Assistance Dogs and Autism Ranking:

Key Features

Assistance dogs (also known as service dogs) are dogs that are specifically trained to help individuals with various types of disability. In many countries assistance dogs have special access rights, to ensure their owners are not discriminated against. Their use has now been extended to autistic individuals.

Some assistance dogs (autism assistance dogs) are dogs that are specially trained to assist in the day to day life of the family with an autistic child.  It is important that the dog is recognised as a 'working dog'. Because of this the dog will work in a special harness that connects it to both the parent and the child.

The dogs are trained to lead from the front, acting on instructions from the parent, while the child is usually encouraged to walk alongside the dog using a lead attached to the dog. The child may also be in a harness.

Different providers of assistance dogs have different methods but some people believe that careful breeding, careful puppy selection and establishing correct behaviour patterns early on are believed to reduce training time and increase safety.

• Some providers place fully trained dogs with their human partners when the dogs are approximately two years of age. Others place untrained puppies with the human partner
• The family may attend a training class that teaches them how to look after and manage the dog.
• In some cases, the dog may be harnessed to the child for outdoor activities, while the parent holds the leash. In some cases, the child may hold the leash.
• The dog may be taught to respond to specific actions. For example, some dogs may be taught to respond to problem behaviours, such as repetitive and restricted behaviours.

Please note: An assistance dog is not the same as a therapy dog or a pet dog. A therapy dog is trained to provide comfort and affection to people in long-term care, hospitals, retirement homes, schools, mental health facilities, and other stressful situations to include disaster areas. Pet dogs may be trained or untrained and do not attract the accessibility benefits of an assistance dog.

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Jan 2019

Next Review

01 Oct 2024