How Dogs Help Children With Special Needs
Almost every kid dreams of having a dog. However, for children with special needs, having a trained therapy or service dog might be the best way for them to reach their potential. There are about 500,000 service dogs in the United States that help people each day.
These dogs go into schools, hospitals, and businesses with their owners to provide care, protection, and a calming presence. Without these highly trained dogs, some children would have physical and emotional health problems that might keep them at home.
Finding the right dog is crucial. You might think that small dogs are best for children because of their size; however, dogs like Labradors make great service dogs due to their high intelligence and overall temperament.
Other essential factors that can turn an average dog into one with a critical job include personality, size, and coat. No matter the breed of the dog, if they have the desired traits and complete the rigorous training, they might be on their way to being more than just a companion.
Jobs That Have Gone to the Dogs
Everyone knows what a standard run-of-mill family dog looks like. But, could you spot a therapy, emotional support, or service dog out in public? There are significant differences in these job types that canines fulfill.
Dogs for Therapy
Therapy dogs can provide companionship and lessen the effects of emotional trauma. Soldiers who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have used therapy dogs when they come home from war. These skilled dogs can also help children who suffer from anxiety or depression.
Another excellent service therapy dogs provide is a pair of non-judgmental ears for children who have trouble reading. Programs like Reading with Rover help others start their reading programs in the Seattle area.
Dogs for Emotional Support
Emotional support dogs are prescribed by a licensed mental health professional and support a single child with special needs. The therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist specifies what the dog will do for the child, such as easing anxiety.
Dogs Trained for Service
Each service dog is trained for one child to perform specific tasks. If needed, the service dog trains in detecting low blood sugar or a seizure before it starts. These service dogs train on how to recognize infections, cancer, or the beginning of a migraine. Service dogs are often in a vest with the words “service dog” to let the public know that they are on the job.
How Dogs Can Help Children With Special Needs
Children with many conditions have dogs or other pets that offer the care and support they need. Here are a few of the most common reasons children have a dog to help them with daily activities:
Assistance With Autism
Autism is a range of conditions that cause a child to experience repetitive behaviors, social skills, and verbal and non-verbal communication. Autism affects one in every 59 children in the United States and can cause the child to have outbursts of behaviors that can be challenging to control. Many children with autism go to classrooms with special education teachers trained in applied behavior analysis and other specialized skills.
Dogs can offer many levels of autism assistance. They will intervene if the child displays unwanted behaviors by laying across their lap to calm them and ease their fears.
Another strategy used to help calm children with autism is music, which can heal their stress and anxieties. Because children with autism are prone to wander, dogs can sometimes track and locate the child. They can be trained in search-and-rescue skills so that they can find the missing child if needed.
Detecting Diabetic Changes
Children with diabetes much watch what they eat to keep their blood sugars within a healthy range. Most diabetics use diet, exercise, and medications to achieve this. However, a diabetic alert dog is another tool that can help children with diabetes stay well.
These trained dogs can smell the chemical changes in the body when insulin levels decrease or rise. Most trained dogs can sense a difference in the child’s scent before they start showing outward signs. The dog then alerts the child, their parents, teacher, or other caregivers so that they can attend to their health needs promptly.
Alleviating Anxiety
Anxiety can be a debilitating condition for many children. Parents often struggle to help anxious children because they want to protect them from discomfort. Interacting with dogs can boost a child’s mood and minimize stress levels. Canines help with anxiety by providing physical touch and unconditional love. Dogs for anxiety can also offer a sense of safety and security to the child that even a parent or other adult may not provide.
Guiding the Blind
Dogs have long been used to help visually impaired people get around. Organizations like the MIRA Foundation work to provide guide dogs for eligible blind children between the ages of 11 and 16 free of charge. However, many children aren’t lucky enough to find an organization like MIRA, making it imperative that parents and families plan for financial needs, like dogs and other equipment for children with special needs.
Guide dogs help those who are blind or visually impaired navigate the world around them. They might help them avoid obstacles, stay clear of traffic, and alert them to curbs and steps. Guide dogs wear a harness with a U-shaped handle that allows the dog and their blind partner to communicate quickly and navigate the world around them.
Boosting Mobility
Children who use wheelchairs might have trouble standing or walking.
Common conditions that limit mobility include:
- Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
- Spina Bifida
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Cerebral Palsy
Many children with limited mobility have these conditions at birth and can benefit from a mobility assistance dog throughout their lifetime.
Limited mobility can make picking up items that fall or performing tasks around the house challenging. However, with the help of a trained dog, these children can function independently.
A few everyday duties performed by mobility assistance dogs include:
- Carrying items the child needs in a backpack.
- Alerting a parent to needs.
- Opening doors.
- Pushing buttons on elevators.
However, these dogs can be an extension of the child’s arms and legs; they also provide spiritual and emotional support to their owners daily.
Happy to Help
It’s critical to remember that these canines need a lot more than basic brain training for dogs to meet the needs of the children who own them. They have learned that their role in life is to serve and protect. Take a look at any service dog out there, and you will find an animal that is happy to help the child that needs them most.
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