Oscar and Ollie's autism assistance dog

Hello,

We're really lucky to have been accepted onto the brilliant Supporting Paws scheme (a Kent based Community Interest Company which trains autism assistance dogs). They will select and train a pedigree Labrador from just 8 weeks of age specifically to meet Oscar and Ollie's needs and help them do the day to day things they can find so difficult. Training lasts a year and will cover everything from obedience to specific interventions tailored to our boys.

Ollie and Oscar are brothers and are 5 and 7 years old. Both boys are diagnosed with  Autism spectrum disorder. On top of this,  Oscar also has severe Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Language disorder and Sensory processing disorder. Ollie and Oscar both struggle with communication and social interaction and life can get a little bit tricky at times, especially during family outings or everyday activities like going for a walk to our local town centre. With Oscar's ADHD and impulsive behaviours he has a tendency to run to whatever catches his interest, even if that means running over a busy road. With both autism and ADHD comes a lack of danger awareness, and what would be a simple walk or outing for most families, can very easily get complicated and very stressful for our family.  A fully trained autism assistance dog would be able to help us with this, as both boys could be attached to the dog by a bungee lead, which would mean they would not be able to run but also would have the freedom of not having to hold on to mummy or daddy's hand!

A fully-trained autism assistance dog can help change behaviour by:

• Introducing routines.

• Reducing bolting behaviour. 

• Interrupting repetitive behaviour.

• Helping the child to cope with unfamiliar surroundings.

Please help us in any way you can - if you can't donate we would love for you to share our page with your friends and family. Thank you so much for reading and showing interest!