list.

By 2010, IGDB aims to train Assistance Dogs for 40 families per year. This will have a knock-on effect on the whole organisation and increases will be required in puppy supply, dog trainers and administrative support. Because the Assistance Dogs programme is offered free of charge, IGDB is dependent on its fundraising initiatives to cover the cost of breeding, training and placing an Assistance Dog.

Below are descriptions of the costs currently involved in the Assistance Dogs programme.

The Impact of Your Investment As with all of IGDB services, the Assistance Dogs programme is offered free of charge.

IGDB raises over 80% of its total operating budget through voluntary donations and fundraising.

This year, total costs will amount to just under €4 million.

Total Cost of an Assistance Dog Partnership - €27,500
( Cost includes breeding, training, matching and ongoing support for families.)
Additional Assistance Dog Costs Costs for Assistance Dogs from birth until its placement with a family - €16,700
Dog bed and fleece - €45
Dog food per year - €400
Selection of toys and treats for Assistance Dogs - €15
Grooming equipment and leads - €30
Inoculation, flea and worming treatment per year - €85

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Testimony from the families

The impact on the families has been simply enormous. Their testimonies are a wonderful endorsement of the value of the training and the impact of the dogs on the lives of their children and themselves.

Leonie speaks of the impact of Assistance dog Airt on her son, Leo, and the family:

“Airt has a calming effect on all of us. Having an Assistance Dog has reduced the stress in our lives by cutting down on the constant high levels of stress that we used to be under. Airt is encouraging a sense of responsibility in Leo which is helping him with his awareness of people and the world around him.”

Up to now Leo has thought the whole world revolves around him, so if they can get him to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility towards Airt it will be great to extend this into other areas of his life. Leo’s parents have also noticed that his independence has increased when he is with Airt, especially when they are walking together in new areas.

Leonie also stated that there is much work in having Airt and much reward as well. When Airt was unwell it contributed to her level of stress, as Leo seemed to sense this and act up as well. Even though she felt bad about giving Airt to the Guide Dogs for a week, it was also a huge relief as she believed it helped Airt to recover sooner.

“Having Airt away for a period demonstrated that Leo has indeed bonded with him and regards him as company when he is outside. Perhaps if this period of separation had not happened then we wouldn't have recognised this, as Leo doesn’t always display overtly an obvious attachment to Airt.”